The Adventures of Bruce and Ian

After a quick nap and a hot shower (both well deserved), we hit the town in search for some trinkets and whatsits at Batu Ferringhi’s huge night market.

What used to be a calm sidewalk by day, transforms into a frenzy of activity, full of shoppers trying to strike a deal. The bright fluorescent lights of each table and crazy neon colors of trishaws passing by reminded me of a Eastern influenced Las Vegas. It was madness!

Scoping the goods at Batu Ferringhi.

Shopkeepers were hawking their wares with gusto. You could buy literally anything, including:

• Sunglasses
• T-Shirts
• Toys
• Handbags
• “Real” DVD’s and CD’s
• “Real” software

Then there was one table we walked by, that had one item that caught my eye. A plain black Zippo lighter. Now, I’m by no means a smoker – or a pyromaniac either – I just like flipping Zippos open and closing, doing tricks with them, you know – anything that makes me look dangerous…

I decided to make use of the lessons Sarah taught me on our previous haggling attempt and see if I couldn’t get this puppy in my hot little hands for a fraction of the price.

Here’s my attempt.

Lo and behold – here is the patented Ian Method™ of haggling:

• 1. Ask how much the item is.
• 2. Immediately counter the offer. Say it again to ingrain it in the vendor’s head.
• 3. When rejected, immediately ask what other colours are available.
  (this is done to sidetrack the vendor’s train of thought)
• 4. Ask of alternative options or variants of the item that you know clearly don’t exist.
• 5. Slightly raise your counter offer.
  (to the point where it’s a neglible 5 RM away from the original price)
• 6. Add the words “and I’ll take it no problem” – to assure the person that their worries will be put to rest if sold at that price
• 7. Question the authenticity of the item.
• 8. When asked whether or not you yourself can verify the authenticity – ask again.
• 9. Admit defeat and pay the vendor the original price.

Yes yes…I’m a pitiful excuse for a haggler…I hang my head in shame.

Tags: Batu Ferringhi, haggling, malaysia, Malaysia.com, Night Markets, Penang, Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.