Silk Market - Beijing - TravBuddy

I love travelling in China, yes, yes I know all about the human rights etc.. but you really must get there and see it before capitalism and the olympics destroys it..anyway, more of that in later posts and reviews. Despite my dislike of the capitalisation of China this post is about one of the most capitalist outposts in Beijing. The Silk Market (also known as silk alley) is in the centre of Beijing. When I first went to China in 2001 it was really an alleyway with some great little stalls but then the govt. decided to replace it with a Mall. Boo hoo etc..was the general opinion of that but having been recently to the revamped locale I can say it has improved. There are now 5 floors of "quality tat", fake designer clothing, bags, shoes, electronics etc.. and good deals can be had.
The general prices have risen slightly over the years but it is still good value, indeed my fav Diesel Bag (a fake) has easliy outlasted the genuine item I got in the states. The tricks to gettting a good deal in the Silk Market are:

1. Don't want the item too much
2. Expect the trader to ask for about 1000% more than they are worth
3. Always be mis-trustful of the origin or genuine nature of the item...it IS a fake.
4. You will see that there are at least 30 other stalls offering the same items..they are mainly in competition with each other so play them off against each other.
5. At the first stall you go to offer a ridiculously low price..they ask for Y1000 you offer Y20, they will be offended but you just watch the price tumble.
6. Tell them you are not a tourist and that you work at the local embassy.
7. They ask for Y750, you still ask for Y20.
8. They ask for Y500, you offer Y20.
9. If they give up then raise your price to Y40.
10. They ask for Y300, you offer Y40.
11. They ask for Y200, you offer Y40.
12. They offer Y100, you offer Y40.
13. They say no..you walk away!!!
14. They will most probably chase you and offer Y90..just walk away..go to another stall.
15. At that stall you tell them you are interestd but only at Y50. You will still need to bargain with them but if they will not go below Y90 then walk away.
16. At another stall offer Y60, get them to Y90 and then offer Y80 as a final price. If they take it then you have done OK, if not, go to another stall and offer Y90 but do not pay any more.

Do not worry about hurting their feelings, they will not sell you an item at a loss and even if they break even they will be happy, they will also hope you will come back. Always use the huge numbers of stalls to check prices and get the best deal.

Enjoy it, it is fun and if you do get a good deal make sure you bring your friends to the stall as a reward to the stall holder, they will get good deals and the stall holders will learn not to try to rip off us travellers.

Happy bargaining!!!!

I left the price at average because you can get decent prices if you're willing to bargain and bargain HARD. The sales people are pushy and have nothing against grabbing your arm. And don't be surprised if you hear them speaking other languages- I know I heard Spanish and I'm pretty sure I heard German. So trying to feign ignorance of their words won't work well.

Pushy sales people aside, there are good fakes there. Just remember, what you're looking at are FAKES. That's why I have no qualms about getting their prices down.

If you go here, you need to bargain and not back down even if it means you might lose the item you want. The thing about Silk Street is that you can always find it at another stall if you're willing to look. I was willing to walk away from a Diesel shirt that I *really* wanted but wasn't willing to spend much more than 200RMB on. The guy wanted 1800... and I got him down to 220.

So I can't say it enough...bargain HARD!