Worst Thailand Shopping Mall Mistakes

Mistake #1: Assuming Everything Is Inauthentic

The first mistake that travelers make is assuming that everything here in Thailand is inauthentic. This is incorrect. When you come to the major malls here in Bangkok, everything is authentic. These are name-brand stores. If you can find it in a Western country, chances are you can buy it here in Thailand at one of the malls, and it will be 100% authentic. Don’t worry the Tesla is real.

You’ll see plenty of name-brand stores behind me, plenty of luxury stores especially here at Siam Paragon.

Mistake #2: Assuming Products Will Be Cheaper

But the second key mistake travelers make is assuming that products will be cheaper here in Thailand than they will be in your home country and this is false. When it comes to high-end goods, when it comes to name-brand products, they’re normally more expensive here in Thailand due to import tariffs and taxes. So if you’re going on a shopping spree, you’re probably better off doing it in your own country.

And no, you can’t haggle for prices here in one of the middle-class or luxury malls.

Mistake #3: Not Applying for VAT Refund

This brings us to our third mall mistake, and that is not applying for the VAT tax before you go back home. When you’re charged a tax on any goods that you buy here in the mall over a certain value, you’ll normally be given a VAT receipt, and you can apply for that tax back at the airport before you leave the country. So make sure to keep the receipt, bring it with you, save some money.

Mistake #4: Assuming You Can’t Buy What You Need

When you’re coming to Bangkok or Thailand, you might not be sure if you can buy a product something like glasses or contact lenses and this is a mistake. It’s very easy to buy almost anything here in Thailand.

I don’t even wear glasses normally, and I got a prescription here because it’s so easy. You can walk in, get your eyes tested on the spot, buy very inexpensive glasses, prescription contact lenses. This is just one example of something that you might need and you’re not sure that you can buy. You can probably buy it here in Bangkok probably easier than in your home country and usually a lot less expensive.

It’s actually hard to walk more than a minute or two without seeing another eyeglasses or optical store, so you really won’t have any problems with that. I usually use Tops Charoen when I’ve gone before, but you can pick and choose; they’ll normally all be good.

Mistake #5: Ignoring Thai Brands

The next key mistake that people make shopping here in Thailand is ignoring the Thai brands. Whether it’s fashion or beauty, you’ll find much lower prices for local brands, and the quality is often very good.

If you need beauty products, check out stores like Beautrium and Eve and Boy. They’re definitely less expensive than Western counterparts like Sephora and Lush, and you can normally find very similar products.

Mistake #6: Going to the Wrong Type of Mall for Your Budget

But if you want inexpensive shopping, it can be a mistake to go to the big name-brand malls in the first place. You can choose to go to the more local market-stall style malls like MBK. You’ll definitely save some money.

When you’re shopping at the local style markets, you’ll face an entirely different set of mistakes that you might make, and they can be almost the opposite of the name-brand malls.

Mistake #7: Assuming Products Are Authentic at Local Markets

You’ll find plenty of great deals here at MBK. These are often small shops, small sellers. And it’s a mistake to assume that the products are authentic. Often they are not. If you’re going to buy authentic products, you’re much better off going to a bigger mall. If you come here, you should always assume that they are fake.

Mistake #8: Not Negotiating

That brings us to our second key mistake when it comes to shopping here in the more stall-oriented areas whether it’s a mall or a local night market and that is not negotiating.

You’re going to want to negotiate, and the best starting point is normally to offer 50% less than the asking price. Most sellers will be willing to drop the price by 25 to 30%. It’s a good target to aim for. You won’t always get it, but you should be ready to walk away. There are a lot of different stalls that sell the same goods, so you can really take a walk around and barter.

But when you’re negotiating, it’s a mistake to get annoyed or get aggressive. Always smile. Negotiating is an art; it’s fun. Most of the sellers will joke around with you and have a good time. So come with a smile on your face and enjoy the process.

“How much for this one?”

“These ones go for 7,000 baht.”

“Ooh, 7,000? Here, this one you see yeah, 1,500 for this quality.”

“So 7,000 for this one and 1,500 for this one? This one is quality. Different price.”

“I would think more like 500.”

“Which one? I got heart attack there. Oh my God. That one has to be lower because it’s smaller.”

“It’s about quality, yeah.”

“Well, quality matters. Quality is definitely important. The nice Coach ones there. What’s the lowest you go on that one?”

“This one, yeah. 1,300.”

Doing a little bit of negotiating. You can come to MBK, have fun, and play around with prices.

“All right, maybe I’ll come back. I do some filming. All right, cheers brother. Take care. Bye-bye.”

It’s always friendly. Have fun with the negotiations. It’s nice to meet the people, nice to meet the sellers.

Mistake #9: Negotiating for Food

When you’re shopping here, it’s kind of expected. I think for most Westerners when they first come to Thailand, this whole style of shopping is a little bit different, and maybe they don’t negotiate enough.

While it’s totally acceptable to negotiate for fashion and watches, don’t negotiate for food. This is not part of the cultural norms here in Thailand, and you’ll just look like a weirdo. Always avoid making that mistake.

Mistake #10: Buying at the First Shop You See

When you’re shopping here at a place like MBK, always avoid buying the products at the first shop that you see. Often the entrance area shops are a little bit more expensive they’re grabbing those first consumers. Take a walk around, negotiate, barter a little bit, have some fun, and you can go back later, as many of the shops will carry similar products.

So here you have lots of different name-brand products Nike, 200 baht sale. Quality is actually pretty good, pretty easy to replicate the Nike quality. You’d probably get a discount by bundling, getting a few.

Mistake #11: Assuming Fake Goods Are Good Quality

But it does bring us to our next mistake, and that is buying the inauthentic goods and assuming that they are good quality. Many of them will not last very long.

If you buy a basketball jersey I’ve made this mistake the logo comes off within a couple of washes. So when you’re buying some of these products, you should be aware that they’re going to fall apart really, really fast, especially the basketball jerseys, the soccer jerseys. You want the one-up normally they’ll sell the cheapest one, and they’ll have a second product that’s a bit more expensive that has stitching. The stitching one will be a lot better.

If you want to get a hat embroidered with your own logo, with a team logo, you can do it over here very inexpensively. You can get cards made.

So now when your friends visit Thailand and they come back looking all drippy with expensive Gucci, you know the truth. I think you probably already did. It’s very easy to buy inauthentic goods here.

Mistake #12: Assuming You Can Get a Refund

We’ve got a big mistake up next, and that is assuming that you can get a refund here in Thailand. It’s not the norm. Most stores whether they’re the stalls or big name-brand stores will not give refunds. You buy it, you bought it. Your money is now with the store. That’s very different from most Western countries.

I learned this one the hard way years ago when I bought a piece of electronics. It turned out I didn’t want it, and I brought it back the very next day, and I couldn’t return it. Thai law does not require stores to allow for returns.

Mistake #13: Not Trying On Clothes Before Buying

That takes us to our next big mistake, and that is not trying on the clothes before you buy them. When you go clothes shopping here in Thailand, you have to know that the sizes often are very different. Back home in Canada I wear a size medium; here sometimes a large is too small for me. So you always want to try on the clothes make sure they fit. You can’t return them.