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Popular Shopping | Miscellaneous Shopping Tips | All Tips (285)
 | |  |  | Crystal, Crystal, Crystal | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
In Prague, we bought a crystal item for our first grandchild. We checked with the locals before setting out on our quest. We knew not all crystal is equal, but we also knew the price can be vastly different from one shop to another for the same item, and the discrepancy is usually tied to the shop's location. In Prague, there is another tangible factor involved in the matter of crystal: the influence of organized crime families. With the knowledge generously bestowed upon us by friends and trustworthy acquaintances, we set out to find the perfect gift. The large owl we finally decided to purchase did not carry the lowest price tag but it was the price we were willing to pay and the vendor was someone about whom we had a good feeling. Everywhere in the city, the same item was quoted from as low as 4,000CZK and as high as 13,500CZK. According to the advice we received, when it comes to crystal, you should do your homework beforehand, spend a lot of time to compare prices, and then trust your feeling. Once you plunge down the money, do not glance at the price of the same piece anywhere else. Be happy with your purchase no matter what you find out later.
Bohemian crystal and Czech crystal are sold everywhere, but buy only items with accompanied certificate of authenticity signed by the artist if quality is your aim.
Prices vary depending on the size of the item, the quality, the intricacy of the cut, and the location of the shop. Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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| | | | Kreibich: Hats, Gloves, And Small Disasters | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Kreibich is a shop specialized in furs -- coats, hats, and gloves. They make their own merchandises on premise, and if that usually is the sign of excellence, it is not in this case. The hats are elegant and stylist at first glance but upon closer inspection, it proves otherwise. Craftsmanship is good, it is hard to see a flaw anywhere, but the material is very strange. The outer material is not quality fur, and the inner form is made with what the shopkeeper called "potato-derived product". Upon touch, this strange material creates a noise not unlike papier mâché when being crumbled. It gave under my hand in a very unsettling way. Another odd trait is all hats are of the same size; the shopkeeper informed me that the milliner would alter the hat to fit the customer's head after purchase. I could see that it would be a simple procedure to narrow the hat, but to stretch its inner perimeter for a size larger, I had a serious doubt about the result. This is not the standard practice in good trade even with quality product; in the case of poor product, it is a disaster in the making. I passed on the hats and bought a pair of gloves instead since I figured gloves were safe bet. The gloves I selected were suede in bordeaux colour and lined with white fur. They were wonderfully warm and I was happy. The feeling lasted less than an hour. The wind brought the afternoon temperature down to -6C. My warm fingers slowly became very cold. I took off the gloves and saw my hands had turned pink but not from the weather. It seemed that the dye wore off in the humidity and sipped through, bled into the lining and turned my skin into a pinkish colour. I did not return the gloves to the shop because of our limited time. "Chalk it to a 1400CZK experience and move on", Charles said.
If you plan to buy a fur hat in Prague, go to a reputable fur shop. The mass production that is displayed in tourist shops all over the city is not worth your time and attention. If you want to buy fur-lined gloves, make sure to ask questions about the colour used in the dye and how the material would perform in wet weather. I was told that Kreibich was a good shop, but my purchase proved otherwise. In the case of fur, the old adage is not to be ignored: You get what you pay for. Leave a Comment Theme: OtherAddress: Michalská 14, Praha 1Phone: +420 224 222 522Website: www.kreibich.cz Other Contact: info@kreibich.cz
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| | | | Wrought Iron: Ask for something special | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Most shops in the center of Prague will have some kind of wrought iron object for sale. Around the Old Town square you can actually see the blacksmiths at work. Most of the items that they have for sale are not, in my opinion, hand-made. No problem, they are still nice to look at. However, should you want something really hand-made and special, just ask for it. We had seen a very small candle holder at a blacksmith, but his prices were quite high, so we went looking for other places (TIP: if you have the time, just look around as the prices very greatly from one place to another, even in the same street). We found this other blacksmith close to the old town square and we asked him if he could make those candle holders that we had seen before. No problem! was the answer, so we waited for about 20 minutes to see him create them from a piece of metal. Now we are sure to have a unique, hand-made piece. I will soon add a travelogue with some more pictures.
All kinds of objects in wrought iron, from candle holders, to coat-hangers.
Depending on the product, from 5 to 500 Eur... Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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| | | | Shop like the locals - Prague's open air market | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Prague has a wonderful large open air market in the area of Holesovice, it's great for buying, well everything! Note: the area can look a bit run-down (see picture) but truly it is not a problem, happy shopping (cash only)
There are stalls selling watches, clothing, shoes and boots, handbags, rather doggy knives and swords, perfume, jewellery ect, you will not have too much difficulty finding what you want. And if you start to feel hungry there are several sit-in stalls making the most wonderful Chinese take-away foods at incredibly low prices (65 CZK).
It is a MUST that you barter the price, take for instance a watch, the starting price will be about 950 CZK, just laugh and walk away, the stall holder will bring out a calculator and start to drop the price down, keep saying no until you are offered the calculator, you then offer 400 CZK, keep at it and you will get that price. Or if you want to buy more than one item at a stall bargain hard for a good price based on the fact that you are buying more than one. Have fun! Leave a Comment Theme: OtherDirections: Metro to Vltavska, left at the station exit, you will pass by a small Chinese stall, continue till you get to the traffic lights, cross over bear left and go straight on till you reach a McDonald's, just pass this is the market, you can't miss it.
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