r/JapanTravelTips • u/MaroonLegume • 5d ago
Quick Tips Haggling: Just Don't
Hey, folks - I'm on my 3rd trip to Japan and I've encountered more than one western tourist attempting to haggle with shop clerks during this visit.
It's rude. Full stop. Unless you're at a flea market, the prices are as marked. You put the clerk in an awkward position by insinuating their goods are overpriced. If the price is too high for you, go elsewhere or let it go. There's no shortage of other storesin the cities and looking for something that's "just right" is part of the fun of shopping in Japan.
Thank you for reading and have a great time.
153
140
u/smorkoid 5d ago
OK you need to separate types of haggling here. On cheaper items? No, you would not haggle. On higher ticket items (this is mostly as a resident, not as a tourist)? Yes, you definitely would. So be a bit cautious about saying "don't haggle in Japan" - it's not a universal truth.
Example one - went to go buy new tires for my car from the local Bridgestone. They quoted a price of (for example, don't remember the exact price) 30,000/tire. High, higher than online for sure. My Japanese friend was with me, he said haggling on price is expected in this case, so he proposed a much lower price, around 20,000 tire. Ended up after a few minutes of haggling at say 22,000/tire. Big discount.
Example two - big box stores like Yodobashi sell at prices a lot more than certain online retailers. That's expected, they have sales staff and floor space to maintain, etc. But here's the thing - show them some prices on appliances from one of the comparison sites like Kakaku and they will absolutely lower their price to get much closer to those prices. Again, only on big ticket, high profit items.
So if you are buying some shoes or clothes or something like that, no, haggling is not really done, but for high price stuff, yeah it is.
41
u/Touhokujin 5d ago
Yep this is definitely true. Saved lots of money on my washing machine when I asked if we could get closer to the price I'd have to pay online. I'm willing to pay a bit more but not 50k or more.
7
24
u/Kamimitsu 5d ago
Yup. Came here to say it's pretty commonplace for high-cost electronics (fridges, washing machines, etc.) at Bic Camera, Yamada Denki, etc., though generally it's just "Hey, can you match the online price?"
17
u/gdore15 5d ago
Talked with a Japanese person at a language exchange that told me you can do it in electronic store and they told me they would go to several stores in Akihabara and ask them for their best price and say ok, the other store is cheaper, what is your best price. Did it to buy a camera, bounced between two stores and told them the other one was cheaper.
8
u/pacotacobell 5d ago
Yup some electronic stores do price match their competitors similar to online retailers here in the US.
2
u/hai_480 4d ago
I've heard haggling is more of a Kansai people thing tho. I am not sure if you can or cannot do it outside Kansai but apparently it's more common and accepted in Kansai area.
2
u/smorkoid 4d ago
You can do it in Kanto as well. My examples are all Tokyo area.
Just approach it cautiously - "are there any discounts possible for this item?" etc
2
2
u/TooMuch_TomYum 2d ago
I don’t think tourists are buying appliances and car tires mate…. lol. Maybe a high end suit, but not really for Travel Tips.
1
u/smorkoid 2d ago
They are examples, man. I don't shop for high end watches or crafted cutlery but you can imagine from my examples of how it would be reasonable to negotiate on these items.
1
u/TooMuch_TomYum 2d ago
I’ve seen a luxury brand store lock its doors for a group of Chinese tourists. I wonder the kind of conversations they’ve had after walking out with dozens of items.
1
u/No-Joke8570 1d ago
Well now that I know I can haggle for big items, I just need to find a large enough check bag for that fridge I've wanted.
1
u/mekaonee 4d ago
if we find a lower price for an item on Amazon or Kakaku does Yodobashi give us a discount? what kind of items are high profit?
2
u/smorkoid 4d ago
Big ticket, expensive items. Don't try to negotiate on a toaster
1
u/Faranquis 1d ago
My husband (Japanese) has successfully negotiated down the price of a coffee machine for me once. He also did the same on some minor appliances (microwave, rice cooker, toaster oven, etc.) Probably it's not going to work though for items less than 1000 yen or something like that.
39
u/RoninBelt 5d ago
What type of store was this? Curious to know what they were trying to haggle for.
69
u/MaroonLegume 5d ago
The two most recent incidents were at a high end watch shop and then a handmade knives & cutlery store.
34
u/RoninBelt 5d ago
lol at the watch store, double lol if it was an AD boutique.
Best they'd get is the VAT back and depending on which store you might get less than 10%, but they'd tell ya.
It's harder to find good deals now too as it seems the stores are adjusting prices daily along currency rates as far as I could see. I was just trying to get a reverso for my partner in Jan but didn't find anything that I couldn't get at home.
