Ask Shanghaiist: Xiangyang Market

I completely agree, John, which is why I stressed it was a rough guide - and then made queries as to what other people's ideas were.

So... would you actually like to mention some prices on items not on the list???

For whatever it's worth, the market is definitely back to normal now. The only difference I noticed was that the first prices seemed to be incredibly high compared to what they would normally be. (I tried to buy to "Lacoste" shirts, and the guy's first price was 650.) Maybe they are trying to make up for the money they lost the last few days?

It's simply untrue that foreigners cannot get good prices on their own at Xiangyang Market. What's most important, though, is having a good sense of what things are worth. Locals are definitely more likely to have that, but sometimes even locals are pretty clueless. Your list helps, but there's always going to be something that catches your eye that's not on the list. If you have no idea what it should cost, you stand to lose a lot in the transaction.

Bottom line: the vendors are, first and foremost, business people. They will do their best to get the easy money by ripping off the foreigners when they can, but they're also willing to give foreigners a decent price when it's obvious that the foreigners know what stuff is worth.

Here's a related story:

Police raid pirate nest

Yang Lifei

2005-12-10 Beijing Time

SHANGHAI police confiscated suspected counterfeit clothing bearing the logos of top fashion brands and questioned a group of foreign customers in a raid at a residential building near the city's Xiangyang Market yesterday.

The crackdown followed a tip from the state intellectual property investigators who were in town for three days as part of a nationwide campaign against pirated goods.

Authorities were still totalling up the value of the confiscated goods late yesterday. It was unclear if any arrests were made in the sweep.

The raid took place at 10:30am yesterday at a four-story residential building on the downtown Nanchang Road, around the corner from the popular street market.

No goods were seized at the market itself, but officers said they encountered many customers looking at a wide variety of products in the residential building.

Investigators found clothing, shoes and accessories such as wallets and watches, all bearing labels of famous brands including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Rolex, piled up in five rooms on the first and second floors.

The shoppers were released after police explained the reason for the sweep. Among the group were about 10 foreigners from countries including Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and Austria.

"I was taken here by peddlers who grabbed me by the arm," said a UK national who refused to give his name. "I met them while shopping at the market."

The Xiangyang Market is also where two officials from the State Council's Intellectual Property Supervision Team picked up the trail that eventually led to the underground sales outlet.

"They were stopped by touts and accompanied them pretending to be interested in making a large purchase," said He Hua, vice director of the State Intellectual Property Bureau. "The residence turned out to be a place used to sell and stock fake products."

He and his 14 colleagues arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday and spent three days researching the city's efforts to battle counterfeit goods.

"Shanghai government has taken proper measures to crack down on phony products; however, some problems remain," He said.

Prior to yesterday's raid, the state team inspected the Westgate Mall on Nanjing Road and Metro City in Xujiahui.

"The results there were satisfactory," said Xu Zhanglin, vice director of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau. "It is safe to say we have banned counterfeit products from entering mainstream shopping centers."

Liu Minhong, an official with the Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau, said there are almost no counterfeit goods at Xiangyang Market and that's why touts are prowling for customers on nearby streets.

Xiangyang has to be the free-ist free market existing in China at the moment. definitely get down there and check it out.

And now some pricing advice basic Puma branded trainers Y80-100.

Too bad the Market has been under a law enforcement crackdown for a week. I'm told that business should resume as usual around Tuesday Dec.12th.

Oh yes, that's a good tip I forgot: To take the clothes/product out of the wrapper before buying, which sounds obvious, but usually you see something hanging up, you ask for your size and then they bring you one as if it was "wrapped as new".

Always take it out to check for minor stains etc.

Three Markets in Shanghai

http://spaces.msn.com/members/sevencastles/Blog/cns!1psdFdW3uWZp-A3c-JeidiRg!1021.entry

Sound advice. I can vouch for the walk away and the shitty-weather tactic. Wish I had known earlier about following those street solicitors. Was cheated 275 bucks(yes, US dollars) for a fake purse and a wallet for my now ex. And that was after being led through a maze of private residences and narrow alleyways. We were completely disoriented. Needless to say, a potentially dangerous situation indeed.

Two fifths the original price is what my local relatives usually pay. They tend to deal with nonnative Shanghainese vendors(ones with rural accents) because native Shanghainese pride themselves as being more cunning. My relatives aren't polite to the vendors either, often criticizing the quality of the goods(even if there isn't anything wrong with them) to drive the price even lower.

Watch out for bait and switch, and inspect everything that you purchase. Displayed items are not necessarily identical to what you get in the prewrapped packages, especially when it comes to fabric quality and colors on shirts and polos. On the note of polos, when I purchased white polos, the dye used was not a true white and the polo was a light purple under direct sunlight. They might have since changed the dye or took out the red sock from the dyeing machine.

As stated above, it's really a rough guide.

What kind of prices have our readers been getting recently for other items not listed?