Tips for bartering and wise purchases in China?

Hi, I plan to go to Beijing in a month and go shopping at the street markets/gray markets, but the vendors there are known to balloon their prices and sometimes sell seriously defected products. What are some ways to barter with the vendors? (I can speak a little Chinese). Also, what are some precautions that I should take before I make a purchase? (Besides the typical "Check it if it works)|||First you should kind of survey where you are and what you're shopping for. When I went, I found that the smaller markets that cater mostly to locals and Chinese tourists, you should counter offer a little below half the asking price and then go up to half the asking price. In the touristy markets that cater to Americans, Europeans, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Koreans, I would start at 1/4 the asking price and go up to maybe 1/3.





The local markets are good bets for DVDs, generic clothing (socks, underwear, etc.), and houseware (fancy chopsticks, teasets, etc.). Touristy places will have your nunchuks, communist propaganda, and knockoff fashions. Don't buy electronics in China or anywhere else in Asia really. It isn't that much cheaper and most of the warranties are void outside of Asia. Japan would really be the only place in Asia to buy electronics, maybe Hong Kong, but you have to be really careful there.





Unless you're in the market for electronics or antiques, there isn't too much to worry about. Look out for shoddy workmanship on knockoffs and never believe anyone who insists that his product is not a knockoff. Stay away from department stores. While you might be able to get genuine products there, it probably won't be as cheap as you could get it back home (and even some of the official looking stores sell knockoffs). The only stuff you might want to go looking for the official store to buy is Olympics collectibles.|||In order to bargain effectively, you must know how to say numbers in Chinese. What I usually do is when i want an item i ask the price, "Duo shao qian (dwo-shaw-chyen)?". Then I always say that it's too expensive by saying, "Tai gui le! (Tay-gwey-lah)" Then I bargain by reducing the price in half...then adding 5rmb on the way...If i still think it's too expensive, I pretend to walk away. Most vendors would run after you and bargain some more or would give in. I enjoy bargaining in China. A piece of advice...Don't be an impulsive buyer. Haggle as much as you can. Check the items carefully. Enjoy!|||talk to them in chinese... show little interest on their products.. happy shopping!|||One thing I discovered while living in China for 1 year: You have to be a native over there if you don't want to get ripped off in any way. Another thing. In Beijing vendors inflate their prices less than vendors in cities in southern China. If you shop in southern China be more careful.





Some tips:


1. Tell them you only have a certain amount of money at hand when you buy an expensive item they overprice.





2. If you bulk buy some of the stuff, ex clothing, you might get a better deal.





3. Check around the market to see if there are other vendors that sell the same things. Check the prices with a few vendors selling the same stuff before you buy an item.


ex I bought a special type of magnet in China once and I really got ripped off!!! bought 2 of them for 2 RMB. Then I saw another vendor selling 6 for 1RMB!!!





Happy shopping!|||For the lowest price possible, you should have a local Chinese friend do the buying (if you have a local Chinese friend). Otherwise, all the tourist shops and street vendor will attempt to charge you 10-20 times their purchase price. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate....... they expect it.