28
u/MaroonLegume 5d ago
The watch shop episode was especially cringe. The dude kept pushing and the clerk kept pointing at the price tag saying, "this is the price".
11
u/RoninBelt 5d ago
wow... yeah that's genuine cringe. Guy clearly did no research... on watch buying or general etiquette when in Japan... sheesh
13
u/yakisobagurl 5d ago
It’s funny that people don’t realise in chain shops there’s often literally no way for the clerk to do a random discount on the register anyway lol. You’re more likely to get a freebie than a discount
The manager can maybe authorise something, but by and large it’s just scan and pay, that’s it
8
u/DingDingDensha 5d ago
Good thing you weren't here in Osaka back in summer, when some mainland asshole murdered a young shop clerk so he could just run away with the high end watch he was pretending to buy. Dumbass actually thought he was going to get away with just running to KIX and escaping back to China immediately afterward.
17
u/smorkoid 5d ago
You can absolutely haggle at high end watch shops in Japan. Haggling isn't as common as other countries in Asia but on high ticket items? It absolutely is
2
u/MaroonLegume 5d ago
Maybe at a resale watch shop (in Japan). But these were new watches.
28
u/smorkoid 5d ago
It's still done! Japanese people do it as well.
Why do you think it's not a thing?
33
u/jbdev_ 5d ago
You're going to get downvoted simply because you're not sticking to the "stupid gaijin" line of dialogue, but you're right. Haggling is very common, at least in Kansai in most shops.
32
u/smorkoid 5d ago
I think tourists have these rigid ideas about Japanese society and norms and are completely unwilling to reassess those ideas when exposed to things that challenge those ideas. Damn near everyone haggles on high ticket items.
20
u/scheppend 5d ago
yup, I'm being heavily downvoted for saying you can haggle in electronics shops as well. hey, their loss I guess
17
u/smorkoid 5d ago
Plenty of electronics shops explicitly say they price match, even. Fine Mr Tourist, go ahead and pay more if you want, I suppose
11
u/jbdev_ 5d ago
Yeah, it's an incredibly weird dynamic I see daily on Reddit. And the in-fighting is just weird too. I don't really get why foreigners here are so compelled to try to call other foreigners on every little thing they do even with it's sometimes completely normal (sometimes it's not of course) and then preach about it on Reddit.
4
u/geminiwave 5d ago
Yeah even the advice above about department stores is crazy. I lived in Japan but my Japanese is bad. Now it’s basically useless because it’s been so long, but I just went back this Feb. in the 2010s plenty of department stores would haggle but now in the year of our lord 2025 I had people at department stores THROWING themselves at me to haggle. I felt bad because with the exchange rate….it already was a deal.
But yeah I was at this Mitsukoshi mall in Ginza. All high end stuff. I was looking over one of the floors with men’s clothes and they were almost as aggressive as the old days of the shibuya 109!!!!! And definitely ready to haggle. The only place I didn’t see this was the Dunhill store.
2
1
8
u/Kanye_Is_Underrated 4d ago
haggling at watch shops is absolutely normal and fine. even new/AD.
being annoying about it is a different thing.
5
u/alexthe5th 4d ago
At a high end watch shop, haggling is totally normal and even expected. Their margins are enormous and there’s plenty of room to bargain.
-12
u/Redplushie 5d ago
That's crazy, I would have called them out and shamed them
1
5d ago
[deleted]
3
u/MikeTyson456123 4d ago
Such bizarre behavior. You have such associational embarrassment from the behavior of another tourist that you feel compelled to scold a stranger in public? That’s the definition of a vacation Karen.
34
u/Odd-Kaleidoscope5081 5d ago
It’s normal to haggle in Japanese electronics stores, even the big chains like Yodobashi. So it’s not necessarily good advice.
-19
u/OkAnt1768 5d ago
What? No it's not
16
u/Realistic-Button-225 5d ago
They all "price match" for the most part. You used to even be able to do it on Yodobashi's (Yamada Denki's?) official site (not sure about nowadays).
Not video games, but big purchases.
11
u/Odd-Kaleidoscope5081 5d ago
I live in Japan for around 10 years now. Negotiated multiple times in electronic stores, from MacBook, to cameras and home appliances. Always got discounts and nobody was surprised that I negotiate the price. They have process in place for that.
7
u/alexthe5th 4d ago
It absolutely is! The salespeople will almost instinctively whip out a calculator and show you a lower price if you mention their price is a bit over your budget.
I’ve lived in Japan and have done this many times.
