Bargaining in Malawi

So you want to bargain and buy things in Malawi, eh?  Let me relate a story that happened to me recently.  In Malawi, there are many instances where being an 'Azungu' or foreigner carries specific benefits.  Trying to buy goods in the market is not one of those instances.  Right away you are seen as having money, which is usually accurate, at least more than them.  Before I begin, let me warn you that I am horrible at bargaining and usually overpay, for a couple of reasons.  

1) I usually wait until the last minute to buy what I need and thus don't have time to shop around

2) When shopping, because I am in a hurry (see point 1), I usually don't like to take the time to bargain

3) I just don't like shopping

Yesterday, I took a taxi (grossly overpriced) to the area 2 market to buy a suit jacket.  You kind of need a suit jacket to attend high level meetings and since I have one today (actually had, it was kind of, sort of cancelled which is why I have time to write this blog) I needed a suit jacket yesterday.  

I got out of the taxi and limped (see previous post) to the market.  There are suit jackets hanging everywhere.  I start asking to see some but most are either too large or too small.  I wonder at this because I am the typical size of a Malawian man, so they must all have a hard time finding jackets.  I try a few more market stalls and finally find a jacket that fits well and whose style is somewhat pleasing to my and I hope, while I'm wearing it, other's eyes.  I ask the vendor for the price.  He quotes me MK3800.  That price is ridiculous.  I do my fake, choking, disbelieving look/noises but he is not impressed.  They usually aren't.  They're pretty good at this.  

I tell him the price is too much.  He says we can negotiate and tells me MK3600.  Oh, at this point I should let you know that I had asked the cab driver, as he was dressed well, what the price of a suit jacket should be.  He told me between MK600 and MK1000.  This is a good idea.  Always do some research first.  Although there is always the possibility that they could be wrong.  Another good idea is to go into a store and look at the price there so you can get your BATNA (a negotiating term, Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement).  

So, I'm at this vendor with this jacket that I like and he has offered me MK3600 as his best offer.  I know this price is ridiculous as most Malawians can't afford to pay that much for a suit jacket.  I say 'No, no, don't give me the 'azungu' price. I want the Malawian price'.  This usually never works, so don't bother.  All you will get is assurances that you are getting the Malawian price.  Then he tells me that prices have gone up etc. etc. yadda yadda yadda.  He asks me for an offer.  So, now is your chance... don't get anchored (another negotiation term) by his initial quote.  Just go for what you think is the right price.  What's he gonna do, laugh?  Another approach is to tell him what the price should be from the get-go, like, "Hey, I'll give you MK600 for that jacket."  This is probably better, but as I said before I'm not the best at this.

So, I offer MK600.  He starts to laugh and there is laughter by those all around me.  Don't get fooled by this ploy!  They love to do this one.  They all laugh as if what you have offered is the most ridiculous price.  You look around and everyone is laughing as if you have told the most fantastic joke in the world.  Trust me, you'll get laughed at a lot.  But stand your ground.  Winston Churchill would have! Don't ask where that came from, I have no idea, but I could tell you this cool story about Winston Churchill negotiating with Italy (or was it Germany?) over the fate of five countries including Malta (where my parents are from) during WWII.  I'm not at all sure if it is true but his stance definitely put him in a positive light in my eyes.  He rejected Italy (Germany?)'s offer by the way...

The vendor rejects my offer, then shows me the suit jacket lining, and brand name, and says that this is quality.  I ask what is the price difference then between this one and all the others.  He replies that they are all the same, which makes no sense, since some of these jackets are horrible looking, some seem to belong in a marching band (forgiveness, please, if you love marching band jackets, but really now...).  I then see a small paper pinned to one of the jackets that says "600".  I ask, if they are all the same price, well that one says 600, so they must all be 600.  He replies that 600 actually refers to British pounds.  So apparently, in this market stall in Malawi, in Area 2, this marching band suit jacket costs 600 British pounds, which is equivalent to 1200 Canadian dollars, also equalling 168,000 Malawi kwacha, which given the disposable income of most professional Malawians (who would be in the market for a suit jacket but probably not a marching band suit jacket) would require them to save up for about 8 months to buy this thing, if they didn't buy anything else within that time period.

"Really? 600 british pounds?"

"yes"

"Pounds? you're serious..." (said in a sarcastic, kind of suave-like manner)

"Yes"

"Do you know how much kwacha that is?"

"---"  thinking...

"Its about 180,000 kwacha"  

"Yes, that is the price"

"So, if thats the price, and they're all the same price, why are these only MK3600?"

"---" grin on his face... his friend starts taking out his calculator to calculate the conversion of 600 british pounds to Malawi kwacha.

"600.  British pounds.  You're sure?"

"Yes".

Okay, at this point I walk away.  I'm tired and I hate getting ripped off, and I'll just find someone else to buy a jacket from, which I eventually did, but still overpaid, but only paid about MK1000, which is at least reasonable.  Now I thought about walking past that first vendor and showing him that he missed out on a sale and that he could have made some profit if he was reasonable, but then I think that this is petty and not very nice, besides vengefulness is not a very admirable quality.  I mean... really, look how Captain Ahab turned out?