At several of the really busy intersections in Delhi there are boys selling books and magazines. It is totally legit to buy from them, the books and mags aren’t stolen. I’ve always wanted to buy a book from them because I feel sorry for them out there all day in traffic trying to sell stuff, but they have never had anything I’ve wanted…or anything I didn’t already have. Well this past weekend I saw that they have that new Dan Brown book, the Lost Symbol, and I thought it would be a fun read so when one of the boys came up I asked how much. He asked for 1,000 rupees – that is over $20! I said no way…and immediately regretted even asking. He wouldn’t go away and suddenly the other boys with magazines were swarming around the car too. My driver helped me out by saying that I didn’t want it. But they persisted and the price slowly came down, 800 rupees, 600, 500. Right before the light turned green it was down to 200 rupees – from $20 to $4 in a matter of minutes and all I did was sit there. Well I didn’t buy it – for me it is the principal of the fact that he thought it was okay to crazy overcharge me just because I’m foreign (I asked an Indian person and they said that the kids will try to get an extra 50 or 100 but never 700 rupees more). It did keep my driver and I quite entertained though; but from now on I think I’ll stick to buying books at book stores.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I had a similar experience in Shanghai. I was going to buy some t-shirts and the lady wanted $20 each. I talked her down to $6, but that was still not good enough for me, so I walked away. When I was about a half a block away, she came running up to me and said that I could have them for $4, so I bought them. I guess that is just the way that business is done.
Post a Comment