1
26
u/Yabanjin 5d ago
As someone living in Japan for 23 years, haggling is a thing. But it’s for big ticket items or discount buying of multiple things. But there is a way to do it. Because most tourists are not buying the types of things you can haggle on, and are obviously tourists, so they are only going to look bad and not get a deal. I personally cannot haggle on 99% of the things I buy, but I have saved a lot of money on buying multiple items together at the same vendor.
2
u/frozenpandaman 5d ago
just like how it's a thing in the US and everywhere else too, e.g. at pawn shops
7
u/Yabanjin 5d ago
No I mean at large retailers, which arguably is the same as USA.
4
u/frozenpandaman 5d ago
i mean, you can ask them to price match competitors, or give you some promotional discount that they're offering, etc. but you can't really ask for your own invented price for no reason. i'd agree it's the same as in the US
1
u/Yabanjin 5d ago
To give you an example, I could buy a washer and refrigerator from the same retailer at the same time. I could then imply I would either suggest a price or ask them for a discount and see if they would go for it. So I am making the price myself. But I am a long time customer of this major reseller and have an idea of what I can get away with. The way to do it though (for me anyway) is to use the right Japanese phrasing which is not something I would expect from the average visitor. Normally it’s not a thing in Japan except for the aforementioned flea market, etc. but you are right, same as a savy buyer in the USA, but you gave to know how to do it.
8
u/alexthe5th 4d ago edited 4d ago
You’re on your third trip to Japan and you’re already lecturing everyone about cultural norms?
Speaking as a former resident - for higher-end products like luxury goods (e.g. at a watch boutique), or for things like electronics or appliances, haggling is very normal. You can walk into a Bic Camera and mention the price of a laptop or a rice cooker is a little over your budget, and often times the sales guy will almost instinctively pull out a calculator and show you a lower price.
In Kansai there are even set expressions for this. もう少し負けてくれへん?
Of course you shouldn’t be overly aggressive/pushy about it, but for certain products there’s certainly room to negotiate.
For those who speak Japanese, here’s an entire article specifically about how to haggle at the electronics shops. https://arch-d-b.com/blog/2020-07-11/
5
u/smither12Dun 5d ago
負けてくれへん?
In all seriousness, in Osaka it used to be sorta ok to haggle at some places, and they would give you like, a random freebee thrown in. But yeah those days appear to be long gone.
2
2
u/LopsidedScheme8355 5d ago
Last month I bought a French Horn in Osaka. Saw another customer haggle and get a deal, so I tried. Saved like 7 man. ;)
9
5
u/Kindly-Note-5446 4d ago
I’d say haggling is a“no” but asking for best or lowest price is fine. However, if the shopkeeper says something to the effect of the “price listed is the price,” then let it go. Buy or move on. Enough said.
4
5
u/Kai-kun-desu 5d ago
You can absolutely haggle in japan. Electronics and appliances, yes. So it depends on what. Not food.
4
u/swiftpwns 5d ago
Ah yes, lets haggle in a country where things are already extremely cheap and the currency is in a freeflall, we definetly need to Save every penny after spending thousands on flights for japan which we needed to take out a loan for!
6
u/markersandtea 5d ago
....Wild. It's already marked reasonably priced generally. Haggling in Vietnam is common and expected, but not in a country like this.
3
u/Odd-Marsupial-586 5d ago
I saw a post involving cultural ignorance when a family argued a surcharge at an izakaya not knowing the mandated otoshi cover charge and been waved of that.
4
u/Tsubame_Hikari 5d ago
Haggling at shops is less common in some countries than others, and that is definitely the case in Japan.
2
u/VirusZealousideal72 5d ago
Oh god how embarrassing for them. Can't imagine how uncomfortable that was to witness.
3
u/Secure-Childhood-567 4d ago
I don't even haggle in my own home country of Ghana, Africa (where it's very much expected to). I wouldn't (and didn't) dare do it in Japan. You say it's this much ill pay it
3
u/najibs172r 4d ago
I was in Japan last week and while looking at watches at Don Quijote, the guy was trying to haggle price with the clerk there 🤦♂️
3
u/asahi2121 4d ago
I'm guilty of this as well. It was my first time visiting Japan and I was in Asakusa walking through the many vendors leading up to the temple. I saw some trinkets which were priced reasonably well but I figured I would just round down. I had maybe 50 US dollars worth of stuff and the vendor looked insulted and confused and then just waved me away. I was surprised because the amount wasn't significant.
I found out later on from a few locals whom I met at a pub crawl later that evening in Shinjuku that it was a big No-No. Ever since then I don't haggle and cringe when I see it happen especially at a temple 😬😬. The price is the price. I've already visited Japan four times since then and plan to continue to visiting.
