Warning about Jewelry shopping. Know your stuff! Don't get ripped off!

[joetrizeo]

DO your pricing research BEFORE you go! They will try to rip you off!

Cozumel/Costa Maya are good places to shop but there are too many stupid tourists willing to pay whatever they ask!

 

This happened in Costa Maya. I was looking for a sterling silver tanzanite/diamond bracelet for the misses. I saw one and asked him to take it out.

Mexican: "Very nice, this is a 1300$ bracelet you know!"

Me: "ok, what's your best price?"

Him: "30% off, $910"

Me: "ok, I'm going to see the price elsewhere, what's your BEST price"

Him: "If you come back, 50% off, $650!"

I came back later...without seeing it elsewhere

Me: "Ok, I saw it somewhere else, his price is 400$, can you beat that?"

Him: "Hummm, no can't go that low. I can do 600$"

Me: "Nope, sorry"

Him: "ok ok, I meet you half way, give me 500$"

Me: "Sorry, if 500$ is your lowest, I go to the other guy"

(as I walk away)

Him: "ok ok ok, fine, 400$!"

Me: "no, you said you couldn't go lower! I go to the other guy!"

Him: "But you said you would but it for 400$! Come on, we do plastic, you have card, give me, we do."

Me: "I never said I would buy it!"

(As I'm walking out the door)

Him: "$375!, $350!, $325! Please Senior!"

 

At that point I got scared.

I shopped more and DID see the SAME exact bracelet somewhere else...

Me: "How much"

New Guy: "$250"

 

I walked out, amazed that that some places have the audacity to jack up jewelry SO high, from $250 to $1300! I mean come on.

 

They really do make money on ignorant impulsive shoppers!

 

By the way, I priced it online when I got home, ~$200.

[acumenhokie]

I didn't even step into a jewelry store on our last cruise for just this reason.

 

I didn't know anything ahead of time so there was no way I was going to believe a word they were going to say.

[gsquaredb]

I am not sure why anyone would say Costa Maya is a good place to shop. From what I can tell it is purpose built to serve cruise customers. It doesnt even qualify as a tourist trap since that would be is a place whose purpose is to attract(and exploit) tourists. Costa Maya doesnt even have to do that.

[#1TravelMom]

I think it's really sad. I think there are plenty of willing buyers and it's plain to see that they definately want to sell. I think the people are totally misled on their selling tecnique. I think they view their best strategy is starting extremely high, then it will seem like a great bargain when they drop the price so dramatically. Instead, I think the majority of consumers(definately, my husband) would rather just look at a price and decide if they want to pay it or not. Maybe trying to negotiate down from $225 to $200 wouldn't be bad, but, these extreme prices just turn people off. I don't even mind negotiating, but honestly, I'd just rather look at things with price tags, decide if I'm interested and continue with my shopping. I want as little hassle as possible while on vacation.

 

I think someone that speaks the local language very well, should tell one store owner to put out a sign "NO NEGOTIATING - SAME GREAT LOW PRICES TO EVERYONE. ALL MERCHANDISE CLEARLY MARKED." It would be interesting to see how this worked.

 

My daughter(in her 20's) and some girlfriends visited CM. They all would have liked jewelry to commemorate their trip. None of them were comfortable negotiating, so they just didn't buy anything. Even if a store would offer one display of $20 bracelets - no negotiating. Just my 2 cents!

[otowncruisr]

I think someone that speaks the local language very well, should tell one store owner to put out a sign "NO NEGOTIATING - SAME GREAT LOW PRICES TO EVERYONE. ALL MERCHANDISE CLEARLY MARKED." It would be interesting to see how this worked.

 

There is a big store right outside the gate (where the taxi stand is) and has a big "tequila meusem" sign, that seems to be doing just that. It is a huge and has all the souveneer stuff. Everything is clearly marked in USD. I tried to negotiate a volume discount on a couple of items, but they wouldn't budge and said that the prices were all firm. Of course, I'm not sure how true it was, but everyone I observed seemed to be paying the marked price, and the posted prices seemed to be in line with other places where we had Done some negotiating!

[bus man]

OK, I get your point about ripoffs, and I don't disagree with it. But it seems to me that your Mexican merchant is not the only one being dishonest here. When you returned to the original store, you told the merchant you had seen the jewelry for $400 elsewhere, even though you hadn't. And then you asked him if he could beat that. To me, that sounds like a negotiating strategy -- meaning, you were intending to buy the piece, if you could reach an agreed-upon price. Well, the merchant did indeed beat the price you had supposedly found elsewhere. But you walked out, and then later came here to CC and posted that he's a crook.

 

Is it a ripoff to ask $1,300 for something worth $200? Yes. Is lying about a comparative price and then refusing to buy when that price is beat, negotiating in bad faith? Yes. Two wrongs don't make a right.

 

I do, however, strongly agree with the suggestion from #1TravelMom to just post the prices and stick with them. I would be much more inclined to buy stuff if I didn't have to go through the haggling first.

[Parrotrosie]

I do, however, strongly agree with the suggestion from #1TravelMom to just post the prices and stick with them. I would be much more inclined to buy stuff if I didn't have to go through the haggling first.

 

 

The only issue being that the US is one of the few Countries in the world that does NOT negotiate pricing. Many countries, it is considered an insult NOT to try and negotiate, oddly enough...strange...but true...It is the way many, many cultures have always lived, it's what they know. It is not that they are trying to 'rip anyone off' necessarily. Just trying to earn a living, for the most part. Many folks enjoy the whole 'bartering' or 'negotiating' process....I do on occasion..you do, of course have to know what you are looking at :)