Bargaining and Vietnamese culture question

I went to buy some oranges the other day. The price is about 15,000 per kg on the outer markets but 20,000 in the closer to central markets. I know this cause I buy them a lot. Anyway I went to a central market and asked a lady (in Vietnamese) how much, knowing the price is about 20,000 kg. So she sais 30,000. I said no thanks and offered 20,000. She sais ok 25,000,  To which I replied I'd buy a kilo for 20,000 and probably 2kg. Still she refused to come down to the going price, so I drove off knowing there are about 10 other stalls selling oranges. This is something similar to the bike story above. In her mind the price should be higher because I'm possibly a rich foreigner but at the same time she did her self out of selling a good 2kg of fruit.

panda7 wrote:

I went to buy some oranges the other day. The price is about 15,000 per kg on the outer markets but 20,000 in the closer to central markets. I know this cause I buy them a lot. Anyway I went to a central market and asked a lady (in Vietnamese) how much, knowing the price is about 20,000 kg. So she sais 30,000. I said no thanks and offered 20,000. She sais ok 25,000,  To which I replied I'd buy a kilo for 20,000 and probably 2kg. Still she refused to come down to the going price, so I drove off knowing there are about 10 other stalls selling oranges. This is something similar to the bike story above. In her mind the price should be higher because I'm possibly a rich foreigner but at the same time she did her self out of selling a good 2kg of fruit.

A lot of time and effort for 5k saved.

The difference is: you won, and I lost. 

AkaMaverick wrote:

A lot of time and effort for 5k saved.

For me, it would not be about the 5K, but out of principle. Sometimes people don't realise that there's more to it than just money, for some of us.

AkaMaverick wrote:

panda7 wrote:

I went to buy some oranges the other day. The price is about 15,000 per kg on the outer markets but 20,000 in the closer to central markets. I know this cause I buy them a lot. Anyway I went to a central market and asked a lady (in Vietnamese) how much, knowing the price is about 20,000 kg. So she sais 30,000. I said no thanks and offered 20,000. She sais ok 25,000,  To which I replied I'd buy a kilo for 20,000 and probably 2kg. Still she refused to come down to the going price, so I drove off knowing there are about 10 other stalls selling oranges. This is something similar to the bike story above. In her mind the price should be higher because I'm possibly a rich foreigner but at the same time she did her self out of selling a good 2kg of fruit.

A lot of time and effort for 5k saved.

Not really, if I’d bought 2 kg’s at her price that’s 10,000 dong extra. If I buy oranges every day that’s about $240 a year overs what everyone else pays. I drove 10 seconds to the next store and bought 2kgs for 20k a kg (the normal price).

The Vietnamese bargain hard for this reason...

You can easily be down collectively $2000 a year plus paying overs for things that you don’t know the real price for be it a massage, motorbike hire, or a smoothie etc etc.

That said I’ll leave a 5,000 tip in cafes and give 10,000 to a poor street seller without blinking an eye. Also I understand that foreigners generally pay higher.

WillyBaldy wrote:

AkaMaverick wrote:

A lot of time and effort for 5k saved.

For me, it would not be about the 5K, but out of principle. Sometimes people don't realise that there's more to it than just money, for some of us.

I agree with Canuck 👌, it's not about the money.

My wife loved my home country simply because prices are written on everything, no need to bargain.


Lets not get into the dodgy scales they use here, thats another story.

yes the dodgy scales, the weights are probably under estimated by 50% at some stores. That said I’ve never been short changed which happens a lot at my local market in Australia. Only once have I had a market lady take my money and say I had yet to pay...blatant theft. These days I look at the person selling before making the decision to buy from them. It’s pretty easy to spot the dishonest ones.

panda7 wrote:

Still she refused to come down to the going price, so I drove off knowing there are about 10 other stalls selling oranges.  In her mind the price should be higher because I'm possibly a rich foreigner but at the same time she did her self out of selling a good 2kg of fruit.

It could've been that her oranges are not the exact same type as the other vendors' oranges.  There are many types of oranges being sold at the market and they are not sold at the same price.

No one in my extended family pays the lowest price for food.  We asked, searched, investigated, then stay with the particular vendors we trust and pay the price they ask.  We bargain a tiny bit just for the principle, but in the end, we always pay the relatively higher price.  We know that the good vendors do not inflate their prices because they're greedy; they charge the higher price because the cost of producing quality goods locally is higher than the price of goods coming south from China. 