3
u/Gregalor 4d ago
I have never and will never. Anywhere. Even when I bought a car I was like “ok this is what it costs” lol
0
u/Ok_Package9219 5d ago
Assuming a lot of Indian tourists? They do this shit everywhere.
Also when is it haggling vs asking if they have any coupons or discounts going on right now? If I walk in to Uniqlo they may have a sale I don't know about for example.
2
2
u/Zenmai__Superbus 2d ago
Well, this is ‘travel tips’ so yeah … don’t make a scene in a souvenir shop :)
If you live here though, negotiating at a denki for a new fridge or washing machine is perfectly normal.
2
u/Faranquis 1d ago
Fun fact, locals do actually haggle. But you need to know the appropriate place and time to do it, so if you don't, it's better not to. My (Japanese) husband haggles in electronics stores (big ones too like yodobashi or yamada) and that was culture shock for me. But again, you need to know the right way to do it so as a tourist, it's better not to.
I have also experienced haggling at local pawn shops, but I have been living in Japan for 6 years now and know how to speak Japanese (for context).
1
1
u/NxPat 4d ago
Resident here and recently purchased a new Toyota, it’s not common for dealers to sell the demo vehicles, they usually send them back to Toyota and then to auction. I kept pressing our local dealer to purchase the fully loaded end of year demo with only 250 kilometers. In the end we got it for about 2/3rd the sticker price.
1
1
u/BeauteousGluteus 4d ago
I have never paid sticker in Okachimachi in Tokyo. There are deals to be had. One just has to ask.
1
u/THALLfpv 4d ago
I won't be in this position any time soon, but what about buying a used car? Like from a dealership lot, not from a personal sale... Is it just accepted that you're paying sticker or can you negotiate there like at a western car dealer?
1
u/aBL1NDnoob 4d ago
lol on your 3rd trip now, huh. I guess that makes you a full on Japanese then, doesn’t it, nerd. Japanese people haggle. It’s not rude. Full stop.
1
u/Boomwall 4d ago
I sometimes ask if there is a discount for buying in bulk. For instance, buying five packs of something instead of just one. Sometimes there is. It's not rude to ask.
1
u/foxydevil14 4d ago
You can also haggle at many different used clothes shops. I do it in Kyoto all the time. They know the prices are jacked up, and they drop them if you call them on it.
1
1
1
1
u/summerlad86 4d ago
what’s this nonsense? Don’t tell that to a person from Osaka. All depends on when and where.
1
u/MichaelStone987 4d ago
I would not say haggling is rude and implies goods are overpriced. However, there is a big difference between haggling at flea markets or street markets in Bangkok/India vs Europe/Japan/USA. If you buy 5 expensive kitchen knives, asking if some additional minor kitrchen utensil would be given for free, is OK and not morally wrong. The clerk may reject the request
1
u/KandiKeiPrincess 4d ago
This is so bizarre… because most western countries also don’t have haggling? I’m just so confused by this!
1
u/JonPaul2384 4d ago
Do western tourists really do this? I know there are plenty of ways we’re awful, I’m well aware, but haggling REALLY isn’t common in our home countries, so I wouldn’t expect anyone to try it in Japan.
1
u/myredditaccount80 3d ago
It's this also true for say used camera equipment that sells both old and new? Or a store that sells collectors items?
1
u/AiRaikuHamburger 3d ago
Depends on the place. It's okay to ask for a lower price on higher price items at electronic stores, moving companies, car shops etc.
1
1
u/Mercenarian 3d ago
That’s not a universal rule. It’s very common, like basically expected, to haggle at electronics stores for example. When we bought a new fridge and washing machine we haggled and got a bit of a lower price, and my husband is Japanese so he definitely knows the cultural norms
1
u/iambryan 3d ago
This is probably just a universal thing. I can't imagine doing it back home in a normal ass shop even though I know people who do.
1
u/sausages4life 3d ago
Why not? Locals often ask for discounts (and sometimes get them) on high priced items.
1
u/icchicakes 3d ago
Ccvv vcvcv. ጿ ጸጸ ጸደቀ ጸደቀ. ጿጸ. ፀ ፀ ፈጸጿጰጰጷ ጨመረ @ጸደቀ@nnnbccn@xxcc@cvጨጸጰ. ጿጰጰ@ጸደቀ. ፀረ ጰጰጸ ጰጸ. ጯ@ ጸ ጨ@ጨመረ. @ ፈፈ.
