Do your homework and follow the custom tip about bartering hard.
If you've had a chance to window shop at the various curio shops either in Nairobi or one of the lodges first, it will give you a good idea as to the slightly inflated, but fair pricing you should be shopping for.
Ideally, you "should" be able to buy direct for a slightly lower price than the shops sell for as you are cutting out the middle man.
Make a mental note and even written ones (as we did) as to that necklace and what the gift shop at your hotel wants for it.
Wooden carvings, local jewelry, handicrafts, weaves, pottery, soapstone and spears. Make sure the soapstone is real - there's alot of fakes and even we, who tried to follow the guidelines of "tapping it" to make sure it didn't chip fell to a very good forgery.
Ideally, you "should" be able to buy direct for a slightly lower price than the shops sell for as you are cutting out the middle man.
Make a mental note and even written ones (as we did) as to that necklace and what the gift shop at your hotel wants for it.
When the locals initially quote you their incredibly high price you'll at least have a reference point with which to barter - but to do so, you'll have to start out much much lower than their initial price.
Always start out 20% of what their initial price is and barter up from there, eventually paying a maximum of 40 - 50%!
