Shabby-lookng cheapskates get better prices

[Criss Colon]

chip, could you tell us what a Dominican "LOOKS LIKE"?????
You, just like "George", are "Profiling" again!
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[sayanora]

chip, could you tell us what a Dominican "LOOKS LIKE"?????
You, just like "George", are "Profiling" again!
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DUH.. we all look like

 

[cjp2010]

My wife has always told me thesame thing. U get the gringo prices, let me negociate...... After a couple of years in the campo, I now go local shopping for chicken, cigarettes, etc.....( zhe rest is home grown). Im blond and blue eyed, speak dominican as if had a seizure( eventhough people actually comment on how fluent I ve become). The trick is to never over pay, if u think they are charging too much tell them as much, once. On thesecond occasion never buy anything again( its happened to me for 15 pesos on a pack of marlborough cigarrettes), theword spreadaround, leople making fun of the vendor, bar time story....... U aquire a reputation of no **** taken, so nobody tries a stunt again.

Out of ure campo, its more complicated to know if they are overcharging. I always run around on a motoconcho in big cities, leave the pickup at supemarket, andthey are real helpful in that case( because they want a tip). And if u need a specific, rare piece of equipment ( like a samsung galaxy 10.1 charger) and dont have time to wait foramazon to deliever, send the motoconcho alone......

Good points.

This country is widely based on foreign income. As much as some deny it, a lot of the pesos in this country come from tourism and foreign investors in one form or another. Locals know that. BTW so do the foreign investors who own businesses here. What that amounts to is that if you look like you are on vacation or somehow different from the typical local you probably have more money to spend and are willing to pay higher prices because the "cheap junk" costs more back in your homeland.

I have found that it is best to know the real price for things before you go shopping. This is easy with an extensive Dominican family to ask. But if you don't have that you can always have a Dominican friend do the shopping for you, if you have a good friend that you trust. In my case knowing the price before hand means I give that amount at the counter or whatever where I am buying any product.

The seller than has the choice of accepting or saying it is more but I will not pay more so I will walk away without the product or they will accept that price. Of course, I don't do that whenever prices are marked like for example at a Plaza Lama. Anyway, I find most times that they will accept the price pretty quickly because they understand you know and it isn't going to do any good for them to negotiate.

Motoconchos are a classic example. In Sosua for example many gringos will pay $50 pesos just to go one or two blocks. The basic fare is actually $10 pesos for very short distance and never more than $25 pesos within the same neighborhood. $30 to $35 pesos will get you to the next neighborhood (e.g. El Batey to Charmaicos). For $50 pesos on a motconcho you could go from La Union to El Batey (I do it often). I realize the difference is minimal but this is just one example, though it is important because it is something that some of us deal with on a daily basis.

I know some gringos that have lived here for 20 years and still pay the $50 pesos to go from one end of El Batey to the other. I always tell them it is only $25 to do that. If you do it 4, 6, 8 times a day every day it adds up. I'd rather buy a couple of beers every day with the same change.

 

[Harleysrock]

Weird the same thing happened to us the other day. Since my wife speaks pretty good Spanish we got a Spanish Menu this time and it was cheaper than the English one we got the week before. I was so confused but of course went with it.
I keep my mouth shut b/c i am as slow is learning my Spanish! I try it just isn't my strong point.