In Vietnam the $ is king , everything can be bought for about “one dollaaaah” remember when they say “only one dollaaah “ it means you should offer Vietnamese dong because chances are it’s not worth a dollar. NEVER part with Dollars in Vietnam change your currency to DONG , enough dong gets you by really nicely so do the exchange at the airport and don’t be tempted to pay in dollars except in Hoi an (see below)
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- Everything can be bargained down and you need to understand that right at the off set , never under any circumstance let them know you think it’s cheap , once you do that you become a target and they will try to sell you more shit , never act like you want something, show indifference even if you really want it remember you have the money they have the dead stock and you have the power to walk away or not.
- Stick to your price, and I say this because it works. Set your lowest price and stick to it. Give no indication that you prepared to go higher, eventually they will be forced to give it to you at that price because either they sick of arguing with you and they want to serve a new customer or they realize they going to lose a sale and your price is better than nothing. If they don’t budge trust me the shop next door is willing to do the deal and better it always remember that. Tried and tested philosophy
- Access who you doing business with, Don’t fall for sad stories of “you taking food out of my children’s mouths “ – trust me I had someone tell me this J that shouldn’t really effect you if you a savvy shopper . Everyone has a heart breaking story but if they own a shop in a touristy area chances are they well off so never fall victim or prey to feeling sorry for the shop keeper . HIs there to take your dollars and just Because you not local , does not mean you should be ripped off , on the same note thou I tried to look for those that needed the sale, EG the lady whose been walking in the sun the entire day with her basket of stuff , well I often felt like I should be doing business with those kinds of people , the sad thing is some of them will tell you to name your price . I tried not to haggle too much with the needy as my conscious would not allow me to , but to my shame I did haggle with a pregnant lady in Nha trang , but that deal went sour quickly , as we realized we both were doing each other in , and we were both bullshitters of note cut from the same cloth of ruthlessness J the deal was kind of ridiculous 250000 dong for Buddha Beads eventually it was dropped to 50000 dong ,she let me in on the secret it dropped to that low because that day she was desperate it was the end of the day and she needed the money, the next day she wouldn’t haggle down to that same price and out of principle I wouldn’t pay more than 50000 and because of pride she wouldn’t give it to me at that price , all because I didn’t take it the day before, in retrospect that’s the one deal I regret not doing 50000 dong was nothing compare to the fact that I could have afforded more.. I mean she was a pregnant lady just trying to make a living even if she was too shrewd for her on good.
- Buy bulk and you will be able to name your price the more you buy of something the easier it is to slash the unit price. I did this throughout especially when buying gifts and souvenirs , when you willing to buy 10 off a unit suddenly the idea of bargaining becomes more appealing to the shop keeper because his number one aim is to get rid of his stock while still making money . you can get up to 75% of a unit price if you mention up front that you want many of that item. So first find out what one costs and then let him know that you willing to take more than times the unit price by 10 reduce it by 75 % and then name your final price. It’s a lot of math’s so make sure you brushed up on basic arithmetic first or use you phone as a calculator .
- learn from my mistake once you name a price they won’t go lower than that , they really sharp so be very careful when you haggle anything that comes out of your mouth seals the deal and they never going to negotiate lower . they will remember every price you mention so just watch your words and do the haggling internally first
- Always haggle with the husband as males are easier to bargain with then females. Make sure his wife does not hear the deal you make , because Asian females tend to be more ruthless at the calculations than their husbands. I lost an excellent deal in Hanoi because I had made the deal with the husband and just than the wife walked in and went nuts and refused to agree.
- Watch when paying with visa, I found this an issue in Vietnam. Everyone wanted to charge me extra for visa but if you haggle you can tell them to drop this and most of the time they not willing to lose a sale over 3 % , so if you threaten to drop the deal in totality they usually come around .
- Shop around especially in Hoi AN never walk into the first tailors and think wow I’ve got the best deal here because chances are you walk a block down and get the same tailor made clothes for half the price . The one thing you need to understand about HOI An is that all the shops use the same tailors so why pay more than you should have to. You want air-conditioned fitting rooms and free Wi-Fi ? You going to pay extra for that, so be smart and don’t make the mistake we made . Also give yourself enough time and do your research on patterns and designs, Hoi An is the one place I would say it will be in your interest to pay with Dollars and to pay in cash with cash dollars your negotiation becomes easier and the price gets brought down considerably . The best tailors are undoubtedly in Hoi an , so take advantage of the fact that they can make anything from Haut couture evening gowns to the most beautiful winter coats to bespoke shoes . I regret not making more here but I’m going back for an entire professional wardrobe oneday , and trust me when you see what these tailors can do you will understand why . Also once you find a shop that gives you the best deal try and see if you can make all your items there .It would have worked out in our best interest to make everything at one place and negotiate one price that to walk around and find 5 different tailors , plus it would have been less exhausting .
- The most frustrating shopping experience in SE Asia has got to be shoe street Hanoi, no one is prepared to bargain here even though you do find the most charming of shoes .so take all my advice above and ignore it in Shoe street Hanoi. Just take lots of patience and expect to be given looks of contempt when asking for a discount.
