美語情景對話 第543期:Bairgain Shopping 討價還價

Joel: Hey, Tom, when you were in Thailand, did you, were you good at bargaining? You know how you have to haggle to get the price lower.

喬爾：嘿，湯姆，你在泰國生活時擅長砍價嗎？就是討價還價，把價格降低。

Tom: Once I got started it was OK, but, oh, getting started was so difficult.

湯姆：只要開始就容易些，不過很難開始。

Joel: What do you mean?

喬爾：你是什麼意思？

Tom: I just knew that when I walked up to a market stall, that I'd pick up something, and if it was something that I wanted, to get it, I'd have to start fighting. I'd have to get through his argument it felt like, and I was really uncomfortable about doing that.

湯姆：我會去小攤買東西，如果我看到一個我需要的東西，我想買下來，那我就會開始砍價。我要和攤主爭論價格，可是這麼做我總覺得不舒服。

Joel: That's the problem with me, too. I was always too nice. It's like, you know, I'd give them one price and then, they would never go for the price that I ask for so I, if the price was a 100, and I said, "OK, 50", then they would say, "Well, OK, 95", and I usually wouldn't take it much further than that.

喬爾：我也有同樣的問題。我一直都很友好。一般我會告訴他們我的理想價格，不過一般他們不會同意我的價格，舉例來說，如果某樣東西要價100元，我會說：“50吧”，然後他們會說：“不行，給95吧”，那我就不會再繼續砍了。

Tom: Oh, no, that's completely, I'm completely different. If I started it was because it was something that I really wanted, and I'd already have an idea of the price, so once I started that whole deal, oh it could take quite a long time. I'd, we'd chat, you know, it's a very friendly way of doing it in Thailand. We'd talk about the price. I'd do a lot of smiling. I'd pick up some other things that were similar and I'd really go for it and take a long time.

湯姆：不是，那跟我完全不同。如果這樣東西是我特別想買的，我就會開始砍價，而且我會想好我能接受的價格，所以一旦我決定砍價，那就會花好長時間。我們會聊天，這是在泰國砍價的一種友好方式。我們會談價格，我會一直保持微笑。我會拿一些其他類似的東西，然後繼續砍價，所以會花好長時間。

Joel: I heard that the trick to it is you really need to tell them a whole story, like you can't just say, " Oh, I want the price lower", you have to say like, "Oh, well, you know, I don't have any money and I really need to get this for my family and this is the last time I'm going to be here, you know, I've run out of money, can you give me a deal on it. You can't just tell them you want a lower price. You have to give them a good reason and you have to have a dramatic story to go along with it.

喬爾：我聽說砍價的技巧是你要給他們講故事，你不能只是說：“便宜點吧”，你要說：“你知道，我沒什麼錢了，可是我家真的很需要這個，這是我最後一次來這裏了，我的錢用光了，你便宜點賣我吧。”你不能只是告訴他們你希望能便宜點，你要給他們一個好的理由，而且你還要說一個充滿戲劇性的故事。

Tom: I've done that in the past. I've emptied out my wallet, and I've said, this is for my lunch. This is for the taxi. This is all I've got left for you. Right, and then you take a bus home. A bus is a lot cheaper than a taxi.

湯姆：我以前這麼做過。我把錢包裏的錢都掏出來，然後跟賣東西的人說，這是吃午飯的錢，這是做出租車的錢。這些就是我現在能給你的錢。你可以坐公交車回家，因爲公交車比出租車便宜的多。

Joel: I've also heard, like you can get, usually if, as I've said before, if the price is, the quoted price is 100, then you should shoot for, not a third of that but, even like, half of that. You can get it for 50, not 75.

喬爾：我聽說……比如說一個東西的價格是100元，你不應該只砍下三分之一的價格，你可以對半砍。你能用50元錢買到這個東西，而不是75元。

Tom: Yeah, I think the first price is always, you can always get a big reduction on that, but I remember the last time I went shopping in Thailand I was buying stuff for my mum and I'd left it really late and it was pouring down with rain and my mom wanted something, it was very specific, some silk trousers and she wanted 10 pairs to give them away to her friends, and I trolled around this big bazaar with hundred of shops looking for this very specific product and eventually I found it and the shopkeeper only had half a dozen; I wanted more, and she said her price and I just gave her the money. I wanted to get home as quickly as possible, so I got half a dozen ties on top of the trousers because I hadn't bargained. She gave me something extra just for not trying.

湯姆：對，通常第一次可以得到很大的優惠，我記得上次我在泰國購物是爲我媽媽買東西，我去的時候已經很晚了，而且還下着大雨，我媽媽要的是那種非常特別的真絲長褲，她想買10條送給她的朋友們，我去的那個市集很大，有數百家商鋪，我就在那裏到處找我媽媽要的那種長褲，最後我終於在一家店裏找到了，可是店主說只有6條；我想買更多，她說了價格以後我就直接付錢了。因爲我想盡快回家，除了長褲以外店主還送了我6條領帶，因爲我沒有砍價，所以她送了我一些東西。

Joel: Are you going to Thailand over this break?

喬爾：你休假時會去泰國嗎？

Tom: I'm going at Christmas, yeah.

湯姆：我聖誕節時會去泰國。

Joel: I'm wondering if, I got really big feet, and I'm having a hard time getting shoes here. Do you know, I know you have big feet too, I'm wondering, is it possible to get big shoes?

喬爾：我的腳很大，很難在這裏的商店買到合適的鞋。我知道你的腳也很大，我在想，泰國能買到大號的鞋嗎？

Tom: Yeah, they definitely have them. They make them there and they're all these outlets.

湯姆：當然，泰國絕對可以買到。他們那裏製作鞋，有很多批發商店。

Joel: And. they're cheap too, right?

喬爾：那也很便宜，對吧？

Tom: That's right.

湯姆：沒錯。

Joel: I'm wondering if you can pick me up some when you're out there, like any kind of business shoes.

喬爾：我在想你去泰國的時候能不能幫我帶雙鞋回來，我需要正裝鞋。

Tom: You want business shoes?

湯姆：你要買正裝鞋？

Joel: Yeah.

喬爾：對。

Tom: OK.

湯姆：好的。

Joel: Just black business shoes, any kind you find is fine.

喬爾：黑色的正裝鞋就可以，樣式你決定就行。

Tom: Lace-ups?

湯姆：要繫帶鞋嗎？

Joel: Yeah, lace-ups are fine. And like a size 12, American.

喬爾：對，繫帶鞋。美國鞋號是12號。

Tom: You want one pair, or two pairs?

湯姆：你要買一雙還是兩雙？

Joel: Yeah, maybe two pairs, that's even better.

喬爾：兩雙吧，兩雙更好些。

Tom: Sure, I'll see what I can find.

湯姆：好的，到時候我看看。

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. run out of
用完；
eg. I had intended to make a cake, but I ran out of time.
我原想做個蛋糕，但沒有時間。
eg. We've run out of sugar, so I must buy some more.
我們的糖吃完了，我得再買一些。
2. give away
贈送；
eg. We are giving away all our surplus apples.
我們準備把多餘的蘋果全部送人。
eg. We give away 5, 000 plastic hag at the exhibition.
在展覽會上，我們贈送了五千只塑料袋。
3. on top of
另外； 除此之外；
eg. On top of that, I've got one extra bit of good news I think you might want to hear.
除此之外，我還有一個你想要聽到的好消息。
eg. On top of that, Harp and I both learned how to run a camera and do lights back in college.
另外，我和哈普都在大學學過怎麼操作攝像機和做燈光。