The art of the exchange
I'm not an expert when it comes to black market exchanges, but I do have my fare share of experience. Here are some things to consider:
1. It is a mutual business transaction
2. There is no BBB for the Black Market.
Meaning? You might get ripped off, as you are taking a chance. It's illegal for a reason!
At the border you will get the worst rates. (Capital cities usually have the best) They are counting on you to be either desperate or ignorant on the current exchanges. Either way they can "legally" rip you off. By "legally" I mean they gave you a quote and you agreed on it. Contract. You gave them the exact amount you said you would and they gave you the exact amount they said they would. That, in my mind, is a legal rip off.
Another way they might get you is to surround you in swarms. Any distraction, especially if money is out, will cause you to maybe lose a bill or two. They then might claim you didn't pay what you promised, or you'll go home to find out that you're missing a few bills. That's an illegal rip off in my mind. And that is the most common.
Don't wear lose jeans. Slippy-fingers over there can get those bills you just put in your pocket. He might not take all of them, as you would certainly notice that before you leave - but a nice big amount which you won't notice until you get home.
Watch for slights of hand, both on the calculator and when counting money. You think since they're doing the arithmetic on a calculator that the values are correct. Watch closely what buttons they push. They do it fast when they want to rip you off, but if its an honest (up to that point) transaction they go step by step with you.
When counting money, did they quick count a bill and then hide it in the other hand, or underneath another stack of bills? If you catch them on it, did they deny it and then proceed to count 'correctly' by also doing a slight-of-hand bringing the bills back. Watch for it. You count their money with them watching and they count yours with you watching.
I always bring my own calculator. That way I can double check their math and also maybe do a little bit on my own. Another good reason for bringing a calculator is that you might not understand them, they might not understand you - but both you all understand money. Numbers talk. Everyone knows what 1000 on the calculator means.
Speaking of talking. I try to get one that doesn't speak English well. Why? The pleas of his family, or that's not a good exchange rates, etc. doesn't affect me then since I don't understand them. I simply go back and forth on the calculator. If he's saying his children haven't eaten in two days (lie - they wouldn't be in this business if it was paying!) you don't know it. You only concentrate on the exchange.
Always know the official rate going in, and have a lower limit of what you will accept. If what they're willing to give you is less than that amount - simply walk away. If they are bluffing they will call you back. Just tonight, when I exchanged, I walked away and they called me back - we bartered some more and I walked away again. They didn't call me back and in fact yelled "See you tomorrow!". I walked out of sight, actually around the block. If they come after you, you called their bluff. In this instance no one came after me so I knew it was a reasonable amount. I continued around the block and met up with them again to continue the deal.
Do each different currency seperately. Start with the lowest ones (in some base currency, such as dollars). Don't confuse them, or more practically yourself, with trying to exchange two or three different currencies at once. Do one, finish it - everyone's happy. Start another. I like starting with the lowest amount (in whatever currency) first since I will accept that at somewhat of a loss to grab them later when I want to exchange more afterwards (and bigger amounts). I can make up for the loss with the bigger amounts later on. It's almost impossible to do it the other way around. Tonight I exchanged 50 Euros first before I started on the 150 Dollars. I lost a little on the Euro exchange, but made up for it on the dollar exchange (with the same person) - and in fact got more than my minimum amount I had in mind at the beginning. Both people finished happy.
If they bring you in an alley there's a reason. What you are doing is ILLEGAL. Of course, some times you can do it right out in front in public, but that's rare. Tonight, actually, we did it right in front of the main bank's window. I could wave to the teller if I wanted too. The good thing about that was I could see the official exchange rates through the window, although I already knew them before.
Talk to other people and see what the typical black market exchange is. If you don't, you don't know whether you're getting a good deal or not. Yes, you might still get more then the bank - but why settle for less when you could get more?
Count the bills. Make sure they are all there in number. Did they take a bill or didn't give you one? Make sure the number of bills are there.
Count the money. Does the money add up right? Did they package a smaller note in a bundle of bigger notes hoping you wouldn't detect the difference. One way to check is to go note by note, aligning them all in the same way with the numbers showing.
Have them increase their first bid first. (Thanks, Nate) With that you can tell how much their willing to go up. Did they increase their bid by 20 or by 2? It makes a difference to how you should decrease your bid.
Don't be mad afterwards thinking you got ripped off, even though the whole deal was honest. If you accepted their offer it was your own fault if it ended up being a bad one. It's a mutual business transaction. You BOTH should be happy at the end. If, during the transaction, you're not happy with the way it's going walk away. Deal over with. A simple as that.
Be confident and only talk business. Walk straight. It helped tonight that I recently got a haircut and just looked like I came from boot camp. If they see that you don't know what you're doing they're come after you. When I get out of the car I love pointing to one of them, who are now surrounding the car, in the back of the crowd. He wants the business, yes, but he's not THAT desperate to be up front shoving the calculator in my face before I get out of the car. I point to him and just walk somewhere, usually a bench nearby. Others usually follow but I only deal with the one person I picked. I picked him, he didn't pick me. If the deal falls through I walk away and pick someone else.
Tonight the exchange went just as business transaction that afterwards we both knew we settled on a price, each had the exact amount the other person said, and no one got ripped off (especially me) that he gave me his business card and we ended on a handshake. His card had a 100 dollar bill printed on it with his face instead of Benjamin Franklin and his contact information where the serial numbers should be. Classy.
Every instance I gave in which they might rip you off actually happened to me at some point. You learn a lot at the school of hard knox.
