Gina带美国老板Jason去购物,Jason让Gina教他砍价。

Jason: So what’s the general amount that they mark up by? Thirty percent? Forty?

G: They could mark it up seventy percent or even one hundred! That’s why you’ve got to have an in-depth working knowledge of local prices – that way, if they quote an outrageous price, you can just laugh.

Jason想知道购物中心商品标价一般要比合理价格高出多少,mark up是把抬高价格的意思,相反的,mark down 则是减价销售。Gina说,有时价格会故意标高70%,甚至100%。这也就是为什么要了解当地的价格行情,have an in-depth working knowledge of something,是深度了解的意思,in-depth is spelled i-n in, and d-e-p-t-h, depth, in-depth,这样如果别人quote an outrageous price,抬出宰人的高价,outrageous is spelled o-u-t-r-a-g-e-o-u-s, outrageous, 意思是超乎寻常的,另外需要注意的,要价动词用的是 quote, q-u-o-t-e, quote.

J: In America we generally can’t get away with bargaining in many shops. The prices are listed on the price tag and that’s that. Sometimes you can get a discount, but it’s usually never more than ten percent or so.

G: In China, pretty much all prices are negotiable. Some vendors tell me they actually respect buyers who can drive a hard bargain.

J: That’s interesting.

Jason说,在美国,商店都是明码标价,The prices are listed on the price tag. Price tag,是价格标签的意思,有时也能享受优惠discount, discount,是减价、打折的意思,但是一般很少超过百分之十。Gina说,在中国,几乎所有价格都可以砍,negotiable is spelled n-e-g-o-t-i-a-b-l-e, negotiable,是可以商量的意思。有些卖主甚至更瞧得起会砍价的买主,drive a hard bargain,是固定用法,意思是会砍价。

G: Yes…but of course the seller will always try to win the bargaining battle…that’s the nature of the game.

J: Yeah, it is like a game, isn’t it? Both people are bluffing, just like in poker.

G: That’s right. But you have to get a sense of where the bottom line is. After a while you learn to recognize a look in the seller’s eyes that says: I’m really not going to go any lower.

确实,砍价就象打牌,讨价还价的双方都要虚张声势,bluff is spelled b-l-u-f-f, bluff, bluff,是虚张声势的意思。Gina 说,没错,关键是要识别卖主的底线,bottom line,要能从卖主的眼神里看出,他真的不会再降价了。