Comments on: Lesson on Negotiating (The Ultimate Sport), in Asia

By: Keith Cody

Keith Cody — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:34:54 +0000

You have to look at negotiating in the Silk and Pearl Market as the reason you go there. You don’t go to to get incredible bargains, just as you shouldn’t gamble to win. You gamble to enjoy yourself, it’s stacked against you. What you spend on gambling is the what it costs to enjoy gambling. Negotiating is the same way. You don’t rally need that shirt you are trying to haggle the vendor down on.

I’m much more interested in the Super-A replicas. Since the only thing justifying the prices of a real LV bag is the cache that the brand represents. If all they have to sell is that cache, I feel bad for them. Especially if you can get an replica that is the same quality. After a certain level of quality, all you are paying for is the brand.

I know a bit about fabric. I’m curious to see if the bargains from the street vendor are actually good quality fabrics, or just what most people think good quality fabric costs. I’m really looking forward to seeing a custom made suit for $50 or even $100. How it compares to US made $3000 suit. Do they cut any corners. I think this will be my favorite part of the trip.

I agree with most of the posts that the WSJ video isn’t very good. It’s not that enjoyable, or informative to watch.

By: Ashley Tyra

Ashley Tyra — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:28:36 +0000

China definitely has differing opinions when it comes to Intellectual Property. I was surprised to hear that name brands are cracking down at the vendor level. Foreigners drive the sale of counterfeit goods by purchasing knock-offs like the ones described in the article – in a way travelers are ignoring IP laws as much as vendors are.

Despite the counterfeit issues, I am excited to put my Californian negotiating skills to work. I may have to take some lessons from these videos and from my classmates that took Negotiations this quarter, but hopefully I can walk away with some good deals. I will just have to remember to bid very low, and walk away to seal the deal.

By: Fred S.

Fred S. — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:12:49 +0000

These videos are definitely helpful in being able to see what the bargaining environment will look like beforehand. The vendors definitely put up a hard bargain, but I have the advantage, now, knowing that they are willing to sell much lower. It is also an advantage in this huge silk market to be able to walk away from a deal and to be able to bargain vendors against each other on the lowest price. It is not like Wal-Mart where they advertise the lowest possible price.

It seems that you can get anything you want in China! Show the tailor a picture of $1000 suit and he’ll make it for you under $100. I am interested in buying a suit in China. I will for sure have to negotiate a better turnover rate though. I look forward to some hard negotiations in China.

By: Georgia

Georgia — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:24:51 +0000

The men in the movie were very stereotypical, but had some very good quotes. “We aren’t just soldiers, we are diplomats for our country” and “they’ve got a different way of seeing things here” were good starts, but they didn’t really stick to being diplomats or change their perspective. They bullied their way into getting their money, and even targeted the wrong businessman! I would never imagine asking for my money back. If someone gets the same item for less it is on me for not bartering down more.
Honestly, I am horrible at confrontation and am feel very guilty when I attempt to barter and usually fold easily. The WSJ short film gave me a new perspective, to think of it as a sport. Hopefully this will help me, but I am sure that I will not be getting the lowest costs for items. But I think that spending just a little more per item benefits the vendors a lot more than it hurts me.
In response to the WSJ article I remember being in New York City and searching for knock off purses. This man brought me through one locked door into a corridor and down some stairs into a room with no windows. I was with my father and we were not sure what was going to be in the room waiting for us. Luckily, it was just purses and we chose one and went on our merry way. But who doesn’t want knockoffs? I would never pay full price for a designer bag so the real companies really aren’t losing any business from me. Although I know the issue is larger than that. But as long as the price gap is so huge between the real thing and fakes I believe that there will always be a demand.

By: Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Brown — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:02:44 +0000

After watching this videos and taking the negotiations class this quarter, I am really excited to apply my western negotiations skills in China! While there won’t be nearly enough time to get something such as a suit I am intrigued especially by ties there that seem to be as low as $1.50 (compared to $20 or event $40 for some here in America).

I wish there were more opportunities to practice this sort of negotiating in America. Most retail stores here do not expect customers to negotiate and, as such, only a select few may be willing to. The walk-away technique is something I’ve always wanted to try and may have to seek out some opportunities to do so before traveling to China.

By: Charles Dornbush

Charles Dornbush — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:30:45 +0000

I look forward to negotiating and getting some good prices over in China. The Silk Market looks like an incredible experience, far more chaotic than even the craziest street vendors stateside. I also enjoyed the video of the tailor-made suit, but was surprised no bargaining was involved. I also wonder how his price compares to some of the more well known and more foreigner visited markets.

