Cost of things....on the beach

[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.

[Mike_D]

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.

[goldilocks]

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.

[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

[Mike_D]

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.

[JitterBug]

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.

[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.

[TAH]

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.

[Patricia]

Legends has a Daily Sunset Happy Hour from 4-7 p.m., 2 for 1 drinks....

[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.