Hard Bargain

On our way to the Entoto mountains on Sunday we stopped at Entoto Market
to have a look around. A friend of mine in Japan, who had spent some
time in Tanzania as an undergrad, gave her first-born a Tanzanian name,
so I thought it would be nice to get a small souvenir for them from Africa.
Over the few weeks we've been here, whenever we go shopping, both J and
I are trying to improve our bargaining skills. There are stores that
boast price tags, but many places simply rely on agreement between the
seller and the buyer. We are usually able to talk them down a few
percent, and with the feeling that a native Ethiopian could still get a
much better price, we seem to hit a wall. Nevertheless, I don't get
myself up in arms over the fact that someone who does not speak the
native tongue and has not spent more than a few weeks here at a time is
going to be at a disadvantage when negotiating.
At Entoto Market, we tried a few new strategies, and ended up walking
out of a couple shops not buying anything. Most of the souvenirs here
are not for small children, so it was a bit of a challenge to find the
right thing in the first place. After a while we decided on a scarf knit
with African colors that they boy could use in the coming winter and,
hopefully, for some time to come. After talking the shopkeeper down a
few percent again, with one foot out the door, he was still not
relenting. So I did what I suppose every traveler must do; I calculated
the difference in the cost I would be paying in the US or Japan versus
the price I was getting here in Ethiopia. From that perspective, if you
are happy with the product for that price, you are better off getting
the item and enjoying it that beating yourself up over an imagined
inability to negotiate 50% off.
We left the last shop with souvenir in hand, quite happy, and then
enjoyed the rest of our day.