The Fabric Market and haggling

I finally got to go to the fabric market!!:-) but i didn't get anything. This trip was more like a recon mission. I wanted to see what these people were capable of and let me say that China is indeed the "World's Xerox Machine". They really can reproduce anything you want. A few of my co-workers went last week to have a few things made. I tagged a long to see how things turned out and I was quite impressed. The girls showed me the picture of the dress they wanted to make and the finished produce looked exactly like it. Now I feel confident that if I ask them to make me a three-piece suite they'll be able to make it no problem. The price estimations I got from most of the booth were somewhere between 400 and 600 RMB ($50-$80) depending on material, difficult, and how much you're having made (the more the cheaper). I think I'll start off with a few button-ups before i go for the ultimate kill. The best thing is that tailored suites and shirts are just the tip of the iceberg. You can also get coats, blankets and bedding made for you. Basically if its made out of material you can have it made in China.

Now the thing about shopping at the fabric and open markets is that you have to haggle, there basically no way around it if you don't want to get extremely ripped off, and you're always wonder what you're really buying. Whenever a Shanghainese merchant sees an American or anyone that does not seem to be from the area they try to lure you in with catch phrases like "I have quality shirt very cheap just for you" or "REAL Polo or Lacoste shirts". First off most of the stuff that people are selling are not quality, and second assume everything is fake because it probably is. Whenever you ask them how much something is (duo shao qian) they usually see that you're foreign and they say whatever pops into their pretty little head. I had one guy trying to sell me DVDs for 20 kuai ($2.70), which isn't bad for American standards, but when most DVD run between 5 to 10 kuai there was no way I was going to buy from him. The only way to combat the possibility of being ripped off is to do a little research and take everything they say with a grain of salt. This is what I've learned after three weeks:

Step 1: When you ask the purveyors how much something cost they'll give you something ridiculous that is probably 10x what they'd tell a local. If you're doing research just walk away and tell them you don't need it. They will insist that you haggle but just walk away.

Step 2: If you do want the item at hand and the initial price is ungodly high move the decimal place over to the left so if they say 100 kuai tell them 10. If you have a price that you want to pay use that as the mid-way point

Step 3: The purveyor will make a fuss that its too low and they wont make any money off the sale. Thats a lie because the purveyor would not be wasting their time on you if there wasn't a profit potential. They will give you another price probably 20 or 30 kuai less then what they initially said usually what they call "friends price".

Step 4: At this point you could do one of three things: walk away (which i suggest saving for later), accept the price (only if you really have your heart set on it and are really bad at bargaining), or give them your offer.

Step 5: If you continue to bargain with them it tends to go back and forth a few rounds. There two methods that I've seen work when trying to lower the price. One is to say little and just tell them less and the other way, my personal favorite, is to give them a lot of attitude. Every time they tell me they are giving me a "friends price" I over react like its the biggest injustice in the history of mankind. I tell them in English and Chinese that the price is insulting, they should pay me to take their juke away, or they should feel luck that I even considered gracing them with my presence. All of this is pretty much bullshit. For the most part it goes both ways, they always spew you with exaggerations too. Sometimes i ask them if this is the price they would charge to their grandmother. One women said yes and i just pointed my finger and yelled shame on you.

Step 6: Sometime around now the price is getting close to where you want it but it can always go lower. This is where walking away often works but not always. If they give you a price you're not happy with pretend to walk away. If you spent a fare amount of time haggling with them they'll be more inclined to chase after you. Give them your final offer and hold your ground. If they give you a higher price and you don't like it walk away again. Most of the time they'll settle for what you offered them. Again you should not feel bad for bargaining. The prices are set with the intention of haggling and they would not sell you things if they were loosing money I've been told that my style ranges from funny and humorous to me being characterized a full-fledged asshole. I do admit that I get a little overboard with things but it does the job nicely.

Now this pretty much sound like a huge headache but I actually found it to be fun. It take some practice to get use to. My first time I tried I settled too early and ended up paying way too much for some basketball shoes. Now I've gotten better and I even haggle on things I don't even want just to see how much of a deal i can get. As they say in China there are two official sports: ping pong and haggling.