M and I decided to join forces to buy tshirts at the granite quarry. But the seller kept switching from pounds to dollars. I said I’d bought a T-shirt for $2 the day before but he shushed me as he thought M was the easier mark. At one point he took M’s money and counted it and put it in his pocket. In retrospect this was when we should have grabbed the bag and left but we stayed too long arguing about how much MORE to give him. In the end, $36 US for 2 tshirts and 3 figurines. In retrospect a really bad deal, but it was our first big deal, and he was really good. But the disappointment from that negotiation primed me for the next.
I picked up a 5″ handmade ceramic dish at the Valley of the Queens. I almost left it behind but my gut said it was unique and I’d regret leaving it. He wanted 25. I started at 5 then moved to 10. He tried to bump me up from 10 twice but I stood my ground and said it’s a very good price. He finally relented.
At the Temple of Hapsetshut, the stone Scarab I liked was 65 US. Ridiculous. I started at 2. We were at 25 vs 5 when Mr A arrived in high anxiety to hurry me to the bus. Ahh, good cop vs bad cop. I turned to say shokran because he was actually nice to me and he quickly said “my boss says 15” to which I said “ok 10” and plunked down my ready 5’s. The sale was made! Lol. I was the last one on the bus. Still a ridiculous price! But it was this buy that cemented my reputation on the bus as Negotiator Supreme.
Bargaining takes practice and not all deals will be good. Buy a few small things to get ready for the big buys. Value is relative. Often the value is in buying it while you’re there. It’s a tangible memory of your visit. In 40 years of travel I can’t think of a purchase I’ve regretted.
But just have your cash offer in hand. Negotiations are theoretical. It’s hard to argue with a pile of money.
Also, the quality of the Egyptian cotton T shirts was really very good, thick and soft. Haven’t seen shirts like this in the US for a long time. Sizing is small, buy one size up. I had to buy Mens XXL instead of XL. And even that was a bit small.
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