Warning: No offence to pathans, but if the shopkeeper is pathan then I don’t take responsibility for the outcome of this situation…
Pathan shopkeepers have the habit of getting too emotional and then telling you you don’t need to buy the merchandise… Even though they are not as masoom as they act and look, believe me I’ve been ripped off many times by em
Another wrong assumption: If the shopkeeper has a long beard, thats no guarantee of he’s not overcharging u…
So, the process:
Don’t act too interested in the stuff as if you can’t live without it…
When decided what you want, ask, “Bhaijaan/Chachaji/Uncle/Janab kitnay ka ho ga?” …
When the shopkeeper tells you the price…act shocked, and look at the material criticisingly as if you are re-evaluating your decision to get it, and then ask him, “hmmm acha? thori zaada nai hae qeemat? ye to hamaray budget ke baahar hae, aap ye batayein aap deyn ge kitne mein?”
If there is someone with you, whisper to them and look towards the next shop, act as if you want to leave this shop..
he’s gona say, 'baji hamari to qeemtein fixed hoti haen" and sometimes they even have a board that says that toward which he might point.
then you laugh and say “ji fixed shixed chorein na bechne waali baat karein taakay hum bheek aagay barh k khareed k ghar jaayein, aap batayein aap kitne mein deyn ge last?” He’s gonna quote a lower price [unless it really is a fixed price shop]…
Then repeat step 3, using a different set of dialogues this time. ‘Bhaijaan kuch to khayal karein, hum to khareedna chahtay hayn aap bhee bismillah karein thori reaayat karein’…Then ask him to sell it for half the price he quoted…
If he gets angry and shocked [not applicable for pathan shopkeepers] then it means you overdid it a bit If he doesn’t, then it means you have a chance to get it for quite cheap…
He’s going to be like, "Baji itnay mein to hamari khareed hoti hae, mein ne aap ko behn bola hae is lyay mein siraf aap ko special price de rha hoon [yeah right!!!], mein ne kisi profil ka margin nai rakha, ye bilkul last price hae…At this point he takes the thing from your hands and starts putting it back in the shop and pointing at other obviously cheaper stuff saying ‘aap wo dekh leyn woh aap ke budget ke andar hae’ [This is just their tactic, don’t worry]…Be like nai ji hamein to yai khareedna hae…
Then take out money from your purse, and quote a bit higher than the half price and say bas bhai pack ker deyn bismillah karein…He’s gona say nai ji but you remain stuck, be lighthearted but stubborn, and make him come to your price using different dialogues…‘bhai bas hamara itna hi budget hae’, ‘bhai kuch khayal karein’, ‘bhai riaayat karein’, ‘hamara bhee khayal karein aap kee itni bari dukaan hae mashallah’…‘Phir ji hum doosri dukaanon mein dekhte haen’…etc etc If things get stuck or desperate, pull an act of leaving the shop, and usually that makes the shopkeeper budge…
when leaving, ‘bhaijaan hum phir aap kee dukaan pe aayein ge, aap ka card hae wo bhee please lifafay mein daal deyn’…Allah Hafiz aur ShuQerya…leave wih a sweet smile…
u can b a :k: daughter of my mum instead of m na
i can bargain n i also do it normally but buyin sumfin 1/3 of it’s quoted price, dat sumfin i m even unable 2 learn frm ma mum na
Irem, thats so accurate oh my God! I am not good in bargaining, I feel pity for the shopkeepers. and think I am getting it in a cheap rate, later I mostly find out, it wasnt so cheap, that I’ve bought, I think we, those who live abroad lack experience in bargaining and the shopkeepers can tell from our accent that we are from abroad, so they dont go down normally, this time I shopped with my husband, when a shopkeeper would tell a price, he would say something half that price, then he would throw the money to them and say, its ok, itney kafi hain, take the ithem and out of the shop, the shopkeepers would say, bhai sahab bhai sahab, yeh kham hain, he would say nahin yeh theek hain, lol that was fun
(Note: this can be done in only some bazaars - shops) There are some shops you go inside, they sign at the chairs to sit down, then they say thaanda ya chai mungain, (you want to drink a cold drink or hot tea ), we would say, nahin zoorrat nain, still they would persuade to have something and goes, chootey zara 2 chai lana, we would say, no thanks we dont have time to sit, they would say, it wont take long, its a tatic of making the customers to sit and so that they wont leave the shop so soon, i mean a chai costs around hmm maybe 10 Rs they know you will leave the shop with thousands and thousands of Rupees, especially if you are doing your shadi shopping, well anyway, there are some upper kinds of shops where they shopkeepers are college students or decent people, there u dont have to bargain very much as they look at you and say prices that you would not refuse, especially if the stuff is good.
