I have no patience for bargaining

I went to MBK today after dropping off my laundry. I had a nice lunch in the food court - some pork and rice and green papaya salad and then sticky rice with mango for desert - all for less than $5. It was quite a splurge, since usually I don't even spend $3 at MBK for lunch.

Afterwards, I went exploring all of the booths on the 6th floor which seem mostly geared towards foreigners. They have a lot of junk. Cheap Buddha statues that don't look very serene, candles and candle holders, silk scarves and pashminas (I don't know what a pashmina is), clothes, etc.

I was looking at a t-shirt for my great-niece Emma. It was cute, it said Thailand on it and had a picture of a tuk tuk. I asked the woman how much it was and she said 300 baht. It seemed expensive to me. I think she said she would go down to 250. I told her I would pay 200 and she said it was too low. I walked away, thinking she would say, "okay, okay, 200", but she didn't.

Then I found the luggage place and saw the same style of luggage I bought on Silom Rd last night. It was priced at 1650. I paid 1400. As I was looking at it, the woman who ran the "shop" came over and said, "I can discount". I asked, "how much?" and she took out her calculator and punched in 1400.

I told her I bought it on Silom last night for the same price. "Good price, right?" I asked. She said, "you want this color?" I told her I already had one. I said, "I wanted the big one" and she said, "you want this color?" I finally said, "maybe next time" and she smiled as I walked away.

I wasn't really seeing anything worth buying and I so wanted to buy something. Unlike the weekend market, this shopping area was nicely air-conditioned, so it was a pleasure to walk around. I just wished they had more things of quality like at the weekend market. There were more things there that I would have bought if I could have withstood the heat.

I passed on little table that had some magnets on it. I picked up a package of about 6 little magnets that were little bamboo baskets of dim sum. The woman came over with her calculator.

I asked, "how much?" and she punched in 380. She was speaking in a very low voice so I couldn't really hear her, but I got that she was saying she could discount for me, especially if I bought more than one. "How many you buy?" she asked.

I told her it was too expensive. I mean, she was asking more than 10 dollars for this little collection of magnets that were basically junk. I think she went down to 300, which was still too much. I would have paid 100 for them.

She kept asking me how much I would pay, but I just wanted her to tell me what the real price was and to stop this little game of zeroing in on the lowest price she would sell them to me for. Finally, I decided I didn't need them. I mean, they weren't even Thai food, they were Chinese, so why would I buy them in Thailand? As I walked away, she kept insisting that I tell her my price. I thought the whole thing was ridiculous and realize that I am just not into bargaining they way I once was.

When I was in Sumatra, it was fun to bargain. I think because the Indonesians made it fun and also because things were really cheap. But, I ended up buying a lot of stuff I didn't really want or need because of the fun of bargaining. But now, I don't know if it is because I am older, or I am tired, or it is hot, or what, but I really have no patience for bargaining. I'd prefer a fixed price and then I will make a decision as to whether or not to buy based on that price.

In the States it is said by some that if you have to ask the price it means you can't afford it, but here, if you ask the price, usually it is not the real price and it just seems to me that a lot of people end up overpaying for things.