How to Haggle: a guide from Xtreme Gap Year
How To Haggle
Everything has price in Morocco, and usually more than you should be paying for it. Don´t be caught out, as even buying deodorant will cost you more that back home if you accept the first price the shop keeper gives you. DO NOT be afraid to haggle, if you don´t you are going to get stung. There are some good ways to haggle, and some times certain techniques work very well, other times, not.
Marrakesh Travel Guide: How to Haggle…
What you have to understand is that there is a certain psychology to haggling, it is a sales process, the seller wants to sell and you want to buy, but you have to find the right price.
The first piece of advice is to NEVER say “how much is this”. You let the seller set the bar, and you then have to battle against his expectations. If you must have something, set the price by saying “i´ll give you… (name your figure) for it” and aim under what you actually want to pay for it. Obviously he will say no, this is custom, but at least he will be playing the game to your terms, tying to raise your price rather than you lowering his. Simply put he will be trying to sell you the item, rather than you trying to buy.
Don´t be afraid to walk away, there are hundreds of shops in the Souk, and they pretty much all sell the same things from, the same places. Someone else where will have a pair of bright yellow slippers, at half the price, and he wants to shift them.
Smile be polite and build rapport. People like to buy off people, it works in reverse too. Make the guy laugh and he will drop his price as he likes you, he will want to sell to you. How do you make him laugh? Something situational helps, like commenting on how scruffy you look (easily done if you have been sweating round Marrakesh all day) and because you look like a tramp you want his special price for tramps. Smiling helps a lot, as does taking off your sunglasses and loosing the “you are out to rip me off” attitude.
Go with a partner. This is my favourite, and works a treat. If you want something, haggle him down to his very best price, and then get your travel mate to pay for it. Their job is to step in and say that they are not happy with the price and that he must agree to his(lower) price, as he is the one with the cash. This takes away the factor of the seller working on your desire for the item, as he is now dealing with a third party. The psychology of the sell has changed and it is now purely a transaction. If you are really a hard ass, pretend to look really disappointed and get your mate to make the seller feel a bit guilty by asking if he really wants to disappoint you by not selling at the lower price.
Use their arguments on them. If you are almost at agreement (arguing over a pound can take ages). They will most likely say that the price difference is minimal you must come up, it works in both directions, persistence pays off.
In my experience most of the time they will start off at 4 times the actual price, but as a general rule, if you feel happy to pay for something at that price, it is fair. If they start off really high, you can guarantee some mug has paid that price before, don´t encourage them! Stick to your guns, and never pay more than you would pay back home for something, just because in the heat of the moment you loose your marbles.
Xtreme Gap Year runs some exciting Morocco Gap Year programmes including the Morocco Adrenaline Tour
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