Bargaining

Its a bit complicated sometimes. At one hand I dont want them to think im stupid not to bargain and just give them there asking price, but at the other hand i dont want to affend them. In surten situations i do give the asking price because its just so cheap. Do you really want to bargain if u see the person making the bracelet them self and the price is not even a euro? Is it worth it then to try to get it for 50 cent?

For the more expensive things like rooms or tuktuks i'll try to get it down to the normal price. But for souvenirs i often give more than i should. Because it think it is a way of supporting their economy and in general it is cheap. So i rather pay to much than to affend them by barganing to a price that their not comfortable with.

For example. Their are a lot of people here on the street that sell books about Cambodja. Considering most of the books are about life in Cambodja during Khmer Rouge, they are quit popular. Most of the travellers want to read about it during there trip. The problem is that a lot of children are selling these books. So we have been adviced not to buy from children, because it is modern slavery and labor child abuse. If we would stop buying from them, the system would stop.

Today i was having lunch, and a lot of children past by. It was difficult to ignore them, surtenly because i wanted to buy one. A women at the table next to me, started to bargening with a child. She wanted to pay 6dollar for two books, and not more. The child refused, but you could see it wanted to sell. So the child kept on trying to convince the women. But the women stayed put, 6 and not more. In the end the child agreed, but it wasnt happy about it.

I think whe should be glad there's room for discussion. And in the end the aim is not to get the lowest prices possible, but one that's acceptable for both parties.

A few minutes later a amputee(so an adult) passed by with books. Buying from them may encourage others to become more self-sufficient so i had a look. I bargained but in the end i paid 10dollars for one book and one little cambodian dictionary. I was happy, i wasnt ripped of, but even more importanted he was happy.

I know this sounds a bit cheesy. But i dunno, i just dont understand how people can bargain for the lowest price possible, when we have everything and they have nothing.