Comments on: Expats are often overcharged by locals, but sometimes it’s the other way around

By: Roy

Roy — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:11:43 +0000

I have lived in Harbin (China) since January 2012 and I COMPLETELY understand, so much so that I stopped going to street vendors. It is insane how much they try to overcharge here. For example, I tried to buy a laptop this week, the shop keeper at the electronics store in the electronics city didn’t know that I had window shopped at his store last week at the SAME laptop with the SAME specs for the hardware and I saw the price tag last week. This week the same laptop was still there, but no price tag. I went to purchase it and the shop keeper tried to charge me DOUBLE!!! YES, DOUBLE!!! So I said in Chinese “I am not a tourist and you have disrespected me and in turn you have lost face with me and my friends”. He hung his head and then offered to give it to me for cheaper but he had already damaged that chance so I left and let him stew over his screw up 🙂

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:28:50 +0000

In reply to Rachel. Rachel, I think that woman had a good style. It's nice to know when they are trying to take advantage of those of us who they assume to be "rich" and I don't mind paying more than a local in most cases. It can be annoying when they play like we are stupid, however. -Tom

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:24:02 +0000

We used to have the same issue in Kenya, which I found irritating until a wealthy Kenyan friend pointed out that she viewed it as her version of philanthropy. She bartered things down to a reasonable level, but was happy to play slightly more, simply because she could afford it, and to the stall keeper, it made a huge difference.
She also pointed out that the stalls usually charged much lower prices than the supermarkets where we would otherwise have shopped, but also (usually) rewarded us with better service for repeat custom.
Having said that, she was very clear when people abused her ‘system’ and would happily tell them so!

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:02:10 +0000

In reply to Emily. Emily, I also lived in Chiang Mai for a while and I guess since I mostly shopped at the Lotus Express I didn't get ripped off as often. I did buy that spicy sausage and pork rinds from the outdoor market every week, so they probably doubled that price without me even realizing it. Fortunately, it still seemed pretty cheap. -Tom

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:16:04 +0000

I live in Chiang Mai Thailand and I am constantly getting over charged when trying to buy fruit. The sign at the fruit stand will say 35 baht for a kilo (in thai), but when I ask for a kilo, all of a sudden the price is double…The stall owner says its 35 for a half kilo. Oh sure!

I refuse to pay out of principal.