24 June 2007, ST
By Mathew Pereira
ON A holiday in Bali with family and friends just over a week ago, our group did what many do when they are not on the beautiful white-sand beaches there - shop.
On one shopping trip I bought a leather travelling bag. Being a leather freak of sorts, a purchase like this would usually leave me on a high for a few days. Not this time, though.
There was nothing wrong with the tan-coloured bag. It was tough but supple and would just about clear the size limits for airline carry-on luggage.
I'd picked it up from one of hundreds of market stores in Ubud, in the central part of Bali. These stores sell handicraft ranging from wood carvings, pottery and silverware to straw bags, sarongs and leather goods.
Yes, there was nothing wrong with the bag - it was how much I paid for it that troubled me.
In Bali, bargaining is expected and is part of the fun of shopping.
The woman seller's asking price for the bag was $150.
Back here in Singapore, I would have considered $250 a steal. But this being Bali, I haggled and offered her the equivalent of $35. She turned it down, she counter-offered, and so did I and so on.
After about 20 minutes, we agreed on a price - $50.
In Singapore, I've paid that amount just for a plain piece of leather. This time, however, $50 was for everything - the labour that went into making the bag which would include, designing, cutting and stitching. I felt guilty.
Later, I had a chat with friends about where one should draw the line when bargaining. They took a business-like and uncompromising view, assuring me that no trader would sell anything to me at a loss.
But that argument reminded me of something a friend related to me several years ago during the Asian economic crisis.
Thailand was particularly hard hit. Many people were out on the streets selling everything they owned - even luxury cars - pasar malam-style for a fraction of the actual cost.
Yet opportunistic buyers exploited the situation by bargaining with these down-and-out Thais even further.
I don't think it was the case in Bali, but one can never know. Many of the itinerant hawkers and hotel and sales staff there said business had never really picked up since the two bomb blasts in Bali, one in 2002 which killed more than 200 people, and another in 2005 that killed more than 20 people.
What bothered me was that sometimes we were even quibbling over a mere $2 or $3 - the price of a bowl of noodles. Was it really worth haggling that much, I wondered.
But a friend countered that, while not a big deal to us, $2 or $3 is a significant amount to many in Bali and should not be given away freely. For instance, I was told that some of the staff at the place I was staying were paid only $5 a day.
I must admit I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to bargaining. I tend to cave in quite quickly. It is just not in my blood, though I won't go so far as to say it is not in my genes. My 15-year-old son can look a hawker straight in the eye, slash 30 per cent off the asking price and not even flinch.
However, he learnt that you can push it too far. He recently went to Bangkok for a rugby tour with his school team. While shopping, they had a field day bargaining - except at one stall.
My son turned around to walk away after a bout of protracted bargaining ended with the seller refusing to lower the price further for a T-shirt that my son was interested in. The woman seller then said to him: 'You don't buy the T-shirt, I'll kill you.' He bought it.
Perhaps she just got fed up with his hard haggling. Or perhaps, she simply needed the money. In which case, it was a useful lesson.
Sure, there are those in my group for whom bargaining is for fun and for whom a good price is like a major victory.
There really is no right or wrong to bargaining and the extent one wants to push it.
However, I keep thinking about my son's incident in Bangkok, and of course, my Bali bag.
I love a good buy, but I feel uneasy when I see how little some of these artisans, particularly those people who live in Ubud, are paid for their creativity, skills and hard work.
Looking at how they were dressed also told me how little they had.
And so I hope that the next time I bargain, I will be reasonable about it.
That may mean paying a few dollars more than if I had bargained real hard - for which some may call me a sucker.
But if it is only going to cost just a few bucks more and it makes the trader happy, so what. I can live with that label.
By Mathew Pereira
ON A holiday in Bali with family and friends just over a week ago, our group did what many do when they are not on the beautiful white-sand beaches there - shop.
On one shopping trip I bought a leather travelling bag. Being a leather freak of sorts, a purchase like this would usually leave me on a high for a few days. Not this time, though.
There was nothing wrong with the tan-coloured bag. It was tough but supple and would just about clear the size limits for airline carry-on luggage.
I'd picked it up from one of hundreds of market stores in Ubud, in the central part of Bali. These stores sell handicraft ranging from wood carvings, pottery and silverware to straw bags, sarongs and leather goods.
Yes, there was nothing wrong with the bag - it was how much I paid for it that troubled me.
In Bali, bargaining is expected and is part of the fun of shopping.
The woman seller's asking price for the bag was $150.
Back here in Singapore, I would have considered $250 a steal. But this being Bali, I haggled and offered her the equivalent of $35. She turned it down, she counter-offered, and so did I and so on.
After about 20 minutes, we agreed on a price - $50.
In Singapore, I've paid that amount just for a plain piece of leather. This time, however, $50 was for everything - the labour that went into making the bag which would include, designing, cutting and stitching. I felt guilty.
Later, I had a chat with friends about where one should draw the line when bargaining. They took a business-like and uncompromising view, assuring me that no trader would sell anything to me at a loss.
But that argument reminded me of something a friend related to me several years ago during the Asian economic crisis.
Thailand was particularly hard hit. Many people were out on the streets selling everything they owned - even luxury cars - pasar malam-style for a fraction of the actual cost.
Yet opportunistic buyers exploited the situation by bargaining with these down-and-out Thais even further.
I don't think it was the case in Bali, but one can never know. Many of the itinerant hawkers and hotel and sales staff there said business had never really picked up since the two bomb blasts in Bali, one in 2002 which killed more than 200 people, and another in 2005 that killed more than 20 people.
What bothered me was that sometimes we were even quibbling over a mere $2 or $3 - the price of a bowl of noodles. Was it really worth haggling that much, I wondered.
But a friend countered that, while not a big deal to us, $2 or $3 is a significant amount to many in Bali and should not be given away freely. For instance, I was told that some of the staff at the place I was staying were paid only $5 a day.
I must admit I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to bargaining. I tend to cave in quite quickly. It is just not in my blood, though I won't go so far as to say it is not in my genes. My 15-year-old son can look a hawker straight in the eye, slash 30 per cent off the asking price and not even flinch.
However, he learnt that you can push it too far. He recently went to Bangkok for a rugby tour with his school team. While shopping, they had a field day bargaining - except at one stall.
My son turned around to walk away after a bout of protracted bargaining ended with the seller refusing to lower the price further for a T-shirt that my son was interested in. The woman seller then said to him: 'You don't buy the T-shirt, I'll kill you.' He bought it.
Perhaps she just got fed up with his hard haggling. Or perhaps, she simply needed the money. In which case, it was a useful lesson.
Sure, there are those in my group for whom bargaining is for fun and for whom a good price is like a major victory.
There really is no right or wrong to bargaining and the extent one wants to push it.
However, I keep thinking about my son's incident in Bangkok, and of course, my Bali bag.
I love a good buy, but I feel uneasy when I see how little some of these artisans, particularly those people who live in Ubud, are paid for their creativity, skills and hard work.
Looking at how they were dressed also told me how little they had.
And so I hope that the next time I bargain, I will be reasonable about it.
That may mean paying a few dollars more than if I had bargained real hard - for which some may call me a sucker.
But if it is only going to cost just a few bucks more and it makes the trader happy, so what. I can live with that label.