Here's an article about the different quality of oranges.  I'm not sure Google Translate can give you the whole picture, but maybe someone who is fluent in both languages can:  Top 8 types of orange

Ciambella wrote:

panda7 wrote:

Still she refused to come down to the going price, so I drove off knowing there are about 10 other stalls selling oranges.  In her mind the price should be higher because I'm possibly a rich foreigner but at the same time she did her self out of selling a good 2kg of fruit.

It could've been that her oranges are not the exact same type as the other vendors' oranges.  There are many types of oranges being sold at the market and they are not sold at the same price.

No one in my extended family pays the lowest price for food.  We asked, searched, investigated, then stay with the particular vendors we trust and pay the price they ask.  We bargain a tiny bit just for the principle, but in the end, we always pay the relatively higher price.  We know that the good vendors do not inflate their prices because they're greedy; they charge the higher price because the cost of producing quality goods locally is higher than the price of goods coming south from China.

Here's an article about the different quality of oranges.  I'm not sure Google Translate can give you the whole picture, but maybe someone who is fluent in both languages can:  Top 8 types of orange

yes I only tend to see about 3 varieties in Nha Trang and only go for a particular type. I do make the mistake of varying who I buy from. My ex Viet girlfriend almost died once from drinking orange juice i squeezed from her. The doctor in the emergency ward said the Chinese can put chemicals in the fruit to extend the shelf life. He also said my friend was lucky as only 1 in 10 leave the ward alive...

panda7 wrote:

The doctor in the emergency ward said the Chinese can put chemicals in the fruit to extend the shelf life.

Not only to extend the shelf life, but also to ripen the fruits overnight, and to enhance their appearance.

Even with the same variety of fruits, the first grown are always the sweetest so they should earn higher price than their cousins in the same farm, that's why you can often see two different prices for the same fruits sold at the same stall.

Thanks guys, now I'm scared of oranges! The fruits, that is.

there’s probably a few food hygienic issues here in Vietnam, maybe recycling the soup is one of them I tend to only go to high volume / popular places as everything will be relatively fresh.

One of the first things I brought for my now wife, was a 'as new', 3 month old, Honda AIRBLADE 125cc.  For a strictly practical reason - we all know what it's like riding a motorbike during the 'wet season'. 
To make things worse the bike she had was known as possibly the worst bike for reliability in Viet Nam.
SO - her brother-in-law (at that time) owned this lovely, new, red, totally reliable HONDA AIRBLADE - he 'needed' money to pay for his 'bargirls' !!! (His mother brought it for him 2 weeks earlier)
I agreed that as long as he signed the bike over to My 'BETTER HALF', we'd pay him cash for the bike on the spot, after a'fair' price was reached.
The next day he took her with him, raced out of the house at 7:30 AM.  Received a phone call and a TXT an hour later. We agreed to pay him 80% of the cost of the same bike, except completely brand new, from the local HONDA dealers window.
All the papers where signed on the spot. They went to some government office where in licencing, etc. was done, 100% legally and VERY quickly, if you where kind enough to buy the clerk serving you, a cup of coffee and a Tươi Bánh Mì - Xôi Mặn - Bánh Bao for his breakfast.
Think it was somewhere on Ly Chinh Thang.  tp H.C.M. 
This was my very first dealing in Viet Nam - and an idea of how things work here !!!
By 9:30PM that morning, Uyen was home again, waving the papers around and proudly proclaiming that the HONDA was now 100%, legally hers - - and everyone was very happy.
Think she sold her old bike to some guy who had to come around with a trike to take it away - value about 100 VND !!!   :-D ;-D :-D
Quite convinced the average Vietnamese hasn't got the first clue about 'motorbike maintenance' to keep them safely on the road !!!

WillyBaldy wrote:

Thanks guys, now I'm scared of oranges! The fruits, that is.

There is a lot more you need to be cautious of when it comes to food in VN, including the national favorite, cafe.  There are tons of documentaries in VN that discuss these issues and if you understand Vietnamese, I suggest you do some research.

With respect to the post about "principle", I agree.  I see a lot of people say "why do you care, it is 50 cents" or "why waste your time over 50 cents?".  It has nothing to do with the money or time (which by the way is what, 2 to 5 minutes).  Don't misunderstand me, it happens all over the world, including the USA.  Example, cab drivers in the USA do the same to foreigners and over charge them like crazy and how do you think they feel?  Yes, they call the police the cab drivers are arrested and prosecuted.