Getting hassled on holiday by locals

[LittleMissUnreasonable]

I've arrived on holiday a couple of days ago and can't believe how off-putting to business some of the locals are. The two main examples so far;

• Going to a market to have a look around, and wanting to buy some gifts.

Market trader: "Madam do you want to buy this scarf" Me: "No thanks just looking at the moment" "I can give you a good price" "No thank you" "I can sell for x" I end up just walking away as I have ASD and can't concentrate on what I actually want to buy and it's overwhelming someone getting in my face trying to sell something I'm not looking at.

Second scenario was a taxi ride
"When are you going home, I can do airport taxis"
"22nd, we have a taxi sorted thank you"
"I can do it for 15 ( example amount, much higher than our booked one)
"No thanks, we have it booked cheaper for 10 " (true)
"I can do it for 12.50"
"No thanks , we have a cheaper one booked"
He then gets arsey and moody so we have a quiet journey. 5 minutes later he hands us a business card and asks us to contact him if we need a driver. Yeah sure, a miserable man who tried to offer an inflated price for a journey we already sorted, and got irritated we didn't accept...

I don't want to name the country because I don't want to give bad opinions to someone who might want to go, but it's Asia (the Thailand/Indonesia/Malaysia/Philippines sort of vibe). But Im surprised that people think this is a way to get business. I saw loads of people looking at the markets before being scared off by persistent sellers.

Does anyone else feel the same?

Thank you @Puzzledandpissedoff I appreciate your explanation 😊so silly isn't it.

Thanks to other really helpful and supportive messages from other posters too.

On the plus side of this, my aunt went to Egypt a few years ago. She came back complaining about how shockingly expensive everything was. I think she just paid the first price they told her for everything 😂
My good old aunty, singlehandedly redistributing a bit of the worlds wealth.

Something I do when abroad with taxis is to always use the Uber app to avoid being ripped off, I love the fact that the fare is confirmed up front and paid by card - not sure it's available everywhere though.

Pretty standard in lots of countries, couldn’t get worked up about it if I had decided to go to one of them. Maybe research a bit more next time.

I've spent a lot of time in Egypt (husband's work) over the years and I hated all this stuff. I would never willingly go to a North African country again. It's just not my scene. It's a culture-clash, for sure. I think I'm unashamedly British and reserved and like to shop in peace and at my pace, not the vendors!

One of the most ironic things is the shops which claim to be 'no hassle' and then they come out and hassle you about being 'no hassle'. You have to see the funny side, I guess.

Good luck to all those who genuinely enjoy it - you must be crazy!! 😆

I'm sometimes your Auntie

I paid the first price for a fridge magnet the other day because it was stinking hot, I'm pregnant and knackered and to be honest haggling someone who has much less than me down from £2.50 to £1.75 for a fridge magnet seemed like a futile exercise for everyone.

I did haggle a more expensive item down by a smidge though, for the sake of the cultural expectation.

I can relate to this. I've been to markets in India where a clearly poor person quotes a very reasonable price for a throw or something. I accept the price and buy it. My rich Indian in laws are outraged that I didn't haggle her down to almost nothing.

bartering is a part of some cultures and they would approach everyone but foreign nationals/tourists more as they expected them to have more money. even on my visits back home I am told to keep my mouth tightly shut on shopping trips with family as even though I am fluent in my native tongue, I mix in English phrases without realising and that hikes the prices up lol.

it's hard if you are not used to it but you just have to be very firm (and almost rude) back and not give any leeway at all.

I’ve always found that saying no thank you firmly but with a smile in their native language (google translate super handy for short phrases) often means they move onto the next tourist quickly, especially if they think you’ve been here before by speaking some of the language etc, they know you know better.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip, and I would just say don't act too interested in things you don’t intent to haggle/ buy. In those sort of places looking and picking stuff up seems to more signal it’s a done deal and you’re hooked into the sale so I just tend to walk by and side eye what I might want and have prices and then loop back when I’m ready to buy. It can be intense when you’re not used to that style of selling. Happy travels!

barter
/ˈbɑːtə/

verb

1. exchange (goods or services) for other goods or services without using money.

I live in a tourist resort I dont get bothered because they know me but its intrusive and annoying when it happens But you need a firm "no" You dint need to engage. Just say no and continue walking

The people in these countries know that western wages are much higher, and want to be able to hit the sweet spot where you feel you've got a product or service cheaply and they've made a killing. I suspect historically it worked well as western tourists were poorly informed, no internet, fewer guidebooks etc

They often have culture of self employment so the trader keeps every penny of the sale price, its in their interest to get you to buy at the best price. Also its cultural. Locals visit a market because they need or want to buy things, not to amble around trying to absorb the atmosphere. By being there at all you are essentially sending the signal you want to be sold to.

There's an online dictionary you can use to look up "bartering".

What they are doing definitely is not that.

It's haggling, not bartering.