Please don't be a jerk

[bmh]

On 12/23/2021 at 7:32 PM, bobby brown said:

well a local would never behave like that--at least me--If I didn't have the 5 pesos I would have to just walk away--

you are obviously not living in the CHapala area. The Tuesday market is a small organic market where things are not cheap and where people do not haggle. It is not  a tianguis really  the clientes are almost all gringos and pay the price. There are no tourist there or just maybe one that gets lost but tourists usually do not buy veggies and meat as you have to have a place to cook and store.

The guy did not haggle , he just paid 100 and walked away with what he wanted... Not right..

Garage sales are differnt merchandised is used and people get what they can and can say no. Thi merchant was not offered the oportunity to say no and probably would have said it was ok.. but the manwas rude and basically stole the 5 pesos. Not a huge deal but it is if everyone decides to do the same.

[Mainecoons]

29 minutes ago, bmh said:

you are obviously not living in the CHapala area. The Tuesday market is a small organic market where things are not cheap and where people do not haggle. It is not  a tianguis really  the clientes are almost all gringos and pay the price. There are no tourist there or just maybe one that gets lost but tourists usually do not buy veggies and meat as you have to have a place to cook and store.

The guy did not haggle , he just paid 100 and walked away with what he wanted... Not right..

Garage sales are differnt merchandised is used and people get what they can and can say no. Thi merchant was not offered the oportunity to say no and probably would have said it was ok.. but the manwas rude and basically stole the 5 pesos. Not a huge deal but it is if everyone decides to do the same.

Agree.  Not sure how this thread ended up a discussion of haggling, which I have watched my Mexican family do quite skillfully.  Very common in Oaxaca.

This was theft, pure and simple.

 

[bmh]

Just now, Mainecoons said:

Agree.  Not sure how this thread ended up a discussion of haggling, which I have watched my Mexican family do quite skillfully.  Very common in Oaxaca.

This was theft, pure and simple.

 

Oaxaca  markets is not the Organic Tuesday market. People expect haggling and price their merchandise accordingly and this was not haggling. I shop at the Tlacolula market in Oaxaca and plenty of haggling goes on there. 

[Mainecoons]

6 minutes ago, bmh said:

Oaxaca  markets is not the Organic Tuesday market. People expect haggling and price their merchandise accordingly and this was not haggling. I shop at the Tlacolula market in Oaxaca and plenty of haggling goes on there. 

Agree also.  You don't see much haggling in this area.  But we really aren't living in Mexico here anymore.  This is Gringolandia, a hybrid.

Stuff is dirt cheap in Ocatlan, south of Oaxaca, where our Oaxacan family shops.  Sometimes astoundingly so.  Before they haggle.   

They live in San Martin Tilcajete, between Oaxaca and Ocatlan.  It really is Mexico and we sure do like the area a lot, it is retaining its rural flavor despite being close to Oaxaca.  We may end up there, it is just getting so overbuilt here.  Climate is not as good but when the new road opens up next year they are 3.5 hours from the beach.

[Jim Bowie]

37 minutes ago, Mainecoons said:

Agree also.  You don't see much haggling in this area.  But we really aren't living in Mexico here anymore.  This is Gringolandia, a hybrid.

Stuff is dirt cheap in Ocatlan, south of Oaxaca, where our Oaxacan family shops.  Sometimes astoundingly so.  Before they haggle.   

They live in San Martin Tilcajete, between Oaxaca and Ocatlan.  It really is Mexico and we sure do like the area a lot, it is retaining its rural flavor despite being close to Oaxaca.  We may end up there, it is just getting so overbuilt here.  Climate is not as good but when the new road opens up next year they are 3.5 hours from the beach.

Is that Ocotlan de Morelos?

[bmh]

I go shopping with my Zapotec friends, thre is lots of haggling for very little discoun, that is also what I have noticed.. 

[Mainecoons]

7 hours ago, Jim Bowie said:

Is that Ocotlan de Morelos?

Yes.  Cool town.

[pappysmarket]

20 hours ago, Mainecoons said:

Agree also.  You don't see much haggling in this area.  But we really aren't living in Mexico here anymore.  This is Gringolandia, a hybrid.

Stuff is dirt cheap in Ocatlan, south of Oaxaca, where our Oaxacan family shops.  Sometimes astoundingly so.  Before they haggle.   

They live in San Martin Tilcajete, between Oaxaca and Ocatlan.  It really is Mexico and we sure do like the area a lot, it is retaining its rural flavor despite being close to Oaxaca.  We may end up there, it is just getting so overbuilt here.  Climate is not as good but when the new road opens up next year they are 3.5 hours from the beach.

Here in the RGV we can walk over the bridge to Progresso and it is very similar to what Ajijic has become, as you say, Gringolandia.

[Mainecoons]

14 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

Here in the RGV we can walk over the bridge to Progresso and it is very similar to what Ajijic has become, as you say, Gringolandia.

Interesting.  We used to go there frequently when we were on temporary full time in our RV in McAllen.  I would have thought with all the border problems you wouldn't find too many expats on that side.  Friends who were RVing in that area said people weren't going there as often because of that.

 

[bmh]

Haggling  has nothing to dk with gringolandia .In France when I was a kid haggling was the way it was in thepoorer part of Southern France and there was no haggling in the north. My Basque grandmother would embarrass the heck out of us in the markets in Paris when she started haghling  and the merchants would tell her off.. after the mid sixties tjere was no haggling north or south.

  ### areas get rjcger the haggling stops..

[pappysmarket]

On 12/27/2021 at 8:45 AM, Mainecoons said:

Interesting.  We used to go there frequently when we were on temporary full time in our RV in McAllen.  I would have thought with all the border problems you wouldn't find too many expats on that side.  Friends who were RVing in that area said people weren't going there as often because of that.

 

These snowbirds, or as they are called here, Winter Texans, flock over there. It costs $2 to park in a nice lot right next to the bridge, $1 to walk over and 25 cents to walk back. There are more farmacias, dentists, pedicurists, restaurants, junk stores within 3 blocks of the bridge than you would think possible. Throw in cheap chiropractors, a few actual doctors and liquor dealers and you probably get the picture. During high season you see long lines to get waited on in the farmacias. Parking on the Mexican side is bad so most people walk over. It's the border zone so if you do want to drive it's no problem. To top it off, you don't even need a passport. There are 2 lines for Immigration coming back, one for passports and one for driver's licenses. BP has discretion as to what is acceptable proof of citizenship and in Progresso a DL is acceptable. That line is always much longer. The Cartel is firmly in control there and most violence takes place not near the tourist zone. Oh, they don't like Pesos there, they post all prices in dollars and really don't care to accept pesos and they all speak English. The tourists just love the idea of seeing "Mexico" much like the tourists in Lakeside. It is what it is and both Gringolandias appeal to a group that appreciates what they have to offer. Capitalism at its' best.

[Mainecoons]

Yeah, that sounds pretty much like it was when we were going there.  We were frequent visitors.  Glad to hear the narcos haven't run everyone off like they did in Reynosa.

[pappysmarket]

23 minutes ago, Mainecoons said:

Yeah, that sounds pretty much like it was when we were going there.  We were frequent visitors.  Glad to hear the narcos haven't run everyone off like they did in Reynosa.

Not yet but there was a narco boss killed in Reynosa a couple of months ago and it was reported that he was the "owner" of the plaza in Progresso so I have warned friends that if you do go over, do your business and return. Wouldn't be surprising if some shooting happened right there.