Shopping, Part Three: Craft Markets and Roadside Stalls

Swazi craft market

Generally, I love roadside craft stalls and craft markets. They're fun and I usually find something unique. Well, at least the stuff is unique once I get it back home. Anway, we travelled to several areas that had craft vendors. There were vendors set up at the tourist overlooks along the Panoramic Route of the Drakensburg Mountains. There was a whole craft market in the Ezulwini Valley of Swaziland. OK, pretty much, there were crafts available for sale everywhere we stopped. Here are the important lessons that I took away from our travel experience (be they right or wrong):

1. You can usually haggle, but don't overdo it. It's sort of fun to dicker over price. It's like a game. Nobody wants to ger ripped off either. Guess what - that includes the merchant. I didn't want to overpay, but if I did, then so what? I don't mean this to sound pompous, but a couple of extra bucks will mean a lot more to the merchant than it will to me. Another part of haggling? Unless you know exactly what something is worth, don't fall prey to the line, "What would you like to pay for this?"


2. Sure, you/your mother/your great aunt made this rare work of art by hand at your home. Yes, I fell for this once. Sometimes it really is true. Be careful and look around. Are the same EXACT items in every other stall? Then it's probably not a lovingly handcrafted item painstakingly made at the merchant's home. Do you love it anyway? Then buy it, for Pete's sake.


3. You might not have to be rude, but sometimes you have to be firm. I tried to be nice and greet all of merchants overseeing the stalls that I browsed in. I know that it's their job to sell to me. That's how people make money. It's not as cool when a merchant tries to tug me into their stall. The hard sell got a whole new meaning for me. After a few stalls, I began to realize that I just had to smile, say goodbye, and walk away. Yup, I actually did hear one or two snide comments, but so what? I'm just not going to buy at every place.


4. Don't take something from the merchant! I learned this lesson in Victoria Falls. A merchant was trying to convince me that his hand-woven basket/charger was truly a work of art. It was nice, but I wasn't even remotely in the market for it. He handed it to me to inspect. I said it was lovely, truly one-of-a-kind, but no thanks, and tried to hand it back. Oops! Unless you're REALLY persistent, if you've touched it, you've bought it. It took about 5 minutes of convincing him to take it back before I got out of there. This was an instance in which I shouldn't have tried to be so polite. I should've just set it down on the ground and walked away.


5. It's free! See Lesson #4 for info on the persistant merchant. At one point, the merchant told me that the basket was free. It was his gift to me. Sure, it was. I wonder what happens if you just say thanks, and walk away with it? I wouldn't do that, because it's taking money out of his pocket, but I do wonder.