In Reply to: Bartering Etiquette posted by cyberbirth on Tuesday, 16. November 2004 at 18:21 Bali Time:
It is easy to hurt a poor person's feelings.
If you start to look at the goods, this is taken as interest. Once you start to talk, this is taken as definite interest. So be careful to avoid doing these things, unless you are in the market, genuinely.
If, for instance they say 100,000, you do your sums and know that the price is around 40,000. You offer 20,000 with a smile. They laugh and come quickly to 60,00 just for you! After this, still smiling, you barter a bit more for a few minutes until you decide that maybe 50,000 is a happy price for you both; getting the 40,000 takes a long time and can get hurtful to both sides. After all, are you in Bali to spend twenty minutes earning $1.50 or less? I think not!
Enjoy your Bali.