Cost of things....on the beach
So I'm heading to Jamaica in 11 days and for all indented purposes intend to spend most of my time lazing around on the beach. I know there will be roaming vendors offering various services and items for sale while there. With hopes not to get ripped off by opening that door and asking prices can someone kindly give me some guidance on average prices on some items.
Say a patti man comes knocking... How much should a patty cost? What about a beer? A fruit drink? A sub? a pack of cancer sticks? I know it will vary a bit but I don't want to be that silly tourist who just paid a 300% markup on something.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Most of the items you mentioned can be purchased from local shops and the price will be clearly marked. If you go to a real local shop (as opposed to a gift shop in a hotel) you should get a good price. For example, a six pack of warm Reds Stripe from a shop like Mikey's will be $8 US or less. A cold single Red Stripe should be $2 US or less.
Now, when purchasing from a roaming vendor (or from a craft stand) everything is negotiable. If I feel the price I'm given is good (like $2 for a patty, $5 for a bottle of fresh squeezed juice) I just pay it. If I feel the price is high, I begin bargaining at half the offered price. In the end, I usually land somewhere in between. On my trip last week, we ran into an aggressive fruit vendor who began handing my wife and I all this fruit, saying it was his birthday. We did want some fruit, but not all the stuff he was trying to hand us. I only accepted a banana, a bag of coconut chunks and a bag of pineapples. The vendor said, "Gimme 10 bucks". I pulled out a $500J and said, "here you go. I'll give you $500". He then said, "OK, give me another $500". Just because he was being a jerk and because I felt the fruit was not worth more than $500J we took the fruit and walked away. I said to the vendor, "sorry, I only have $500" as we continued down the beach. There was another local walking along side us, who saw the whole exchange and said, "Good job. Respect."
I don't smoke cigarettes, so I can't help you there. Also, I'm not going to touch the subs question, but I know it has been discussed here before and you can probably do a search and find a couple threads.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
For souvenirs it's a buyers market; figure out what you want to pay and negotiate. At BBB, your patty man will be Neville (pushing a bike) - a good, honest hardworking man who has been working the beach for as long as I can remember.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
I know that fruit guy. One of the few vendors I have met thru the years who I would call an a-hole. I never buy from him
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
you will have a good little store right beside bar b barn to your left. cambio next to the store and times square across the street. for your purchases off the beach. i find the vendors coming to this stretch of the beach with food to be fair consistent pricing.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Quote:
Originally Posted by
original spanky
I know that fruit guy. One of the few vendors I have met thru the years who I would call an a-hole. I never buy from him
LOL. Now I know.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Most of the food vendors like the patty man, jerk pork, juice are not negotiable. Fruit can be depending on how much you buy. Never hurts to ask.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Legends has a Daily Sunset Happy Hour from 4-7 p.m., 2 for 1 drinks....
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Quote:
Originally Posted by
saeyedoc
Most of the food vendors like the patty man, jerk pork, juice are not negotiable. Fruit can be depending on how much you buy. Never hurts to ask.
I've found juice to be somewhat negotiable, but not by much. I usually just pay what they ask, unless I don't really need it, then I'll haggle a bit.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Hi All. Thanks for the replies. What I however am trying to figure out is what the average cost is ... For example if a vendor comes up to me and says 900 JYD for a orange juice is that reasonable? I have no idea what the average cost of stuff is and if I'm seen as a total newb I'm sure people will use that to their advantage. If I have a baseline for what stuff costs then I have an idea of what to pay.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
$500 JA is all we ever pay for OJ on the beach (same price you'll pay at Shamrock), Norman's patties are $150, Neville's are $100 I think. Cigarettes - Cdn style ones (Rothmans/CravenA) are anywhere from $700 to $1000 JA. Hope this helps :)
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Quote:
Originally Posted by
oiboy
So I'm heading to Jamaica in 11 days and for all indented purposes intend to spend most of my time lazing around on the beach. I know there will be roaming vendors offering various services and items for sale while there. With hopes not to get ripped off by opening that door and asking prices can someone kindly give me some guidance on average prices on some items.
Say a patti man comes knocking... How much should a patty cost? What about a beer? A fruit drink? A sub? a pack of cancer sticks? I know it will vary a bit but I don't want to be that silly tourist who just paid a 300% markup on something.
buy your smokes at the airport when you come out the door there is a duty free $32 a carton. I would only get my fruit from the older lady on the beach she cut it fresh in front of us and it was $4us for the whole pineapple, there's a place called Sunny Side on the beach just a beach bar and it was 170J about a $1.50US, we bought cold beer at one of the little markets out on the street cost us 850J, but we had our driver stop at the market in Mobay add it was way cheaper, bought a case of Ting, 2 6packs of red strip and snacks also only cost us $32. Hope this helps we just got home last night from Negril.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Next time the A- hole fruit guy says it's his birthday, ask him what is the date of that day.
Re: Cost of things....on the beach
Quote:
Originally Posted by
oiboy
Hi All. Thanks for the replies. What I however am trying to figure out is what the average cost is ... For example if a vendor comes up to me and says 900 JYD for a orange juice is that reasonable? I have no idea what the average cost of stuff is and if I'm seen as a total newb I'm sure people will use that to their advantage. If I have a baseline for what stuff costs then I have an idea of what to pay.
we ate patty's everyday and it was set price of $1.50 beef, 2.00 for chicken and one day I tipped him and he gave me a free vegi patty..cheap lunch and very good. watch out for fruit sellers they charge all over the place bye the end of the day they just want to get rid of what they have and will sell for like $1US for a little bag of fruit. if you want to buy treasures go to Time Square (Sunny side) had good prices. Don't forget the taxes they charge are anywhere from 10 to 16.5 percent + a service charge at some places of 10%. we paid $10 on the street for some really good Jerk Chicken came with bread and was very yummy (Boston Jerk) I think was our guy.