Back To Dalian

Today is Monday. I spent the weekend in Shanghai and have now flown up to Dalian. So I have a little catching up to do. Let’s rewind to Saturday morning. Steel wanted to go with me to the market place in Shanghai. I wanted to go to the pearl market, it’s a great place in Shanghai. There is lots of stuff there, not just pearls, but pearls are definetly the main attraction. I’m not sure why Steel wanted to go with me. I told him I’d been before and that I knew where it was, but he wanted to come along….so I said sure! Why not?
Steel came by the hotel at 10:00 AM and we grabbed a cab to the market. We went in and headed up to the pearl market floor. I got my game face on, pockets flush with Chairman Mao money, and prepared to start the negotiations! (This really is one of my favorite things to do in China!) As we are going up the escalator, Steel is giving me some advice on the market, I chuckled and said, “Steel, let me show you how Daddy walks.” He looked at me confused, I smiled and we entered!
It was around 10:30 and the market had just opened. The Chinese are obsessed with making the first and last sale of the day. They believe it brings them good luck for the day. They will even sell at almost a loss, just to get the first sale done. You need to move fast through the booths, get as many “First Sales” as possible. Steel was impressed with my negotiations.
They always start high…way high! So then you really have to chop the legs out of the offer. You should probably end up paying 20-25% of the original price. So I would start my negotiating at 10%. Of course you have to say, “Ti-Gwe-La!” which means “That’s too much”. Then you start going back and forth.
Here’s my little take on the negotiations. I would bargain them down on one string of pearls. I would get it to the price I wanted, then ask them for a new price if I buy three! This sends them into a tizzy, because they know they have to do cut the price more to get the order. When you negotiate with the street vendors you have to take it when the price is agreed upon. So I try to change the dynamic a little. I agree on the initial price, but then drive it down more with quantity. I call it the Wal-Mart approach.
There is one last piece of the negotiation that has to go on. Once you’ve basically decided on the price, they ALWAYS bump it ten more RMB. That’s basically 1.50 US currency. My last trip I would just give in on that because it was such a little amount. This time they would bump it 10 RMB, and I would say “You give me two pairs of earrings.” There would be a pause, then I would GET IT! I loved it! It worked every time! Kind of like a bonus round! I think this is the only way I truly like shopping. Usually I dread it, but Chinese haggling is for me! I love it!
After we got done on the pearl market floor, we went up a floor…this is where the REAL fun was! There were a bunch of shops that sold all kinds of stuff. Fake watches (But low end), suitcases, toys, almost anything you can imagine. As we walked around we found a person that had a “Secret Room” of designer bags. They took us in there and it was packed with all kinds of designer bags and fake rolex watches. The problem is, I don’t even know what I should buy for the women I know. I have no idea if they’d use it. I didn’t feel like haggling with him, plus I’d have to lug them around China with me. I figure I’ll hit it on the way back through Shanghai.
The real excitement was the DVD store. It never ceases to amaze me. Here’s what I “Rented”.
Complete Seinfeld Series- 20 Dollars
Madmen Complete Series- 5 Dollars
Boardwalk Empire Season 1 (Which isn’t on DVD yet) 3 Dollars
Rosetta Stone Spanish Levels 1-5 7 Dollars
Hilarious! Great deals! Going back there!
Well. I have to go to dinner, so I’ll have to finish catching up the blog tomorrow night!