Morocco: no such thing as fixed price in Medina
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Morocco: no such thing as fixed price in Medina
I am in Fes right now and just bought two rugs at well below 50% off the "absolutely nonnegotiable government fixed prices" after having earlier been shown the paperwork that shows that the price preset and non- negotiable by Fiat of the government etc.
I still probably paid too much, as I wasn't prepared to negotiate on the first one and sort of fell into it, but on the second one I was prepared to leave without it, and got it for one fourth of the original asking price.
Do not, under any circumstance, believe any of the things that these people tell you, that something years old, rare, antique, no longer made, etc. do not buy it just because you think you are getting a good deal! Buy it because you love it, and you won't be unhappy if you discover the exact same thing or very similar around the corner at a slightly lower price. (A pottery store tried to tell me that a piece of pottery was very old, but forgot that they had the identical pieces hung someplace else at the store). But if you truly love something don't let it slip through your fingers in the hopes that you'll get it for five dollars or $50 less someplace else because you probably won't find it someplace else (for a rug, other things yes you will find everywhere)
This is my second trip to Morocco and I again find Fes to be far more "real" interesting and alive then Marrakech. Simply put, Fes has the real charm of us Zug that when expects in exotic Morocco, along with being safe, (when you get lost you ask someone in the store to find someone to take you back and you pay that person perhaps the equivalent of two dollars to take you where you need to be) along with beautiful views through alleyways and if you have a car or a drivers are many beautiful places to look down upon the city. I also found the people very genuine and nice especially if you bother just to learn the most basic of words for hello and thank you their faces light up in smiles.
Of course this is Morocco, and Moroccan rules apply. But here I find it kinder and gentler much more history much more that is interesting, and some place to which I will continue to return, unlike Marrakech.
Again, just my two cents worth, from the center of the Medina.
I still probably paid too much, as I wasn't prepared to negotiate on the first one and sort of fell into it, but on the second one I was prepared to leave without it, and got it for one fourth of the original asking price.
Do not, under any circumstance, believe any of the things that these people tell you, that something years old, rare, antique, no longer made, etc. do not buy it just because you think you are getting a good deal! Buy it because you love it, and you won't be unhappy if you discover the exact same thing or very similar around the corner at a slightly lower price. (A pottery store tried to tell me that a piece of pottery was very old, but forgot that they had the identical pieces hung someplace else at the store). But if you truly love something don't let it slip through your fingers in the hopes that you'll get it for five dollars or $50 less someplace else because you probably won't find it someplace else (for a rug, other things yes you will find everywhere)
This is my second trip to Morocco and I again find Fes to be far more "real" interesting and alive then Marrakech. Simply put, Fes has the real charm of us Zug that when expects in exotic Morocco, along with being safe, (when you get lost you ask someone in the store to find someone to take you back and you pay that person perhaps the equivalent of two dollars to take you where you need to be) along with beautiful views through alleyways and if you have a car or a drivers are many beautiful places to look down upon the city. I also found the people very genuine and nice especially if you bother just to learn the most basic of words for hello and thank you their faces light up in smiles.
Of course this is Morocco, and Moroccan rules apply. But here I find it kinder and gentler much more history much more that is interesting, and some place to which I will continue to return, unlike Marrakech.
Again, just my two cents worth, from the center of the Medina.
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