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Shopping: Bazaars and markets
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Shopping in Cairo
is a time-consuming process, which suits most locals fine. Cairenes regard it as a social event involving salutations and dickering, affirmations of status and servility; smoothly impersonal transactions are not an ideal. Excluding government stores, there are basically three types of retail outlet.
Department stores
(generally open Mon-Sat 9am-1pm & 5-8pm) have fixed prices and the tedious system where you select the goods and get a chit, pay the cashier and then claim your purchases from a third counter.
Smaller shops
, usually run by the owner, stay open till 9 or 10pm and tend to specialize in certain wares. Although most of them have fixed prices, tourists who don't understand Arabic price tags or Egyptian currency are liable to be overcharged (around the Khan el-Khalili bazaar and Talaat Harb, especially). If you know the correct price, attempts can be thwarted by handing over the exact sum (or as near as possible).
In
bazaars
and
markets
haggling prevails, so it's worth window-shopping around fixed-price stores before
bargaining
for lower rates in bazaar stalls. When asked for a quote, merchants often riposte: "What do you think?" Suggest an absurdly low sum to make them respond and don't be fazed by mockery - it's all part of the game. Buyers' tactics include stressing any flaws that might reduce the object's value; talking of lower quotes received elsewhere; feigning indifference or having a friend urge you to leave. Avoid being tricked into raising your bid twice in a row, or admitting your estimation of the object's worth (just reply that you've made an offer). Providing you don't make an offer they're willing to accept, it's okay to terminate a lengthy session without buying anything. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Egypt,
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