Here in the US is about the only place I've seen where people are sometimes
actually proud to boast that "If I want an item, I just buy it! I don't haggle!"
Even to the point where, (in the phone work I do), I hear many people when
deciding what asking price to start out with in an ad, be very righteous & proud
by exclaiming, "I don't want them to 'jew' me down!!!!" WOW!!! This seems to
happen more often from certain parts of this country. THEN, on top of that, this
casual bigotry relating to haggling is actually sometimes explained to me in a
very calm and "reasonable" manner as "Not intended to be a prejudice, as this
type of expression is very common 'round here, so nobody really means anything
by it" VERY RIDICULOUS!!. Extremely ignorant reasoning. Haven't run into this
type of thinking in out of the country dealings in terms of bargaining, or
haggling. It may exist, but just not as blatently uncontrolled and callous.
Larry
Lex Jenkins wrote:
> Some recent threads discussing prices and haggling bring to mind a theory of
> mine: in some cultures, not haggling may be regarded as foolish, even
> impolite. Any opinions from listfolk who are better traveled than I?
>
> Here's my reasoning: I've spent many an hour manning a table at gun shows,
> antique booths, swap meets, etc. I enjoy chatting with folks as much as the
> selling. And while I always price items fairly, I'm more likely to lower
> the price for someone who's pleasant and entertaining to talk with (or, as
> my mom would put it, someone who's as good at BS as I am!). Certainly
> nothing is more deadly dull than, for example, something like car sales in
> which the seller must wait for customers who, when they arrive, are
> generally suspicious and even hostile.
>
> I have a notion that in some cultures buying and selling is a part of the
> social life and, as such, when a customer walks in, plunks down the full
> price and walks out with the goods, the transaction is still less than fully
> satisfying despite the higher profit. I'm even wondering whether this
> exceeds foolishness and may be regarded as almost as rude as haggling
> unpolitely or disrespectfully.
>
> Thoughts?
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