when i was in pak it was sooo fun …i love shopping n was always wid my cousins n aunts there in shopping centers n never had ne problem ..i found salemen very nice n friendly
but i ll try ur tips next time when i ll be there , its gonna be fun …
If you're a guy shopping with a bargaining type sister/mother/wife/girlfriend do excuse yourself at the first sign of a verbal tug of war. Save yourself the embarassment and go have a chaat or something. Thats why I loved going to bohri bazaar with my mother. I chugged down the bubble up with the mix plate while she made shopkeepers reconsider their decsion to open up a shop. :-)
uff you remind me of my mother... except you're sharifer.
i literally feel so sorry for the shopkeepers, but then again.. she consistently buys things for a quarter of their price.. so i guess shopkeepers kaaaaaaafi ziada lutetey hongey.
ravage bhai - aap ko kia bataon kitna lootTe hayn shopkeepers seriously…
cheegum thats sooo bad come on we need moral support when we bargain
thats chaat and falooda from bohri bazar…yum
Sandleen thanks yaar
YIKES! tobbah astaghfaar naozobillah kurriay i think u fell for it NEVER EVER think of shopkeepers as nice…its ALL a tactic!!! remember, shopkeepers are always evil people trying to con you out of your hard earned money :Pagri:
Saadia baji bhaijaan sounds like most of the men of my family…my brothers cant bargain to save their lives though only my dad mashallah possesses this skill…my mom can’t either…i took after my dad, but usually i cant be too pushy, i kinda give up soon too.. sigh
the thanda/chai trap should never be entered…coz once you have entered that then you can easily become the target or emotional blackmail and murawwat kee maar
little human
Simply 1/3rd mein ne bhee kabhee manage nai kee but believe me my dad can do that :0D
:biggthumb aap main waqai kaafi talent hai..aur kaafi patience/tajarba of shopping bhi. laikin apas ki baat hai main is himmat ka malik nahin hoon...agar kabhi ami/behnon ke saath shopping ke liay jata tha/hoon to bas door khara ho kar ird gird cheezon ko dekhta rehta hoon..ya phir chaat shaat kha leta hoon. i get bored :p
^ its partly that…the cheap bit and partly the fact that you larki loug overdo it…maar he deti ho dukaandaar ko. dekho bhai us ke bhi chote chote bache hote hain…un ko maar he na dia karo na!
*shopping-dreading khanzada kanon ko haath laga kar bhaag jata hai
If i ever venture into a business ill make sure all the products are strictly for men only. Women will be allowed in only if they agree to wear a laghaam on their mouth.
khanu bhai nah believe me i am very considerate its just i hate getting cheated when they try to overprice u and think u r foolish to fall for it…thats what gets me
cheegum not funny btw mad funny sig u got there bro
^^ or perhaps they get it for exactly the price the shopkeepers want them to buy it for. dukaandaar bohate chalaak hote hain…woh aap ki khala aur phupo ke aane se pehle he double price wale steekar laga dete hoon gae kapron par
*zaheen khanzada
irem: aap ki baat main wazan hai. mujhaay kaafi bhari lag rahi hai yeh
Hehe..quite nice. Evokes memories of trips to the cloth shops with my mother and sisters!