I think the biggest stumbling block for Californians negotiating in China is not be go too low. It sounds like going less than 10% of asking price is commonplace at the Silk Market, while here it would probably be very offensive and impossible for a vendor to sell for that low. Chinese vendors will certainly try to take advantage of us, so it is important not to be afraid to bid low.

By: Grant

Grant — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:03:07 +0000

It looks like a lot of fun, but I imagine that if you are in a hurry, you will won’t get the best price. Like the guy said, your greatest advantage is being able to walk away. I hope we get a chance to go and try out our negotiating skills. I think the thing to overcome is the temptation to feel sorry for them since we are rich americans and they have much less. I guess you just have to get over that, if it is a hangup.
The video on how to get a custom made suit was pretty interesting. He didn’t negotiate at all, which surprised me. Perhaps he negotiated off camera before they filmed it. It was a pretty good price, though $65 for a tailor made suit is pretty good.

By: Daniel Fleek

Daniel Fleek — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:49:53 +0000

The Silk and Pearl market looks like a nice swap meet in America. However, unlike the swap meets here, I thought it was funny that they sold a bunch of counterfeit items claiming that they couldn’t read the writing and they sold these items because they thought they were cute. I agree that this kind of practice should be regulated but I also think it’s not just the vendors fault since it is the customers who demand such products. Also, the fact that two thirds of the customers are foreigners further illustrates to me that it is not these vendors faults. In fact, I believe these vendors are being targeted unfairly by the big corporations. I mean, I bet these vendors are bearely making enough money to make a living. Also, I think these companies need to start making higher quality products that are harder to immitate instead of overcharging for “real” products that aren’t even that high of quality and therefore easy to immitate and sold for much cheaper.

The negotiating video by Wall Street Journal did not impress me that much. Yes, it did show me that in the Chinese swap meet, you negotiate the price on every item. However, it almost seemed like these guys were just being really greedy. These guys are obviously not short on cash so why are they driving such hard bargains to these vendors who are probably really poor. I think it shows how people can get caught up in trying to get the absolute lowest price even though paying a little extra would probably help the vendors out a lot. I wouldn’t necessary have the same opinion if dealing with a real business negotiation, but in the case of these little vendors, I wouldn’t mind paying an extra buck or two for something that’s already cheap in my standards. In this way, I would behave more like the guy who got his custom suit done. I did not see him negotiate for a lower price at all even though he probably could have gotten the suit and fabric for cheaper. Since the price he paid was a huge bargain compared to the price he would of paid in America, I believe he didn’t feel the need to negotiate for an even cheaper price.

By: Vladimir

Vladimir — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:56:13 +0000

Were they negotiating or flirting? Negotiating is more of an exercise than an opportunity to save a significant amount of money for the Westerner visiting the market. The value of saving a few dollars may be negative if time is money. The salespeople have the advantage of being professionals, they’ve haggled thousands of times, but it means more to them since it’s how they earn their living. This is more of a game for the consumer than negotiations between businesses, where the consequences are more serious and the costs of deadlocking or walking away are much higher. I read that some cultures would view a person’s ridiculously low offer as offensive. I was hoping the other video would show the suit buyer negotiate on the material and especially the tailoring to see a negotiation for a service.

I didn’t know that many Westerners want counterfeit goods. If I wanted to spend the money for a genuine name brand, I would buy the real thing. If I didn’t want to spend that much money, I would buy a cheaper brand. Pay for the quality and style, not for the label. If the look people like is only available in an expensive brand or a counterfeit of that brand, a cheaper brand should offer a similar (as similar as legally possible) look and not have to worry as much about the lawsuits. A company can’t simply estimate its loss in revenue as revenue gained from counterfeit sales because the who buy the counterfeit goods probably, and in the case of Rolex almost certainly, would not buy the genuine articles even if the fakes weren’t available. However, counterfeits in the market could make the brand seem less exclusive.

By: Kevin K.

Kevin K. — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:07:07 +0000

After watching the WSJ video I can see why they all it a sport in China — those salespeople were working up a sweat doing the hard sell. Best lesson to learn is to start extremely low — set your anchor price near rock bottom so that when you work up you are still well below your highest willingness to pay. Also, the tip to just walk away is another helpful thought. This looks like a lot of fun for some inexperienced Californians, and should make for a great learning experience — hopefully one that produces some great deals thanks in part to these helpful videos (perhaps a nice new suit like in the other listed video).