The Chinese Shopping Experience

Qipu Rd. ... sounds like Cheapu Rd.??

I just realized that this weekend off was mostly spent scouring the Chinese shopping area of Qipu Rd. This place is pretty cool and it is the type of place you hear about. The knockoff market, the cheap clothing. It’s all true. However, China has 1.3 billion people and I think I rubbed elbows with half of them this weekend. It is super crowded there.

I went with Lisa on Saturday and with Sina and Darleen on Sunday. The key, it turns out, is to have a game plan. You cannot go there with the idea that you’ll just be “shopping.” You need to know what you want to/need to buy. Otherwise you’ll become so overwhelmed with the place that you might just end up buying nothing. Many of the things are basically the same things over and over, so once you see something you like, start bargaining for the price you want. If you don’t get the price you want, you can try another place. But know what you already want. By the third vendor, you’ll get an idea of what the market price is. Or what the market price is for you. Just deal with it. There is a break even price after all and you have to remember that these shop owners/workers still need to eat. So you try for the best and aim for the native Chinese price. Not the foreigner price.Do not be like me, “This is okay, but I might see something I like later.” Once you do that, you will just keep saying it over and over.

Another rule, don’t really bargain hard unless you actually plan on buying it. This is different from just asking them to quote you a price and doing a mini-bargain. A mini-bargain can kind of help you gauge where the shop owner stands. But once you start doing the full dance with the shop owner over the price, and the owner goes down to the lowest price they can do, you better be serious in buying it. Otherwise, it might result in the shop owner getting pissed at you and telling the other shop owners nearby to not sell you anything because you are just there to “play around” with them. Which is kind of what happened to me, Sina and Darleen at one store.

At Qipu Rd.?

Wallet 35RMB
Boots 40RMB (were super on sale, btw)
Jacket 90RMB
Blanket throw 20RMB
Total 185RMB = ~$28

I also bought another pair of boots and a pair of semi-dress shoes, but not at Qipu Rd. This was at a shoe store that’s here in the Xuhui District near the Shanghai Stadium, right where the bus dropped us off. The prices were not bad either because they were about the same price as Qipu Rd. if we were to really bargain them down. But of course the better quality stuff was more expensive, as expected. But some stuff was okay.

Boots 85RMB
semi-dress shoes 58RMB
Total 143RMB = ~$21

Grand total of my first super local Chinese shopping experience? 328RMB = ~$48. Not too bad in US dollars. Or I can buy 328 baozi (buns, of the eating variety).