A simpler way of going about it...
you: yeh kitnay ka hai?
shopkeeper: waisey to 4500 ka becha hai, lekin aap kay liye 3500 laga dein gey
At this point, you just smirk and walk away verrrry slowly without saying anything....giving him enough time (about 4 seconds) to give you at least 3 new prices.
shopkeeper: (as you are walking away) aap kitnay dein gi?
shopkeepr: (youre still walking away) 2500 dein gi?
shopkeeper: (you still walking) 1500 mein ley lein..
shopkeeper: (you still walking) acha 1000 dey dein.
at which point you come back and get the product for 1000, which was its fair price to begin with.
Akif bhai does that really work? That would save so much time, I’ll try this method next time!
I used to fall for the “waise to X ka hae par “siraf aap k lyay” Y mein hae”…but now I’ve smartened up to that as I’m sure they say that to everyone kyunk hamaray saath in kee koi sagi rishtaydari to nai na hae!
RajputFury UncleJi welcome That’s just a stereotype abt bajis and khalas, my father is, I reckon, one of the best bargainers in Pakistan He always manages to get amazing deals, much better than any females in the family!
Khanu bhai aap ne meri baat naapi tolee hay…? kya bhao nikla aur aakhri keemat kya lagayein ge?
Shinoo practice makes perfect, you have to give it a shot! Next time take khala and phuppo along but give it a try yourself
LOL this thread is awesome. i could almost be right there in the dukaan with your descriptions, Irem.
i am the world’s worst bargainer. i mean, every dukaandaar would love to have me as their customer. i feel bad for asking them to lower the price and if they use the ‘meray baal bachay hain’ argument, i feel like crying and giving them MORE than what they asked for i can’t do it. i’ll never ever be able to do it.
My Abbu, on the other hand, is just like your’s, Irem - world’s best bargainer He can get almost any price that he wants…and leave with the dukaandaar’s respect lolz it’s embarassing, but fun, to go shopping with him. Sometimes i do what Cheegum and others were talking about - hang around elsewhere and pretend to be looking at other products lolz.
My Ammi is slowly becoming better… but she’s kindof halfway between my Abbu and me.
i reckon bargaining is an art. i wish i had it, it would be fun. But i definitely don’t. Your descriptions were soooo interesting to read. It’s just almost exactly like how i have seen my family bargain at shops. When i went to Islamabad, my Khala used to do the same thing… but she knows most of the store keepers and most of them know her. So it’s a very - hmmm how can i put this, both parties can anticipate what the other is going to say. It’s very, very interesting… man they should write a book about the art of bargaining in Pakistan It’d make for a very interesting read :k:
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Akif: *
Hehe..quite nice. Evokes memories of trips to the cloth shops with my mother and sisters!
A simpler way of going about it...
you: yeh kitnay ka hai?
shopkeeper: waisey to 4500 ka becha hai, lekin aap kay liye 3500 laga dein gey
At this point, you just smirk and walk away verrrry slowly without saying anything....giving him enough time (about 4 seconds) to give you at least 3 new prices.
shopkeeper: (as you are walking away) aap kitnay dein gi?
shopkeepr: (youre still walking away) 2500 dein gi?
shopkeeper: (you still walking) 1500 mein ley lein..
shopkeeper: (you still walking) acha 1000 dey dein.
at which point you come back and get the product for 1000, which was its fair price to begin with.
[/QUOTE]
This is almost my style, only I stare at the shopkeeper and give him a knowing smile as to what he's doing. And then once he gets to 1000 I'll take out 500 note and let him touch it and tell him its got his name written on it if he wants. I usually would get it for 700 or so.
This works worldwide BTW. I was once in Tanzania, Africa and the uncle I was with was telling us that these dukan-owners are very shrewd and I'm like it should be more fun and the uncle was like Whaaaa.
After 10 mnts he was following me around and asking me to bargain for him. Considering I don't even speak Swahili (and he does) I thought it was a major accomplishment.
..
..
i think u fell for it 
when they try to overprice u and think u r foolish to fall for it…thats what gets me 
