“What a bargain!” says tourist who just haggled $8 off a starving Indian villager
An Austrian tourist is thrilled after having haggled $8 off the price of a necklace, and in the process almost bankrupting the Indian man who sold it to her.
Sara Knoeppfler, 37, told The Tragic Traveller she was surprised how large a discount she’d received from the market vendor, who will tonight have to explain to his wife and four children why there’s no food on the table.
“You’ve really gotta play hard-ball with these people,” said the economist, whose no-nonsense approach to bargaining just ensured an entire family will go hungry for the next three days. “The guy was asking 10 bucks for this shitty necklace, and I got it for $2! I didn’t even want it. But when it’s that cheap …”
By the time he sold it to me, he was actually crying. That’s how I knew I’d won.
With a huge grin plastered over her face, Knoeppfler posted a selfie to her Insta account immediately after making the purchase. In the interest of good taste, she cropped the weeping market vendor out of the photo.
At publication time, witnesses had spotted Knoeppfler spending the $8 she’d saved on a cocktail at her hotel bar. She drank a quarter of the cocktail before heading off to her full-body massage. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, the vendor tried not to break down as he looked his youngest daughter in the eye and explained what malnutrition is.
