The vocabulary lesson gave you the words for money and the basic bargaining script. This one gives you the sentences for everything surrounding the transaction — finding what you actually want, checking that it is not damaged, asking for a different size or colour, and dealing with the fact that most Indian shops do not offer refunds at all.
Finding What You Want
सिर्फ़ देख रहा हूँ is essential. Indian shop assistants are attentive to a degree that visitors find overwhelming — they will follow you, pull items down and open packets. This phrase, said pleasantly, gives you room without offending anyone.
Checking Quality
Asking to see an item opened and tested before buying is completely normal in India, not an insult. For electronics, batteries or anything sealed, खोलकर दिखाइए is standard practice and a good shopkeeper will do it without being asked. Testing a phone charger at the counter is routine.
Negotiating and Paying
पक्का दाम means the firm, real price as opposed to the opening quote. Asking for it signals that you understand the game and want to skip several rounds. In fixed-price shops the answer will simply be that the printed price stands, and that is the end of it.
UPI has genuinely changed Indian shopping. Even tiny vendors display QR codes, so if you have an Indian bank account and app, you rarely need cash. This also neatly sidesteps the perennial change problem.
Set expectations correctly on returns, because Indian retail differs sharply from Western retail.
Most small Indian shops offer exchange but not refund, and many street vendors offer neither. Large chains and online retailers follow Western-style return policies, but assume that a market purchase is final. Always keep the bill — without it, even an exchange is unlikely.
Cultural Note
Shopping in India is relational. Regular customers get better prices, extra items thrown in, and genuine service, so returning to the same vegetable seller or tailor pays off within weeks. Vendors remember faces remarkably well.
There is also a widely understood distinction between the tourist price and the local price. This is not straightforward dishonesty — it reflects an assumption about what someone can afford. Speaking even basic Hindi, knowing the approximate correct price, and being a repeat customer all move you toward the local rate quickly.
Festival seasons, especially the weeks around Diwali, bring genuine discounts across Indian retail. Buying a large item then rather than in a quiet month makes a real difference to the price.
Pronunciation Tips
असली is three light beats with a dental l. ख़राब carries the raspy nukta kh, though plain kh is normal in speech. सिर्फ़ has a half-r and a nukta f, so ‘sirf’ in one motion. छुट्टा opens with aspirated chh and doubles the retroflex ṭ. And बदल ends on a clean dental l with no trailing vowel.
Common Mistakes
- Expecting refunds at small shops. Most offer exchange at best.
- Discarding the bill immediately after purchase.
- Feeling obliged to buy because an assistant has unpacked several items. सिर्फ़ देख रहा हूँ is enough.
- Bargaining in a fixed-price showroom.
- Assuming you need cash. UPI is accepted almost everywhere now.
Practice Exercises
- Ask for a different size and colour of the same item.
- Practise सिर्फ़ देख रहा हूँ until it sounds relaxed rather than defensive.
- Ask whether an item can be returned and within how many days.
- Run a negotiation using पक्का दाम.
- Ask three payment questions: UPI, card and change.