How to haggle in Hong Kong

Sitting outside in the sunshine, I slowly sup my ice-cold Cola and grant myself permission to smoke a cigarette. There’s hardly any breeze and the temperature is soaring. I wonder if that’s how every purchase of a fake watch goes down here. Is that what you’d have to go through to get one of the cheap tailored suits too? Yikes. I gather my composure and decide I’m going to give it another go. I saw a lot of sellers in a short time, they can’t possibly all whisk you away into the dark depths of the Kowloon underworld just to sell you a watch…can they? What the hell, I thought, at least I’d know what to expect if they did and I’d be better prepared and slightly less terrified. I still wanted a watch after all.

I knew I’d have to cruise the same busy, bottom end of Nathan Road, but I could at least cross the street, work the other side and with a little luck, avoid an awkward encounter with the previous seller and his associates. It wasn’t long before I spotted another one in the crowds, so I discreetly attract his attention and tell him I’m looking for a watch. He’s an Indian man, probably in his mid thirties, thin and quite short. Much like before, he gestures for me to follow him, but this time we’re walking in completely the opposite direction. This is totally different. We walk only a hundred metres or so and then he takes me into a near-by high-rise tower block. We walk into the lobby and he presses the button to call the lift. This is all such a contrast to the first experience; I’m in just as much shock, but only because it’s the last thing I was expecting. He even strikes up a conversation as we ride up to the 20th floor, although it’s something of struggle, we just about manage to establish that I’m in Hong Kong visiting friends.

The lift door opens and I step out into a brightly lit corridor before being led into a room right at the end. It’s a corner apartment, of sorts, and this too is bright as sunlight streams through every window. There is a water cooler against the wall, stacks of boxes and a number of tables with comfortable looking chairs. There are even a couple of other perspective buyers, a beefy, beach-blonde Australian is trying on a watch and at another table a frail-looking Asian girl is still flipping through the catalogue. A chair is pulled out for me at a table and I’m presented with a catalogue to look at. I quickly find the Omega Seamaster I’m after and the Indian man disappears for a moment behind a screen into an area of the room that’s sectioned off. I relax and take the time to have another look through the catalogue since this was a much more pleasant place to be.

A few minutes later he reappears, takes a seat at the table, gently takes the watch out of its box and hands it to me. It is lovely. I give a good look over then place it on the table and ready myself for the bartering. He reaches over and grabs an oversize calculator from a shelf behind him. There’s no mucking about, no intimidation, just good old fashioned hard bargaining. Straight away he taps a figure in and slides the calculator across the table to me. I have considerably more confidence having gone through this only a short time ago and I’m going to stick to my guns. I really want this watch but I’m not paying over £100 for it. I start again at £80 and slide it back across the table. I let him take me up to £100, but in much smaller increments this time, so it takes a little longer. However, once I’m there, I refuse to go any higher.

He slides the calculator over to me and it shows 1,650, which is about £135. I type in 1,200 again and return it across the table. He throws me a wry smile and enters 1,500. Again, I type in 1,200 and pass it back. One more time he tries to get me to raise my figure, but I type in the same amount and give him a look that reinforces my unwillingness to go beyond this. He stops and thinks for a moment then excuses himself from the table and disappears into the area that’s sectioned off. At this point I have no idea what’s going on. He’s taken the watch with him so I can’t even look it over once more. A few minutes later a very large man emerges from behind the screen. He’s taller than me, quite round and really rather enormous looking. His features are obscured slightly by glasses that have several magnifying lenses added on and I can’t quite make out his ethnicity. It’s clear though he doesn’t speak English. He points at me and looks at the seller, who nods, then takes the watch and inspects it closely.

He leans over and taps 1,400 into the calculator and slides it across the table. I take a moment to think about what I’m doing. My attempt to play hardball has evidently brought out the Big Man and it could all very easily go south. I’d hate to make this hulk angry, but I’ve come this far. I’d lose face if I agree to his amount, but there are other people in the room so it’s unlikely I’ll get murdered, which was a very real possibility the last time I tried this. I’m still nervous though. With sweaty palms and the best poker face I can manage, I type in 1,200 and slide the calculator back, never once breaking eye contact.

He looks down at the display and then looks at me. A lifetime seems to pass by. Then he lets out a deep, booming laugh that catches everyone in the room by surprise, especially me. He steps over, leans in with his towering frame and slaps me on the back, still laughing he mutters something to the seller in an incomprehensible language and disappears once again behind the screen into the sectioned off area. Despite not understanding anything that was just said, I think I can work out what happened. The seller now looks a little despondent and nods to me, saying he’ll accept HK$1,200.

I pay in cash and thank him very much before making my way out of the apartment. During the elevator ride down I proudly look at the new, shiny timepiece on my wrist, made even more awesome by the adventure that has accompanied its purchase. I exit the building and start to make my way back to Nathan Road. After only five minutes walk I’m back at the traffic lights where this second attempt started. Bizarrely, I can see the seller and he’s waving to me, shouting, beckoning for me to come over to where he is. Hesitant at first, I side-step through the crowd and find him casually leaning against a railing with a colleague.

“Show him the watch,” he says to me in a frustrated tone, gesturing toward his friend.

I pull up my sleeve and expose the new timepiece. The seller lights up a cigarette and sighs, exhaling smoke at the same time.

“He liked you,” he says to me, still clearly annoyed by this. I begin to wonder if he’s going to take his irritation out on me.

He gestures that he’s done with me and I can go on my way, which I do, forcing a I’m-sorry half smile as I leave. Looking at the time I decide I should start to head back to Hong Kong island and leave Nathan Road far behind me.

So, whatever happened to the watch after all this? Well, that’s another story.

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