2012:10 - Doing Business

Daily business is always an adventure in Ma’adi. In all but a few shops that I frequent, bargaining is par for the course. Prices are often posted but even those are subject to change from day to day depending on the mood of the person behind a counter and their judgment of how friendly I am to them on any given day. I’ve learned that a smile and “good day” in Arabic goes a LONG way!

I’ve come to realize that when I’m bargaining, the difference is usually less than 50 cents and so while I want to honor the proprietor by caring enough to want to bargain for his goods, I try to keep in mind what the stakes are in real terms for me. I know that 9 times out of 10 I will pay more than an Egyptian for whatever I’m buying and I’m okay with that. I just don’t want to pay more than another foreigner would pay. I know I’ve not done well when a proprieter throws in something extra for “free!”

That said, I am still occasionally surprised! Badran Bookstore is my stationary store of choice. The postcards I send usually come from Badran and when I need pens, paper, folders or other teaching supplies it’s the first place I go. The other day I bought 4 postcards that should have cost me 6 pounds but the kind owner would only take five. Today I went in to by an envelope, an admittedly small purchase that probably wasn’t even worth 25 piasters. As I went to the counter to pay the owner saw my purchase and said, “nothing today.”

There’s a reason I keep going back!