Tag Archives: Shopping Guide

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Pazarlik – bargaining (or haggling, for you followers of Brian) - is a skill, a social activity, and a decent tool to help you get a great deal on anything from carpets to cardamom.  We don’t see much of it in the west, and as a result we can be poorly prepared to handle the tradesmen when we venture beyond our frontiers.

However, bargaining needn’t be a chore or a tribulation.  If you follow some basic tips and principles of etiquette, bargaining in Istanbul can be as pleasantly an authentic experience as listening to the morning Ezan (Adhan) ring out from the mouth of the muezzin, or as puffing on a shisha in a traditional bar in the city’s old centre.

Here’s an intro to bargaining in Istanbul, which can be most thoroughly enjoyed in the Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı) and Egyptian Bazaar (Misir Carsisi), but is also useful in many of the city’s shops.  Happy bargain-hunting.