A commonly practiced skill unique to Hongkong, or more specifically to the frequenters of the flea markets on Temple Street. Mastery may perhaps take a couple more days. My friend tells me the trick is to go through a specific selection of default phrases: 幾多錢？老闆娘，可唔可以計平D？有没有学生优惠？(How much is it? Can it go for cheaper? Any student discount?) There is a precise moment when you can walk away with the guarantee that you will be called back, and with this strategy, an item can be obtained at a very agreeable 20 percent of the original retail price. But too bad I don’t like confrontation.
“Only one in the entirety of Hongkong!” A shopkeeper beckons the tourist in front of me to survey a wooden Buddha statue. But walk a little more along the crowded alleyway, and the colorful stalls will begin to repeat themselves. The Supreme imitation baseball cap you swore you saw a few streets back is shoved once more into your face, this time by a less wrinkly elderly man donning a Hawaiian t-shirt. This is the moment you begin to wonder whether there is a point to haggling at all, for the difference between counterfeit and genuine commodity is merely in the details of the official branding and perhaps the durability of the material. Just kidding, you’re a poor college student on a $600 budget.