Elias Canetti on the mysteries of haggling

“In the souks, however, the price that is named first is an unfathomable riddle. No one knows in advance what it will be, not even the merchant, because in any case there are many prices. Each one relates to a different situation, a different customer, a different time of day, a different day of the week. There are prices for single objects and prices for two or more together. There are prices for foreigners visiting the city for a day and prices for foreigners who have been here for three weeks. There are prices for the poor and prices for the rich, those for the poor of course being the highest. One is tempted to think that there are more kinds of prices than there are kinds of people in the world.”
–Elias Canetti, The Voices of Marrakesh: A Record of a Visit (1968)

Posted by | Comments Off on Elias Canetti on the mysteries of haggling  | July 23, 2012
Category: Travel Quote of the Day

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