Sidebar #38 - Shopping, Haggling, and Ferias

By nature of living in an urban community in a highly-developed country, I am able to purchase pretty much all of my needs as long as they align with my budget. Shopping is pretty easy in Costa Rica - many American brands and stores exist. In fact, Walmart owns most of the major supermarkets in Costa Rica although a few of them go by different names like Palí and Mas x Menos. The main difference I’ve noticed is that Ticos don’t rely nearly as heavily on delivery services like Amazon. Because of this, going to the mall is much more popular here. They are popular places to spend pay checks in Costa Rica.

Another difference between shopping in Costa Rica compared to other Latin American countries is the lack of haggling. Usually, when I travel in the region, it is common to go to a traditional market and haggle for basic goods and services. Although a few markets like that still exist in Costa Rica, it’s a very industrialized country and haggling isn’t very commonplace or accepted. In fact, in many spaces it might be considered rude to haggle. There are still a few places to haggle though. For example, roadside vendors selling items like knock-off soccer jerseys usually are open to negotiate on a price. Rather than haggling, my recommendation as a gringo shopping in Costa Rica would be to clarify a pricepoint before the point of purchase if there isn’t one explicitly posted. That way, you can ensure you are getting a fair price.

Lastly, a common way for Costa Ricans to shop is through ferías. Ferías are more akin to the aforementioned traditional market. These most closely resemble what we’d call farmer’s markets in the US. Ferías occur in several towns around the country, most commonly on Saturday mornings and are where many Ticos buy fresh produce and socialize. The fería in Escazú was one of our first stops as volunteers upon arriving in Costa Rica so that we’d be more acquainted with the Tico lifestyle.