This article is one of a series on life in the campo, or country living in Costa Rica, as my wife and I* experienced it on our visits and after moving to Costa Rica. Each is a sort of time capsule, the stories evolving with us as we have lived more experiences and delved deeper into the culture.

While staying with Hector and family on one of our trips, we became well-acquainted with the butcher and his wife, due to the amount of meat we were buying to feed eight. They got to the point where they started trimming off fat as soon as they saw us coming. Only problem was, we didn’t know any better than to pay asking price. My wife learned about the way of things when she went with Hector to pick out some furniture for his casa. He explained to her in no uncertain terms that it is a mistake to pay asking price for anything, and then proceeded to demonstrate his considerable skill at bargaining.

My wife, eager to learn the ways of the campo, decided on a strategy before her next trip to the butcher shop. She began by reminding them that they had commented on the montón (heap) of meat that we had bought on our two previous forays into their shop, and what loyal clients we were (her Spanish is equal to this; I was merely an interested spectator). She then proceeded to give her meat order for a large fiesta for our workers, neighbors to the finca, and other friends, and to ask for their best price. After receiving this, having observed Hector’s technique, she asked for an additional discount—and got it. She was pretty proud of herself on her first attempt, even knowing that Hector could have gotten a still better price. (His “I trust you to appeal to your conscience” line is a bit beyond her yet.)

In the USA, we are used to dickering for cars or used items such as those at garage sales or flea markets, but not at retail stores. And even then, our technique is usually to state the price we’d like to pay and go back and forth with the seller until a mutual agreement is reached. This is not the way Hector was doing it. He never named his price; he just kept going until he was satisfied. Our daughter was also able to successfully imitate his technique in a tourist-area clothing store. We found that this usually only applies if you are paying cash.

*We are Fred and Amy Morgan, originally from the US. We bought a dairy farm in Costa Rica to plant trees in its pastures, then later caught a dream of turning all the land we can to permanently protected, sustainably maintained forest once the plantation trees have been harvested for profit. Along the way, we made it possible for our former partner to realize his dream of starting a business of his own in his native land. He is featured in many of the earlier stories.

To read more about Finca Leola S.A. and how you can also invest in trees and at the same time help with reforestation, go to Own Trees with Us.

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