One of the most important things while traveling is learning to negotiate. No surprise - locals will always try to legally strip you down. Yup... they can smell tourists and money from far away. Nothing wrong with that.

However, none of us want to over-pay for stuff. From my personal experience, I can tell that there are some universal tips how to negotiate, look cooler, wiser, and impossible to rob.

Learn the freaking language

If you come to a market, wanting to buy something, and you cannot say a shit in local language - be prepared to pay more. It is enough to be a tourist. Acting like one will not help. So just take your time, don't be ignorant, and learn those few words. To negotiate, all you need to say is "Hello", "How are you", all the numbers, and "cheap", "expensive".

Tip: try to use as many International words as possible. So often locals will understand you.

Do your research before

It is easier to negotiate when you know the actual price. Every little thing is on the internet those days, so there is no excuse for being unprepared, except of ignorance.

When you know that something is worth 20 dollars and you are being charged, you can just laugh and say "no". In most of the cases, merchants feel those smart people and they don't try to trick them anymore.

Don't fall for cliché phrases

Things like "special offer just for you, my friend", "The only one, original, made by my own hands, and designed by professionals just for 5 dollars", "Only now", "Best quality in whole market" don't exist. I am still amazed how people fall for it. Do you seriously believe that someone will make a special offer just to you, because they see you for a first time and give no shit about you? Well, good luck in life.

Merchants will tell anything to sell their stuff. Always remember to ignore lies and only believe in things you see with your own eyes.

Act cool

This one should not work, but once again, so many things should not happen in the world. Yup, acting cool helps. If you pretend that you don't really need the stuff, and that you have all life figured out, somehow merchants are more likely to negotiate. However, remember that there is a small line between being cool and being a douche. What happens with douches? They are just told to GTFO.

And never ever show that you found what you were looking for all your life. Everyone smells your needs and takes advantage of it.

Go all the way

Probably the most difficult tip of all. Yes, sometimes it is very hard and even embarrassing to negotiate and keep pushing for a lower price. From my experience, sometimes it is not even worth it. However, if we are talking about negotiating - going all the way is really important.

Extra tip: if you are super confident about the situation, just pretend to be leaving the shop and wait for the merchant to give in. If he doesn't, you will be super embbarassed to come back to the shop, so only use this technique when fully confident.

Be nice

Yes, one might look at negotiation as a fight, but you still have to be nice. It helps... just like anywhere else in the world. Always try to get what you need for a price you need, but avoid getting rude and angry. This will only create more hostility and ruin the mood for everyone.

Always imagine that you are on the same boat with a merchant, and failing to fulfill either one's wishes will only sink that boat. Do you want to drown?

Don't be greedy

Robbing and negotiating is completely different things. If you are trying to get something for unreasonably low price, you are being greedy, and negotiations will fail most of the time. And it should. Once again - everyone has to come out as a winner in a successful negotiation. If it does not happen, universe will find its way to correct things. Sooner or later.