Andy Hill
Many
travelers complain of the ‘foreigner price’ they are allegedly extorted when
paying for things in foreign places. Here’s why it happens, and how to make it
go away
One of the
things you hear from travelers about is this ‘foreigner price’ phenomenon;
where the woman selling papayas from the back of a truck assumedly, allegedly,
ripped you off- because you’re a foreigner.
Why it Happens
In the streets
of anywhere in the developing world,
a western foreigner can’t expect to be given the same price for things that
natives are. It doesn’t need to inspire any kind of xenophobic bias or pattern
in your mind about ‘these’ or ‘that’ people. It’s just happens. All over the
world. Just because it’s the first time you’ve obviously paid more for
something for being a foreigner, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen all the time,
all over the planet.
Plus, if you’re
in a developing country, where people might live for $2 a day, don’t make
yourself look like you make $500 in a day. That $900 camera hanging around your
neck is proof enough that you should pay fifty cents more for a bag of oranges
than the local guy in front of you.
How to make yourself (mostly) immune to
it
Learn how to say
the numbers 1-100 in the local language. This is far easier than it sounds.
Learn also how to say ‘hundred’, ‘thousand’, ‘million’ - whatever you need
based on the currency of the place you’re in. Write them down in a special
notebook that you always have with you. Pace around in a room, reading them and
practicing them. When I was in Bali, I would count my steps in Bahasa
Indonesian, and, although at first it was extremely frustrating, I learned the
counting system very quickly. And I am lousy
with foreign languages.
When you haggle
at a market or for a ride somewhere or anything else, it makes a very marked
difference if you are comfortable speaking numbers and prices in the local
language. Price decreases nearly always occur. So, learn the basic numbers and
you’ll fairly quickly be given a price that much more resembles the local one.
The process of
haggling varies much from country to country, but the rule of the game (as
always) is to always be polite. If you don’t want their price, just thank them
(in their language), smile, and walk away.
They’ll probably
immediately begin to shout to you at least your price, if not a few pennies
more that you can easily overlook.
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