讲价：A new type of bargaining

秀水街 Silk Market, 29ºC, hazy

In class today, we learnt a good deal of new vocabulary linked to 讲价 bargaining. I was confident that phrases such as 我是穷学生 “I am just a poor student”, 我买不起 “I can’t afford that”, and 开玩笑 “you have got to be joking” would make a good complement to my physical gesturing. To put this to the test, I returned to the Silk Market with my roommate.

Beforehand, we had both agreed that we would try to buy some shoes, so we first walked through the shoe stalls on the lower level of the market. The basement is a very noisy and hectic part of the silk market; every five metres another 老板 vendor grabs your hand. “You want some shoes?” 不要 “No,” I lied to avoid being dragged into bartering. I was going to barter on my own terms.

Jason and I decided on a stall: we approached and picked out the Pumas we had been eyeing from a distance. The lady sent a runner to fetch our sizes. It took almost ten minutes, surprisingly inefficient for a market where vendors tend to be very keen to sell their goods. In the interim, Jason and I discussed what price we would look to start at, and what our upper limit would be… in French. 你们是法国人吗？”Are you both French?” the shopkeeper probed. 是啊 “Yes.” It was easier. After our long wait, we were taken aback when she started at 300RMB for each pair of shoes. After a lot of complaining (and after walking away three times), we managed to negotiate a more modest 65RMB each.

Buoyed by our ability to pay just 20% of the original price, I wandered into a different stall when a pair of brown leather slip-ons caught my eye. I enquired about the price. 对白来说人要1650块钱，可是因为你好像中国人要800块钱. “For foreigners, 1650RMB; as you look Chinese, I’ll give you 800RMB.” I scoffed. 开玩笑！I told him I could maybe pay 150RMB. His look was incredulous, and he waved me away. I can only assume he would have lost money on them (they were the best-made shoe I had seen around all the stalls, and I dared to believe that the material felt genuine).

I tried a new approach picking out a not so nice pair of shoes. 这双要多少钱 “How about this pair of shoes?” “500”. “200”. “300”. “$30”. Done. I had heard that vendors are willing to take Dollars, and you can often undercut the price if you throw some Dollars into the fray. These shoes essentially cost just over 200RMB. Here comes the killer punch, though.

“You meant this pair, right?” I gestured to the first pair I had picked out. Not only did this pair look much nicer, both the material and the finish were superior. 你开玩笑 “You have got to be kidding!” I wasn’t. Usually it is the customer who is 上当了fooled by the shopkeeper. On this occasion, I might well have bucked the trend.