Ripped off!!!

Written on 26 May 2009 in Beijing, China

This is a picture of the handbag I got ripped off on at the Silk Street Pearl Market. I needed a new bag as the old bag I brought on my travels is now giving way. The market is a great place for bargain hunters but beware … you may think you're smart but the vendors who do this day in and day out are even smarter! They even speak multiple languages – I even heard smatterings of accented Russian and Malay from vendors in this place!

You will soon realise that the market sells pearls only on one level. The remaining 5 levels or so sell everything imaginable – souvenirs, homewares, manchester, clothes, shoes, handbags, jewellery, toys, paintings, electronics, food...
This is also the place Westerners go to buy fake branded goods. There is even a big bold sign at the front of the relevant Chinese authority's guarantee of quality for the fakes. How amusing - that's China!

I ended up paying 150 yuan ($AUD 30) for this fake Dolce & Gabana bag (not that I am into the brand, I just liked the bag itself and am now wondering if there's a way to pull off the brand tag without ruining the bag ... I suffer from self-diagnosed 'Brand Embarassment Complex') bargained down from the vendor's starting price of 780 yuan! I realise now that the market value of the bag would have been 100 yuan and due to the economic crisis I could have gotten it down to perhaps 70 yuan (hmmm... perhaps I need to add superior bargaining skills in there somewhere as an added ingredient) because if I hadn't bought it, chances are it would not have been sold for a long long time!

Kenneth wanted to walk away when we offered 100 yuan and the vendor wouldn't accept. I vaguely recall hearing him say “C'mon, let's go!!” but I found myself in a hypnotised state after the vendor performed several swift sale tactics like burning the bag with a lighter and leaving it unscathed. My emotional attachment to the bag grew in that dark stall and I was overpowered. My initial resolve to spend only $AUD15 to AUD$20 waned when she started at 780 yuan. I started to think that what I was prepared to pay was totally unrealistic. After making the much to quick purchase, Kenneth spotted the exact same bag 2 stalls away and my heart sank when the starting price was placed at 150 yuan at this stall!

I was fuming on the subway when it hit me how much I'd been ripped off. Losing $AUD10 wasn't the issue. It's that horrible feeling of having been 'cheated', ripped off and outwitted! I was ranting and raving on the subway processing all that had happened to me. I knew people were looking at me but I didn't care. I'm the sort of person that needs to let it ALL out! I totally cheesed myself off when I realised I'd disappointed Kenneth by not trusting his judgment, ignoring and not listening to him. I also hadn't learnt my lesson from the time I purchased some punjabi outfits in India … it cheesed me off even more remembering that old incident … but that's another story …

Hopefully, the lesson has been well and truly learnt this time around!