Tangier Shopping

After our trip to the infamous "bazaar" (that many others here have had the misfortune to visit!), our trusty tour guide Allal asked us if we wanted to visit a spice and herbs shop, a quick stop for 5 minutes. We said "Not really..." and he said, "Okay good, follow me!" and raced through the kasbah, and we had to run to keep up.

We went down this long hallway with orange wallpaper, and made a right, and waited in this room which was stacked with jars on shelves all over the wall. There was a table sort of thing in the middle (my memory is hazy...I think I blocked out most of the details). In came the "professor" He went through this awful spiel of all of his products...curry, incense, balms, etc. I felt bad for him, he wasn't very good. He would not let us take pictures.

The pic I do have is when my friend got a massage with some sort of cream or balm which supposedly has soothing qualities. I snapped a shot while the guy wasn't looking.

What to buy: Don't buy anything there. It is so overpriced it is not even funny. He tried to sell me 25 sticks of sandalwood, for 7€! No way, I can get that for $2 back home. He told me they didn't have them in America, he was full of it, I didn't buy any.

What to pay: Don't buy anything here. It is a total waste of time.

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It is a "bazaar," however it looks more like a Sears filled with Middle Eastern crafts. It has everything - jewelry, carpets, hookas, knives, pottery, wooden and metal sculptures, clothing, etc. The carpets are up on the third floor. As soon as you walk in, the assistants will begin laying out carpets for you. These guys could sell ice to an eskimo.

If there are no native Moroccans in the building, chances are that it is a tourist trap!

The salesman will talk to you, and try to relate his products to an interest of yours. For example, when he found out that I was interested in Native American culture, he explained to me that the Berbers of Morocco are like the "Native Americans" of the Arab world. Of course this made me more interested in the blanket. These people are clever like that, watch out.

What to buy: Nothing, unless you can haggle the owner down 50%. When I bought my "Berber blanket," I haggled him down 3 euros and he made it seem like if he gave me that deal, his kids would have to kiss their college education goodbye.

The blanket I bought is the yellow-orange-red one in the background of my picture.

Later my friend bought some "silver" jewelry, talking the man down hundreds of dollars. I doubt it is silver anyway.

What to pay: Don't buy anything unless you can get it half-price.

Firmness is the key. Remember, he wants to sell YOU something. YOU do not have to buy anything, so you ALWAYS have the advantage.

When you refuse to pay his price, he will feign insult, implying that you think his wares are poor quality. Don't buy it! Don't feel guilty - this is his job!

What to buy: This is my gorgeous Moroccan Lamp, finally unpacked it!

Could not tell you exactly how much it was as we bought it as part of a job lot, but it was a good deal.

Wanted one for ages, but it HAD to come from Morocco

(~_~)

We had decided that although we wanted to buy one for two bits and pieces, we really could not be doing with the very pushy sellers in the Souk & Kasbar of Tangier. So whilst we were waiting to be picked up for the ferry back to Spain we went for a wander in our hotel shop & it was heavenly!

The shop owner was great, no selling and even left us in the shop to browse on our own, consequently bought more than we had planned, and at much cheaper prices we had seen else where.

What to buy: We bought for ourselves Moroccan lamp and ornate plate, and a chess/backgammon set, for Freya some Moroccan slippers & a few bits & pieces for family

As soon as you step in Tangier you'll begin to experience the hassle from vendors and beggars. The tour guide makes good efforts to keep them away saving your money for the time he will kindly drive you in his "recommended" stores.

Don't show any interest at all in any product or answer any questions from hard sellers unless you're ready to dive into an endless negotiation where you will be in complete disadvantage. Even a small kid in Tangier is a professional when it comes to commerce.

Any vendor will ask for a product many times more than what it really costs. So, as a general rule, offer approximately 20-25% of the initial price. If you buy it at 50% you have been ripped off, be sure.

We were taken to a bazzar, which I later found out was owned by the tour guides uncle. Since we were actually interested in buying a rug on our trip this was OK. We were taken to the third floor, and once they sensed our interest we were suddenly surrounded by so many rugs we could not easly leave. However in order to get the best deal, you must show almost no interest in what you really want and try to walk away several times.

What to pay: Way less they they first ask. We paid one-third of thier starting price for the rug that we bought. I also later had the rug appraised in the US for seven times what we paid in Tangier, so not a bad deal really.

If you are coming to Morocco and Tangier on a cruise ship then the jallaba-clad ‘would be tour-guides’ and kaftan-draped merchant women on your ship’s pier may be your first introduction to a culture totally different from anything you probably saw on the European side of the Mediterranean.

You are of course looking forward to shuffling shoulder-to-shoulder through the crowded souks with the native Moroccans in search of saffron for your kitchen, henna for your hair, a rug for your living room, a leather wallet for your favorite uncle, or yellow babouche slippers for back home. And, of course, you can do all these things. But do not overlook some early or last minute shopping at the merchant tables set up near your gangway on the pier itself.

I found these folks to be friendly and agreeable to haggling over price. In fact I bought a decorative beaten metal plaque from one of these stalls.

Most visitors to Tangier will tell you that shopping in the Medina or the Grand Socco is one of the most entertaining things to do of an afternoon. Hundreds of 'hole in the wall' shops and stalls as well as many 'proper' shops exist to take money off of unwary tourists but the more canny visitor will not be phased by the constant offers of mint-tea and cut-price goods.

Avoid typical tourist-trap shops but off the beaten track a wealth of fine crafts exists to tempt you. In particular there are wonderful carved cedar wood pots, boxes and other items that beg the browser to part with some of their money.

Pottery is rather crude but the colorful designs make an attractive present for the folks and friends back home. If you will be using them for liquids, check that they are sealed and non-porous as many are meant to be used only for dry goods.

Leather goods vary in quality and style but a careful shopper can usually find something at a good price. In particular, leather belts, bags and wallets are good purchases - do check the quality of the leather though. Make sure you give the leather a good sniff first though as some leather items are cured in goats' brains and urine.

Jewelry in Morocco is an acquired taste. Once again these are made of varying qualities of silver and the differences in price exemplify this. Compared to European jewelers' prices they are reasonably cheap, however. The more simple rings and necklaces can be quite beautiful.

Rugs and blankets are the bane of western tourists in Tangiers. You will be very lucky (and a great negotiator) if you purchase it for a fair price. Hawkers will be trying to pull you into their first cousin's rug shop for a great deal on floor coverings. Be careful here - if you don't want a rug do not even look! Once you are in their shop, you had better buy something or they will get very offended at your 'wasting their precious time' and things can get rather uncomfortable as a result.

What to buy: Pottery, leather goods, beaten copper, some jewelry and rugs if you are desperate.

What to pay: Negotiate, bargain, dicker. Don't take the first price offered.