I was just in Vietnam. Anytime a vendor tried this I just walked in most instances.. I was with a group that were from Vietnam, so it was easier to spot. And haggling is part of their culture in markets. I am fine to haggle, and heck even realize that as a certain point, happy to contribute to someones betterment if it cost me an extra 20k dong (aka less than 1$).
But there were definitely parts of the country where, based on how you looked, the starting price would be x and if you looked different it would be y. If i felt i was being taken for a ride, i would just walk. I even had a street vendor see i went to the next person selling the same thing but was less on the take and bought from them. This guy started following me and basically harrassing me. I had to actually raise my voice to get him to walk away.
That said, as a result my favorite parts of the trip were in my buddies hometowns where tourists werent common and thus, I was treated as a local, or at least a curiosity (I definately got looks at some restaurants as they were shocked i would eat the same things everyone else did without hesitation). In a few cases some asked to take picture but it was always warm welcome.
In certain parts I felt preyed upon and if you made eye contact it was like you were "hooked". I am much more likely to walk away from those encounters. That said, i dont like tourist traps in general, even in my hometown stateside.
We even tested this theory in some places where my buddy would go first and place his order. Then I would get the exact same thing and when we sat compare the cost. It was interesting to say the least.
Also what we noticed was that in his hometown, this never occurred. We paid the same anytime we tried this, even in the markets. It was to a point that by the end of the trip i was going out on my own and just getting what I wanted and most cases if my basic understanding of Vietnamese wasnt sufficient i was even comfortable fanning out some bills and having them pull what they needed.
But there were definitely parts of the country where, based on how you looked, the starting price would be x and if you looked different it would be y. If i felt i was being taken for a ride, i would just walk. I even had a street vendor see i went to the next person selling the same thing but was less on the take and bought from them. This guy started following me and basically harrassing me. I had to actually raise my voice to get him to walk away.
That said, as a result my favorite parts of the trip were in my buddies hometowns where tourists werent common and thus, I was treated as a local, or at least a curiosity (I definately got looks at some restaurants as they were shocked i would eat the same things everyone else did without hesitation). In a few cases some asked to take picture but it was always warm welcome.
In certain parts I felt preyed upon and if you made eye contact it was like you were "hooked". I am much more likely to walk away from those encounters. That said, i dont like tourist traps in general, even in my hometown stateside.
We even tested this theory in some places where my buddy would go first and place his order. Then I would get the exact same thing and when we sat compare the cost. It was interesting to say the least.
Also what we noticed was that in his hometown, this never occurred. We paid the same anytime we tried this, even in the markets. It was to a point that by the end of the trip i was going out on my own and just getting what I wanted and most cases if my basic understanding of Vietnamese wasnt sufficient i was even comfortable fanning out some bills and having them pull what they needed.