Curacao has a lot to offer when it comes to shopping. There are several different places to go to find what you are looking for at a reasonable cost. Whether it is in Punda or in Salina, you will have a unique shopping experience filled with surprises and even great deals if you are clever. The best thing of all is that you are almost never faced with having to pay full price for a particular item. All it takes is a little confidence and craft to wheel and deal with the store personnel. And before you know it, your persuasion will pay off and you will be walking away with your favourite item(s) in the store for a fraction of the cost.

From my experience of shopping in Curacao the best places to bargain for items such as clothing and souvenirs are in downtown Willemstad, particularly in Punda and Otrobanda. In most stores, the employees and owners have a certain price in mind for their items that are actually less than the ticketed price. Although there may not be any sales displayed in the store, from my point of view, everything is always on sale. The key is to know how much you want to pay for something before you buy it. But customers should beware that if you look a certain way or show that you really want an item, the staff will try not to budge on the price. In that case, if you do feel the price is not quite right for you the best decision would be to go to plan B: leave the item and move on to the next shop.

If you haven’t already noticed, many of the stores downtown sell similar items. Whatever you are looking for, you better believe that you will be able to find it in 5 or 6 other stores. And the price may vary from store to store so don’t feel bad for leaving an item behind that you liked. However, if you totally fall in love with something like a souvenir or a pair of shoes you can always further attempt to get a small discount even after your previous offers have been rejected. They might skim off a few guilders so at least you can feel good about having some influence on your purchase. It is also good practice for your next purchase.

The best places to bargain are in stores owned by Indians. At first you may feel that they will not budge on the price of a certain item but if you have a short chat with them and give them a little praise you will not be disappointed. All it takes is some persuasion topped with a bit of persistence. If you are buying big items like a television or an appliance it helps to buy a couple of items from the same store to get an even better price. A great bargaining tactic is to go into the store with a friend or family member that also needs a particular item and bargain together. Two heads are better than one!

The best advice I have about bargain shopping is to always ask for a discount. If you don’t ask, the staff will not even give you the small discount that they are allowed to give their customers. You can always start at 20% off, for example, so you have some room to work your way down if they are being inflexible. That has always worked for me. Remember that items are always marked up by at least 30%-40% so it is not always worth paying full price for items, especially big items. Considering that almost everything is made in China, products are made cheaper today but ticketed prices have continued to rise.

So the next time you are shopping in Curacao, try your hand at a little wheeling and dealing. It’s a good way to test yourself as well as the staff. And it can be a lot of fun too.