emd3

there is also a good silver store in the Cancun airport after security, while you are waiting to depart. Good quality and reasonable prices. Los Cinco Soles is the name .

http://www.cancun-airport.net/duty-free-shop.php

ileen

emd3 thanks for your input. All information will be a great help.
Recently I read that Mexico has the largest number of silver mines and thus huge quantities of silver.
Thus, I am guessing the prices should be attractive.
Looking forward for my shopping.
Have a great weekend.

ekscrunchy

It used to be that you could get good prices on silver because the items would be priced by weight, not taking into account the labor involved. Not sure if that is still true, but you might ask about this while there.

Also, I might think twice about the silver chains if you are concerned about tarnishing. I have a few, bought over the years, and it is difficult to polish all those intricate links. The smoother the surface, the easier to polish, unless you are dipping the item into a solution. But do bring tarnished things to the shop if you plan to buy; they may well agree to clean them for you....

Wonderous_World

My mom just came to visit me in Playa Del Carmen and bought quite a bit of nice jewelry. She loved all of it, and had many unique Mayan style pieces. I wouldn't stress about the investment, or getting a leg up as much as just enjoying the culture, the jewelry, and just have fun. As long as it seems to be a fair deal to you, I say just go with it. Reading and seeing stuff like this http://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/0...bsistence-pan/ with my own eyes has changed my mind about to much haggling in this country.

suze

<I am guessing the prices should be attractive>

It depends where you shop and what kinds of pieces you looking for. I know in Puerto Vallarta there are all kinds of jewelry stores plus the beach stalls and vendors. Stores from cheap to mid-range to high-end to custom made, all varying in quality as you would expect. It's all real silver.

suze

Sorry I phrased that last sentence incorrectly. I meant that you can find real silver but it can still be at various price points and various quality of workmanship.

TC

I go to Cozumel every winter. I've learned that the prices aren't really better than say...TJ Maxx. If you haven't been before, you may find some inexpensive things you like. After 22 years worth of visits, I find the selection rarely turns over.

The one thing you need to know is how to buy. Most places will start out with an outrageously high price. You need to know that if you are prepared (and have done some homework) you should be able to get the item for at least 50% off. However, you have to be prepared to walk away. I always say, "I saw that same item in the states for $xxxx".

Some places, like Cinco Sol, do not bargain. The quality is good and the prices are fair. Just be sure to ask for the cash price...and when they ask if you're from a ship, say "no".

ileen

Once again, thanks to everyone for so many helpful tips. I am hoping to use your experiences during my trip and looking forward to buying some small but unique items at an affordable price.

I did not know that one can bargain and get a lower price. So will try that idea too.

My trip is still a few months away, thus I am only doing some homework as I get ready.
Have a fun week.

NewbE

Well, I don't subscribe to TC's theory of bargaining. Haggling is not really such an entrenched, expected thing in Mexico, at least not IME. And I try to keep in mind that most people in Mexico are relatively poor. So I don't haggle. If I don't like a price, I just don't buy. The most I will do is hesitate, and sometimes this means I get offered a lower price; this happens in the US, too, though, at arts and crafts fairs, for example. And I also consider relative cost. Why would I haggle over a $3 trinket? With a street vendor? Who makes waaaay less than American minimum wage?

Perhaps things are different in giant tourist centers like Cancun. And they are different in other parts of the world.

suze

<I did not know that one can bargain and get a lower price>

It depends where you are shopping.

With beach vendors absolutely you need to do so. But in regular shops often it is posted no bartering or "set prices" or something to that effect, so you wouldn't.

NewbE

It seems to me that serious haggling is an idea tourists have brought to Mexico. I could be wrong, of course.

TC

Since the post is enlisting help with a trip to Cancun, one can assume the poster needs that advice, not how to purchase things in small villages.

Newbe; While many people in Mexico are, indeed, poor; those poor people don't own the shops or kiosks that sell silver jewelry. They may work there....or even work trolling the beaches with wares, but the money you pay goes into the pocket of someone who is probably wealthier than both of us.

I have been going to Mexico for over 22 years and bargaining on the price of silver is absolutely expected. I am not advising to haggle a $3 item down to $1. But when a silver jewelry vendor will take $20 for an item he started out asking $120 for, one can be pretty sure that the original asking was WAY over the top. One doesn't have to be the "ugly American" while bargaining. A simple "is that your best price?" or "I think I saw similar earings in the States for $xxx" will usually start the process. That is why I suggested that the OP "do some homework". Know what TJ Maxx sells silver earings for. Then you won't get ripped off.