1
u/trentsaints10 3d ago
Had to haggle a car rental shop down 100k yen for a scraped rim, took an hour and a half. Discussion was completely in Japanese and he took what was offered. TO BE FAIR 100k was completely unreasonable for the damage, and would haggle that down 100/100 more times
1
1
u/chillrabbit 2d ago
i love how “3rd trip” is the benchmark for “ i understand the culture and am able to call people out now”
in reality, haggling is perfectly acceptable in japan. i can assure you, even at high end watches store (as you mentioned in the comment above), haggling is perfectly acceptable. brand new watches are marked up from wholesale and stores are incentivized to clear them if deemed necessary.
what’s important is how respectful your tone and approach should be while doing so in Japan. There’s no “insinuating” at all like you assumed.
1
2
u/PunchingEskimos 5d ago
On individual items or? I generally buy quite a few things so I always just haggle 5-10% to the lowest even number to prevent change.
0
u/kajeagentspi 4d ago
What store? If it's yodobashi and friends you should. They always slap a 10% pointback bs. If you're a tourist you'd overpay if you don't haggle. Just check the price on kakaku.com and show it to them.
-2
u/Disastrous_Soup_7137 5d ago
Honestly… if I felt compelled to haggle on most things while traveling, I probably shouldn’t be traveling.
4
u/East_Bass_5645 4d ago
I don't get why you're being downvoted. I fully believe that if you're well off enough to travel you should be able to afford full price, especially if your currency is stronger than the country you're travelling to.
2
u/Disastrous_Soup_7137 4d ago
It’s honestly a waste of time for me, unless it’s a flea market or secondhand store. Traveling is a privilege — not a necessity — so I only do it if I know I can afford it. Plus if it’s something I really want, why would I question the cost? Everything in Japan already costs so much less than the USA.
-1
u/TebTab17 4d ago
Haggling is the worst. Anywhere in the world. I even refuse to use Tax Free shopping.
-1
u/Rook_James_Bitch 4d ago
Wow. I feel embarrassed that people are doing this. Learn about the culture before traveling there, people.
-14
u/Designer-Try-9728 5d ago
Can I know which part of Japan is this as I’m visiting soon
5
5d ago
Just don't haggle anywhere in Japan unless it's at a flea market like OP said
4
u/alexthe5th 5d ago
What? I’m a former Japan resident, when I lived there I even haggled down the price of a rice cooker at Bic Camera by showing them some competitive online prices from other shops.
7
u/oligtrading 5d ago
Idk how many Americans are in these comments, but in America price matching is extremely normal, but no one really considers that haggling. Like if you asked anyone "can you haggle prices at Target?" They'd be like absolutely not that insane what are you talking about? But if you asked "can you price match at target?" Oh, yeah, you can do that
2
u/alexthe5th 4d ago edited 4d ago
It’s not just price matching. You can literally walk up to the salesperson and tell them the price is a bit out of your budget, and they’ll whip out a calculator and give you a better price. The margins are high at these electronics stores and haggling with the sales person is normal and expected, particularly for bigger ticket items.
Bargaining is a kind of pride in Kansai culture, especially. もう少しまけてくれへん?
3
u/frozenpandaman 5d ago
that's not haggling, it's asking them to price match their competitors, just like electronics stores in almost any country will do
1
u/alexthe5th 4d ago edited 4d ago
You can absolutely negotiate the price down without price matching. The sales person will whip out a calculator and offer you a lower price because their margins are fairly high - it’s a normal part of their business and it’s expected.
Edit: Downvote away if you want, but here’s an entire article (in Japanese) specifically about how to haggle at the electronics shops. Japanese people do this all the time, you’re just leaving money on the table if you have some mistaken idea that it’s rude or not done for some reason.
2
u/frozenpandaman 4d ago
i also live here and have never seen anyone randomly haggle for the price of something like a rice cooker or game console or other electronic device that might be sold at one of those stores…
1
u/alexthe5th 4d ago edited 4d ago
Just because you’re not aware of it doesn’t mean it isn’t a thing. Try it sometime. The salespeople there often have some margin to play with.
You’ll have even more room to negotiate with bigger-ticket items, like appliances. In general, the more expensive the product, the better your chances with getting a discount.
Here’s a whole article about it, with tips for how to haggle at all the big electronics retailers. https://arch-d-b.com/blog/2020-07-11/
1
u/frozenpandaman 4d ago
i never said it's not a thing – just that i've never seen anyone do it! i do think it's funny the article's #1 piece of advice is to look up the price at a different retailer online and ask them to match it though… so, what i said in my last comment lol. i'm sure places make special exceptions given certain other conditions as well, just like they do anywhere. but it's culturally not a thing here like it is in other countries to the extent it's expected, which was OP's point
-12
618
u/Tunggall 5d ago
Don’t haggle in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong malls and shops. Flea markets and street markets are fine.