It's a slippery slope when it comes to street vendors. Once you open the door, they are going to everything humanly possible to make you purchase their product.
At night (edit -- day or night), street vendors walk up and down the street trying to sell whatever they can. One guy sells cashews, another sells watches, and another sunglasses, while children try to sell squeaky toys and old women hold out their trembling hands with tissues for sale. To get a mental image, picture the guys selling Hagen Das at Major League baseball games, but instead of ice cream these guys have reading lights, keychains, or blow-up animals.
When I walk around a big city, I enjoy checking out the street vendors' selections of products. However, when I go to a cafe to relax and enjoy a view of the Mediterranean, the last thing that I'm thinking about is purchasing a fake gold watch. I can't imagine purchasing a watch on a whim. If I wanted a cheap watch, I would go to a souk (market).
Why do street vendors stroll about (or better yet, troll) the cafes? How can it be in their economic best interest?
I figured the best way to find out was to pretend like I was interested in purchasing a watch. So, I made eye contact with one of the guys selling gold watches and knock off sunglasses. He came over immediately and asked me what I wanted. I pointed to a watch and asked how much. He told me 80 pounds (15 dollars), and I figured, I got my information and I was done. So, I told the street vendor "Thank you for your time, but that's too expensive. Good night." And here's where the story begins...
First, he offered a lower price. Then, he showed me his entire box full of watches and offered me a special deal for his "Rolex." The words, no thank you, seemed to mean nothing to him. Next, he placed the watch on the table and even dropped it in my lap. His theory was, once the watch was out of his hands, I owed him payment. After playing hot potato for ten minutes, the street vendor finally walked away.
But, that wasn't the last of him! Five minutes later, he came back and offered the watch for 20 pounds. And best of all, he tried to guilt trip me claiming that I wasted his time.
What did I learn here?
1. Avoid trolling street vendors at all costs.
2. These guys are persistent. Once they sense a potential buyer, they attack with full force.
3. Flexible pricing allows them to maximize profit. If I was actually interested in a watch, I would have probably made his quota for the night by paying 80 pounds. If I was only interested in a very low price, he would have still made a profit by selling the watch for 20 pounds.
4. It's not like the street vendors are very successful in the first place. Most of these people are in pretty poor health and their work opportunities are limited. Their job requires minimal capital investment and if successful in bargaining, the returns can be (relatively) enormous.
Exception: The guy who sells cashews. He is a genuinely nice guy who counts out the cashews to make sure that you get exactly what you paid for.