1. It is a mutual business transaction
2. There is no BBB for the Black Market.
Meaning? You might get ripped off, as you are taking a chance. It's illegal for a reason!
At the border you will get the worst rates. (Capital cities usually have the best) They are counting on you to be either desperate or ignorant on the current exchanges. Either way they can "legally" rip you off. By "legally" I mean they gave you a quote and you agreed on it. Contract. You gave them the exact amount you said you would and they gave you the exact amount they said they would. That, in my mind, is a legal rip off.
Another way they might get you is to surround you in swarms. Any distraction, especially if money is out, will cause you to maybe lose a bill or two. They then might claim you didn't pay what you promised, or you'll go home to find out that you're missing a few bills. That's an illegal rip off in my mind. And that is the most common.
Don't wear lose jeans. Slippy-fingers over there can get those bills you just put in your pocket. He might not take all of them, as you would certainly notice that before you leave - but a nice big amount which you won't notice until you get home.
Watch for slights of hand, both on the calculator and when counting money. You think since they're doing the arithmetic on a calculator that the values are correct. Watch closely what buttons they push. They do it fast when they want to rip you off, but if its an honest (up to that point) transaction they go step by step with you.
When counting money, did they quick count a bill and then hide it in the other hand, or underneath another stack of bills? If you catch them on it, did they deny it and then proceed to count 'correctly' by also doing a slight-of-hand bringing the bills back. Watch for it. You count their money with them watching and they count yours with you watching.
I always bring my own calculator. That way I can double check their math and also maybe do a little bit on my own. Another good reason for bringing a calculator is that you might not understand them, they might not understand you - but both you all understand money. Numbers talk. Everyone knows what 1000 on the calculator means.
Speaking of talking. I try to get one that doesn't speak English well. Why? The pleas of his family, or that's not a good exchange rates, etc. doesn't affect me then since I don't understand them. I simply go back and forth on the calculator. If he's saying his children haven't eaten in two days (lie - they wouldn't be in this business if it was paying!) you don't know it. You only concentrate on the exchange.
Always know the official rate going in, and have a lower limit of what you will accept. If what they're willing to give you is less than that amount - simply walk away. If they are bluffing they will call you back. Just tonight, when I exchanged, I walked away and they called me back - we bartered some more and I walked away again. They didn't call me back and in fact yelled "See you tomorrow!". I walked out of sight, actually around the block. If they come after you, you called their bluff. In this instance no one came after me so I knew it was a reasonable amount. I continued around the block and met up with them again to continue the deal.
Do each different currency seperately. Start with the lowest ones (in some base currency, such as dollars). Don't confuse them, or more practically yourself, with trying to exchange two or three different currencies at once. Do one, finish it - everyone's happy. Start another. I like starting with the lowest amount (in whatever currency) first since I will accept that at somewhat of a loss to grab them later when I want to exchange more afterwards (and bigger amounts). I can make up for the loss with the bigger amounts later on. It's almost impossible to do it the other way around. Tonight I exchanged 50 Euros first before I started on the 150 Dollars. I lost a little on the Euro exchange, but made up for it on the dollar exchange (with the same person) - and in fact got more than my minimum amount I had in mind at the beginning. Both people finished happy.
If they bring you in an alley there's a reason. What you are doing is ILLEGAL. Of course, some times you can do it right out in front in public, but that's rare. Tonight, actually, we did it right in front of the main bank's window. I could wave to the teller if I wanted too. The good thing about that was I could see the official exchange rates through the window, although I already knew them before.
Talk to other people and see what the typical black market exchange is. If you don't, you don't know whether you're getting a good deal or not. Yes, you might still get more then the bank - but why settle for less when you could get more?
Count the bills. Make sure they are all there in number. Did they take a bill or didn't give you one? Make sure the number of bills are there.
Count the money. Does the money add up right? Did they package a smaller note in a bundle of bigger notes hoping you wouldn't detect the difference. One way to check is to go note by note, aligning them all in the same way with the numbers showing.
Have them increase their first bid first. (Thanks, Nate) With that you can tell how much their willing to go up. Did they increase their bid by 20 or by 2? It makes a difference to how you should decrease your bid.
Don't be mad afterwards thinking you got ripped off, even though the whole deal was honest. If you accepted their offer it was your own fault if it ended up being a bad one. It's a mutual business transaction. You BOTH should be happy at the end. If, during the transaction, you're not happy with the way it's going walk away. Deal over with. A simple as that.
Be confident and only talk business. Walk straight. It helped tonight that I recently got a haircut and just looked like I came from boot camp. If they see that you don't know what you're doing they're come after you. When I get out of the car I love pointing to one of them, who are now surrounding the car, in the back of the crowd. He wants the business, yes, but he's not THAT desperate to be up front shoving the calculator in my face before I get out of the car. I point to him and just walk somewhere, usually a bench nearby. Others usually follow but I only deal with the one person I picked. I picked him, he didn't pick me. If the deal falls through I walk away and pick someone else.
Tonight the exchange went just as business transaction that afterwards we both knew we settled on a price, each had the exact amount the other person said, and no one got ripped off (especially me) that he gave me his business card and we ended on a handshake. His card had a 100 dollar bill printed on it with his face instead of Benjamin Franklin and his contact information where the serial numbers should be. Classy.
Every instance I gave in which they might rip you off actually happened to me at some point. You learn a lot at the school of hard knox.
posted by Mike | 6:52 PM
1 Comments:
Mike, you're a crazy guy. Maybe instead of carrying cash, you could carry something else like gold so you don't have to worry about exchanging your money at every new country.
Post a Comment
<< Home