Although we didn’t buy the laquerware from that really nice salesman, the things we did buy required a lot of bartering to get a good price. 

At first we sucked at it, but as time went on I got the hang of it and it become kind of fun. Our first experience was getting off the airplane and trying to get a taxi. They wanted $15 to get to town but we managed to get one down to $12. For other souvenirs we played the ‘walk away’ tactic, which seemed to work quite well. We got a nice sand paining for $5, down from $8, and I got a copy of Burmese Days from a kid on the street for $2 down from $5 (if I’ll read it is a different question). We bought a couple of Longyis when we first got to Yangon, which they wanted $60, we eventually got them down to $35 for a nice one and a regular one.

Wearing the traditional Longyi around Inle Lake

We still probably paid too much for those but it was one of our first attempts. Postcards, more taxis and food all needed bartering to a certain extent too because nothing had a set price and the seller would give you a starting number. If you have a set price you weren’t willing to deviate from or a willingness to shop somewhere else you are much more likely to get it at the price you want.

Some paintings that we bartered for in Bagan

Otherwise, you’re at the whim of the seller. A few times we talked about a price amongst ourselves before approaching the vendor or driver and their price was already lower than we expected to we took it – although even those could have been argued. We bartered outside the temple with an overly generous seller for a few items before moving onto the main road to get lunch. We headed into Old Bagan, a small village, to see what it had to offer.