As a foreigner, it doesn’t mean you can not buy things with a fair price and be afraid of being victim of a scam. You just only have to learn how to bargain like a pro. How exactly? I’ll tell you.
First of all, you need to know that Indonesia has many different kind of markets. Traditional market, modern market, or mix of both. In big malls, there usually a fixed price for everything. But, in semi-modern or even traditional market, you still can bargain for a cheaper price, especially when you want to buy a huge amount of products.
Types of market for you to show your haggling ability in Indonesia includes traditional market or usually called by locals as “pasar”, and trade centers like ITC, WTC, retail stores and etc. Chinatown is actually a good example. There are stores on every corner of the streets and it had trade centers nearby. If you are curious, you can check out the City Tour Jakarta Chinatown Tour.
How to Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta : Learn Basic Conversation in Bahasa
When you want to ask the price to the seller, ask it in Bahasa. You can start with “Pak/Bu, ini berapaan? (How much is this?)”. And continue with “Harganya bisa kurang, enggak? (Can you give me discount for this?)”.
How to Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta : Haggle The Price to 70 {9e84ad3adf7f6649419c3d34c511cc75d18ba3101b1ac61299241cdd2f2cd7ab} Lower
Second, haggle the price to 70 percent lower than the initial price. 70 percent?!
Don’t be surprised, it is actually quite common, and you will get the product at that price level, but of course it also depends on what you are buying. If you are afraid the seller will get angry if you do that, just say it jokingly with a smile on your face and you might want to persuade the seller with “Kasihlah Bu/Pak, buat penglaris.”
How to Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta : Memorize Numbers in Local Language
You might want to memorize numbers in Bahasa, so you can know the exact amount of the price and you can use it to mention the amount you are willing to pay for the product.
How to Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta : Take a Local Friend to Go Shopping
If you don’t have time to learn Bahasa and feeling not comfortable enough to shop alone in an unfamiliar place, your last resort is take a local to accompany you to go shopping.
You can choose which item you want to buy and just give the rest to your local friend. But, you need to remember that not every local people have the ability to bargain price. So if you want to ask your local friend to shop with you, ask the one who use to shop like a pro!
Now, if you are ready to take on the challenge to show your new ability, it is time to shop. Where can you start? First stop, Jakarta Chinatown of course!
