The basic rule for bargaining is to master the art of representing yourself as a fashion designer, footwear designer, college / school student…etc, depending on the situation…
In a endeavour of mastering the art, or should I say…still learning the art of bargaining, I have been faced with many situation, where, I must admit, have succeeded in bargaining to the best!!
Case 1: Auto Guys
The previous day, I thought of pampering myself and hiring an auto to go to office…I thought of breaking through the monotony and getting little more considerate about my legs, giving my ankle muscles a break from continuously juggling between the clutch plate and the break… Hence I decided to stretch my legs in an auto…
Ok, that is it on the background… let me get to the point
I with all my baggage (handbag, lunch bag and laptop bag), was on the road, calling out to every auto that passed by, not even bothering to look inside and realize, that the same is booked… After about 15 minutes of calling out to autos, one of them stopped by me…
Auto Guy: Kahan? (Where?)
Me: Okhla jaana hai… (I want to go to Okhla)
Auto Guy shook his head and mumbled something… I being me… muphat (Something my friends keep reminding me and now, I think they think its my second name) asked him ‘Kyun Nahin Jaana, jungle thodi na hai’
He didn’t bother to answer, instead just drove away…
After a few more minutes of trying, I got lucky again! This time, the experience was different, the conversation with the auto dude went like this
Me: Bhaiya, Okhla jaana hai
Auto Guy: Rs. 60/- lage ga
Me: Okhla bhol rahi hoon, chandni chawk nahin… Meter chalao…Rs. 30/- lagte hain, aur aap students ke saat yeh karenge… humhe bhi pocket money milta hai… (I could not believe I said that, but realized, the trick worked)
Auto Guy: Rs. 35 dena… but he refused to use the meter…
Aah… from Rs. 60/- to Rs. 35/- … not bad!
That is the time I felt totally sympathetic towards those, who have to travel by an auto every day… wonder, what they have to go through every morning… how many ‘reasons’ she/he would have to give, while bargaining with the auto guy… hmm… They might as well come out with a book ‘100 ways of bargaining with an auto guy’.
Case 2: Shop keepers at Janpath
As we walk down the lane, many of the shopkeepers keep calling us to take a look at the collection… Granting one with the pleasure of hosting us, we walked into his shop
My friend apparently fell in love with this scarf, which was over priced… hence the conversation was …
Me: Yeh kitne ka hai (how much is this for?)
Shopkeeper: Rs. 900/- (for a small scarf!!!!)
Me: Kya, itna mehanga… ismein hai kya….
Shopkeeper starts explaining, this is crepe, silk n all…
Me: Mein fashion designer hoon, humko pata hai…. Hum sirf Rs. 300 denge…
Giving me a amazed look (god knows, what he must be thinking…) shakes his head and says….
Shopkeeper: Rs. 850/-
Sticking to my grounds, me and my friend starting moving out of the shop…. The shopkeeper starts shouting at us, Rs. 800 de do… Rs 750 de do… and then we didn’t hear him…
Noticing us, entering another shop… he rushes to us to say… aacha le lo…
Seeing my friend run to shop to get the scarf, I was happy to have learning the tricks of the trade…
Hence… my friends… if you in Delhi and want to survive here…, learn how to bargain… because, that’s what will help you save yourself from being fooled…
4 comments:
hii
yea its pretty much the same in some areas on bombay as well. What we do with ricks is get in and then say.. i want to go this place...and if he says.. i wont u can always argue that his meter said.. "for hire". believe me tht has worked, getting in first and telling them where to go.
And yea Fashion street in Bombay is pretty similar to Janpath.. same stuff... whtever price they say,, we straightaway say half or even less than that... interesting how the two metros are so alike even as people from both cities always try to point out the differences in the other one.
-birdy
wow! Thats like my everyday story... its so frustrating...every morning begins with a stupid argument with these swindlers!
Bharadwaj: Its us who define the divide... Mumbai and Delhi ... all are the same...
Rohit: I totally understand... we just need to start thinking innovatively and come out with ways to haggle ;)
yea "we the people" :)
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