I'm pretty sure I said, there are shops that have set prices. But even they "offer" a cash discount. Who brought bargaining to the world market? Hard to say. There certainly is a mind-set in much of the world that Americans are SO rich that we will pay any price without blinking. I guess some people do.

Other intersting items are pewterware, Talavera pottery, woven hammocks or swings, handmade baskets, tequilla, paper mache fruits and vegetables, Barro Negro pottery, vanilla or other spices, Day of the Dead rememberances, Mexican chocolate, shells (purchased, not collected), musical instruments....the list is endless.

NewbE

I have not shopped exclusively in "small villages", TC. But I suspect that practices in the very large tourist centers like Cancun are very different from what I have experienced in, say, Oaxaca. Which is why I avoid the large tourist centers, but that's another thread!

The question of whether silver bought at TJ Maxx is a ripoff or any sort of reasonable baseline is another question, as well.

<There certainly is a mind-set in much of the world that Americans are SO rich that we will pay any price without blinking. >
And there is a terror among some Americans abroad of getting "ripped off". Avoid the cambio in the airport! Don't pay too much for a taxi! Beware overpriced this-that-or-the-other! All the travel boards are chockablock with such advice, which might--might--make sense if one is a penurious backpacking student, but makes less sense when one is taking a cruise or staying at an AI. Thrift is one thing; I applaud thrift and practice it regularly. Penny pinching as a pastime, though, is another.

I don't mean the last comment to apply to you, TC, or to this thread. I'm just saying that too sharp an eagle eye can take the fun out of a vacation by causing one to lose perspective.

suze

Well I don't cruise or stay at AIs, am not a backpacker or a penny pincher, and I don't go around expecting to be "ripped off" in Mexico.

But I do educate myself... change money where I get the best value (bank ATM or local cambio), know what established taxi rates are before hoping in a cab, etc. That hardly takes "the fun out of a vacation".

NewbE

What are you even arguing with, suze? I clearly stated that "TOO SHARP AN EYE" takes the fun out of a vacation; what you describe hardly qualifies as that. So good for you, yay, etc.

Seriously?? Have a lovely day.

Rohelio

You raised some good points NewbE, it just makes a bit of sense to sometimes add a little water to your wine. As far as bargaining is concerned, it does not matter if you are in a regular shop with posters on every wall and 'set prices', if you are serious about purchasing a certain item, I can assure you that the seller will gladly consider your offer.

TC

I shall let everyone decide what they want to pay for what we call "vacation jewelry". Newbe, your post did feel a bit like a tongue lashing with me the villian trying to cheat poor Mexicans. With that I take offense.

I have traveled the world over..usually shopping in the company of a local. I am not a one day cruise visitor and do not do packaged tours. We often spend many weeks in a destination with locals because my husband works in these locations. I have overpaid for many "trinkets", just because I wanted to make a donation to the local arts culture. But I can tell the OP that <u>in Cancun (and other cruise ship stops)</u>, silver jewelry starts out priced at least 50% higher than the vendor every expects to get. Take it or leave it......its just information.

Cheers.

suze

What TC says is true about pricing.

And I agree it did sound like a tongue-lashing (but I thought it was aimed at me). An awful lot of assumptions being tossed around in that post.

jmalen

I am posting today, hoping I can prevent someone in the future from making the mistake I did in Carmen del Playa. I was taken completely off guard by a sales person at a shop on 5th Avenue called "Tanzanite" He lied to me about working in my hotel and seeing me and my family there. He was extremely friendly and seemed authentic at the time. However, we had hotel bracelets on..I figured it out a day later that he made up the entire story about working at the hotel. All the shop keepers will call out at you when they see these bracelets. He lied about the shop being his "grandfather's" and he went on and on about a rare gem recently discovered...etc etc. The bottom line is I bought a fake gem, made out of who knows what silver metal. I have never had this experience before, having recently traveled to Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey - and having great experiences with the local shop keepers. The blatant lies in Carmen Del Playa made me feel both sad and enraged. I urge anyone traveling to the area to beware of these hustlers.

angelajackson339

Well I always buy jewelry from Dubai because the prices in Dubai are reasonable as compared to the other countries. Last year, my husband gave me a gift of a precious necklace and he told me that it is so cheap in the Dubai market.