The Art of Haggling

Who would have thought an Indian and a Chinese together cannot haggle the price down when facing a Moroccan? When it comes to bargaining, I always think I am pretty good since I have years of practice growing up in China and being so used to haggle for practically everything regardless if it’s a blouse or a kilo of tomatoes. Same goes for Srini, already very skilled in this art, can usually drive a hard bargain. We are so confident heading towards to the souks of Marrakech thinking we will get some really great deals. Every time we would cut the asking price in half but almost every time when we buy something and go to the next shop, the asking price is cheaper than our previous purchase price for the same goods. Is the quality deciding factor for the price? We would never know because I simply cannot tell goat skin from sheep skin which the lamp could be made from. According to the amiable shop owner, one emits bad smell after lighting up and the other does not - the "better" one of course costs three times more. I probably will not know until I have the lamp lighting up a couple hours in my house here in Virginia and suddenly smell the stench. Srini and I try to remind each other not to fall for it next time but we do it again and again facing the various vendors. Berber or Arab, it does not matter. It’s always a win-lose situation or we leave the shop feeling we have been tricked again or haven’t we? We will never know...At the end of the day, I admire these masters of art and wish I could possess it when negotiating salary with my boss. :D