![\"Mahane](\"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/mahane-yehuda-market.jpg\")
<\/a>Mahane Yehuda – Jerusalem Market – Photo by Ian Norton<\/p><\/div>
\nEverything in Israel is a negotiation. Never accept the first offer. This is the number one rule of bargaining. Shying away from the negotiation process in a shuk (open air market) and accepting the first price stated would actually be an insult to the shop owner. Don\u2019t deny him the most exciting part of his day. If the shop or stall keeper tells you \u201ctwo for 20\u201d immediately counter with \u201ctwo for 15\u201d or \u201cthree for 30.\u201d Only shake on the price if it is a good deal. The worst thing one can become in Israel is a \u201cfriar\u201d or a sucker. Be ready to walk away from the negotiation. Don\u2019t show desperation. Once your dueling partner knows you are sold on the item it will become near to impossible to negotiate the price. Never reveal enthusiasm. Pretend to be indifferent even if you are dying to make the deal. <\/p>\n
At the same time, if the shop keeper really makes an effort to offer you a \u201cgood price\u201d and pursues the sale in a \u201cgenerous way,\u201d there does become an unwritten obligation to buy. Don\u2019t start a negotiation for the fun of it. Really choose an item you will be happy with, especially if you get a low price at the end of the bargaining process. <\/p>\n
On my mother\u2019s first trip to Israel, she wandered into a jewelry shop in the shuk and admired a pair of earrings made from beads and replica Roman coins. The shop keeper immediately quoted an exorbitant price: $70. Not really interested in making the purchase and running late for a lunch, my mother politely refused and turned to leave. The price came down to $50. Genuinely in a hurry and still not sure she wanted the earrings, my mother walked towards the door. Unaware that she had entered the delicate back and forth of bargaining, the price came down again. In the end of the negotiation, one in which mother never even understood she had entered; she walked away with the earrings for only $15. <\/p>\n
Learning to negotiate in Israel goes well beyond bargaining at the shuk. If you need to deal with any government office or customer service representative (hotel, car rental, etc\u2026) follow the philosophy \u201cwhoever yells louder wins.\u201d It\u2019s a battle of endurance. Whoever stands his ground longer and proclaims louder that he is right will be the winner. Don\u2019t take no for an answer. Regulations, policies, and prices can be altered based on who you talk to and how you talk to him. As a matter of courtesy, start by making your request politely and calmly. If you see the process beginning to sour then pull out your big guns: a loud and aggressive voice, lots of arm gestures and the refusal to go away. <\/p>\n
If you succeed in getting the answer you want, be sure to get it in writing. What was said today might mean nothing tomorrow and you may end up talking to someone else next time who has an entirely different answer on the matter. Officially document all responses, unless it is the response you didn\u2019t want to hear. In that case, return another time and talk to someone else. Tell your new representative that the previous person told you it would be okay, or that the price would be so and so. Since someone else already \u201capproved\u201d your request or the price, you might actually, at the end of these strenuous efforts, be able to get what you want. You know the saying, \u201cnothing in life comes free and nothing is easy.\u201d This should be the national motto in Israel.<\/p>\n
If all else fails then play dumb. \u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d repeated often enough in a single conversation will drive your counterpart to surrender. I call it playing \u201cdumb American.\u201d It has worked for me many times in the past and has often gotten me what I want. Of course, let\u2019s face it, some of us, including myself, often won\u2019t have to play this game very hard. <\/p>\n
Israel can be an exciting place to begin an adventure and can sometimes feel like the final frontier in the Wild West. While sometimes these unconventional processes are exactly what you need to circumvent any prices, rules and regulations blocking your way, there are other times when the process of having to fight for every inch of ground in a negotiation will drive you to tears. I often say that everything I love about Israel is also everything I hate. The country is my Catch 22 and my feelings of love or hate often depend on whether or not I\u2019m in the mood for negotiating. <\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Nicole Sivan Everything in Israel is a negotiation. Never accept the first offer. This is the number one rule of bargaining. Shying away from the negotiation process in a shuk (open air market) and accepting the first price stated would actually be an insult to the shop owner. Don\u2019t deny him the most exciting more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131,28],"tags":[75,625,631,357,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-2232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israeli-life","8":"category-israeli-life-culture","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-israeli-news","11":"tag-israeli-life","12":"tag-jewish-culture","13":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","14":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2233,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2232\/revisions\/2233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}