- Beauty Spa and Hair services -Malaysia and Thailand were amazing for this. I could get my hair done every day for about R30 at reputed salons and the thing with beauty services in Asia is that they really take care of the customer. My shampoos lasted 45 minutes and you’d get a free head massage thrown in you’d get ginger tea and a english movie put on for you. Facials were amazing and so were the pedicures it really was easy and very affordable to pamper myself and those little fish spas were everywhere an ideal way to chill in between the crazy shopping. This is the one thing about Asia I am going to miss.
City specific shopping:
Singapore –
European Luxury Brands Rule. Orchard road is the best window shopping experience. 50 malls in one road each more impressive than the next I was fascinated by the shops and malls in Singapore it epitomized luxury and affluence and there was always good service … too bad I couldn’t afford much :-) Take plenty money , the prices are hefty and make sure that if you do buy , you taking advantage of tax free and summer/ winter sales . Than there was Little India… It’s hell if you want to find bargains . The sari shops drive very hard deals and I found the entire experience highly confusing and frustrating. I walked my little feet off in little india trying to find a good enough sari to take back to my mum. I wasn’t impressed by what I saw and many shop keepers tried duping me into what was not Kanchipurum but Cheap quality knock offs . eventually I found a reputable shop, turned on the haggle and I think I got my mum something decent … I won’t be going back to little India thou as I might as well go to big India anyway right …
Penang
Central Penang has incredible malls and you not going to pay crazy tourist prices for anything . make Komtah tower your starting point- it has an oriental plaza feel and I saw some great reasonable Jewelry shops there, but the modern mall opposite ( I think the name was palladium) is where the locals shop, it’s a great place to haggle and to find really good quality fashionable shoes and clothes but it’s really big so be prepared to spend a lot of time there , every shop keeper is friendly and you getting individual attention all the time but I think that’s just a general Penang thing , if you show interest in something they bring you more and more in every color and every different style making the experience very tempting and so amazing . You do walk out with exactly what you want thou and I loved that I was never rushed or forced into a sale.
Kuala Lumpur
- Times Square is where locals shop and there’s enough variety to keep you going for quite a while I did do some great shopping here and found good quality items at really good prices , the thing with Malaysia is remember to steer away from European and American brands and to keep it local or at least made in Asia , import products from Europe seem to be heavily taxed so chances are you will pay 10 times more for a Zara outfit here than you would if you go to a ZARA in Europe . But what I love about Malaysia’s shopping is that they do sell very good quality and there are enough deals and discounts to make sure your travel dollars stretch very far. KL is a bit of a shoppers heaven once again because of the many malls yes they have their crazily unaffordable but beautiful malls but then they have places
Bangkok
I have no words for the shopping experience in Bangkok J Bangkok has great sales man they make you feel like royalty and will convince you to buy anything. I must say to my shame I did get “duped “ or “Bangkok”ed” plenty times in this crazy city because the shopping experience was just that good . But the wonderful thing about Bangkok is its haggle heaven and I was able to name my price plenty times. James tailors definitely lives up to the name of one of the best tailors in the world and that was a lovely experience. The gem stones in Thailand are to die for so if you are going to spend on anything make sure its bling. I must admit I did go shopping for a fake Channel bag and was disappointed at what I found fake Handbags are overly priced in Bangkok , and I could not bring myself to spend that much money on counterfeit so I bought 5 of really good quality no names instead and am very happy with that . Made in Thailand does mean beautifully made so if you like pretty things Thailand meets all expectations .I did love the Thai silks and products and could definitely have spent more time and money here fortunately I didn’t , but it is that kind of shopping destination that makes it easy to break the bank . I found that the spa , hair and beauty services right through Bangkok was very cheap and of a very high standard so now I understand why looking good in Bangkok is so easy .
Vietnam
I need just say one word for Vietnam’s shopping … Hoi An – tailor made heaven- really good tailors , really great service amazing prices a kind of Disney land for a shopper where you can have anything you ever wanted made In half a day . Hoi An superseded my expectations, I only regret not having enough time and money to spend here. Handicrafts are amazing in Vietnam the sheer beauty of it is to die for I found the laquer work really beautiful. Once again if you like pretty things you going to be very tempted by the furniture, paintings, fabrics, silks … just make sure you not exceeding your luggage limit ;-)
On a whole shopping in Asia has been incredible and very entertaining, I had a lot of fun doing all that haggling, and I must admit that even thou temptation took over many times , it was all still very affordable , so now Shopping in south Africa is going to suck when I compare it to the prices I paid in Asia . Also I’m going to miss shoe shopping there, because when you a size 2 and a half and you go to Asia and most woman have feet that small , you feel like you struck the jackpot every time you walk into a shoe shop because they have your size in everything .
I never expected to shop this much in Asia it wasn’t one of the main objectives of my journey but when you faced with so much variety in a continent where it is the number one pass time you very tempted , I know I’ll go back because it was just that damn good ….
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