perspectives
[ reaching for an understanding ]
Allan: When I first arrived I didn’t expect to be as crowded as it was, and I thought there would be more room. I thought it would be more organized, but it just felt very cluttered and I felt kind of smothered in the crowd of people. Then as I was walking through to find something to buy, I felt like my personal space was invaded, because without even speaking to them, they would try to come up to me to get me to go into their shop. I didn’t expect that. I thought I’d be able to browse around, and that was not at all what I could do. I thought that when I actually stepped in the shop that they would leave me alone so I could look around and find what I want, but the whole time they were right behind me and asking me every single question they could think of to make me buy something. When I was purchasing, I thought I could bargain just a little less and get a good deal …
Lijun: Once, when I went shopping in an American shopping center, I decided to buy a pair of shoes, so I asked the manager the price of those shoes. The manager gave me a price which I could not afford to pay. With my experience in Chinese shopping centers, usually we can cut down one third of the price that the manager gives us. According to this, I tried to bargain with the American manager. However, it was a surprise to me, We can almost never bargain in American shopping stores. In other words,we can not change the price which is set already.
In China, I mean the common market’s price is usually set by the manager or owner of the shop. However, the price may be ridiculous. So, people need to learn how to bargain in China. The mindset of those sellers is of course that they want to earn much profit on their merchandise. (One thing important is that these shops are owned privately.) So, they will make a higher price in order to make profit.
Allan: In America, the price of a product is always set by the business owner. Naturally, he will earn a profit. He buys things from a manufacturer (in bulk) and sells them at an increased price, and gets the profit by doing so. If the product does not sell successfully at the current price, then he will adjust the price ... usually with a “sale” price. The customer does not have the power of adjusting the price. The customer has the choice to “wait out" the best bargain ... wait for the best sale price.
“... the common market’s price is usually set by the manager or owner of the shop. However, the price may be ridiculous. So, people need to learn how to bargain in China.”
what do you think?
Yeni: I've seen bargaining in different forms especially at a local scene. Including garage sales, flea markets, or even estate sales it is interesting to see how different locations involve a price tag and the voice of the customer. The relationship between the buyer and seller in the United States can be strained at times by the location, language barrier, body language, and the invasion of personal space. In combination with all of these restrictions and being involved in a different culture over international seas this can make the buying process even more difficult.
Andres: Even though I have previous personal experience with this particular situation, because in my country we have a similar type of markets where you have to bargain with the salesmen in order to get a good price on the goods you are buying. I think I would have felt very uncomfortable with the attitude of the salesman towards me: always trying to guess what I would be interested on buying and in general with all the environment in which you don’t have much personal space. However, I know that in that situation you have to already have a clear idea of what you want and how much how much money are you willing to spend on it, because that is what is expected of you. otherwise your can get annoyed really easily and at the end if you buy something, then realize that you paid too much for it.
Amanda: From an American’s perspective, I feel very bombarded. Why is the shop keeper so pushy? I wish he would back off and let Allan look at his products. If Allan has questions, I'm sure he will ask. On the side of the Chinese shopkeeper: I'm sure he was just trying to be helpful. And in that market culture, most people are accustomed to being treated that way.
Matt: The big thing that struck me at first about their interaction that the customer couldn't communicate very well with the shopkeeper. Whenever he asked for a price, the shopkeeper would just shove a calculator in his face. When you factor in the fact that it was cramped and probably noisy, I can see how it would be very uncomfortable. If it were me in that situation, I would have likely walked away after a few seconds! I definitely would prefer the "American" shopping experience, where things are organized and no one is trying to sell me something. In this scene, there is a lot of pressure on the customer to bargain the right price, or else!