Shopping in Bali When off Resort

• 

  poboy on 10/09/2023 - 20:45

  +4

  Just take cash, and exchange for rupiah. Or you could put money on your credit card (to be in credit ) and then withdraw as local money. Both have a fee. I would assume that changing for cash will give you a better rate.

  Enjoy.

  • 

    jollster101 on 10/09/2023 - 20:46

    Thanks!

• 

  Protractor on 10/09/2023 - 21:13

  +6

  Appropriate and well understood,fit for purpose travel insurance!

  Don't get munted, don't be rude. respect the culture, stay away from 2 wheeled things.Leave the boogie board home.Smile (genuinely) Avoid late night shite (period.) Drink water. Practise good general and food hygeine.Stay away from bogan advice while there.

  • If you ignore this advice, practise crowd funding .
• 

  Almost Banned on 10/09/2023 - 22:52

  +2

  Bartering is an exchange of goods and/or services which does not include cash.
  You are referring to haggling.
  If you know anything about this site you will know that you need a good travel credit card, and a good travel ATM card. The old OZB combo used to be 28 degrees and Citibank. That is what I still use - but there are other combos out there to get basically the MC rate without fees.
  If you are in a store, most will take electronic forms of payment. If you are dealing with roadside/marketside stalls most will require cash - which is where your travel ATM card comes in.
  Absolutely you should haggle with street vendors. Bali sellers can get quite pushy, but just keep your sense of humour and be willing to walk away with good grace and you should be fine. Don't feel you need to screw them down every rupiah you can get away with.
  Was in Bali in February and while it is recovering, it is still not recovered to pre-COVID levels. Good luck and be careful what you eat.

  • 

    jollster101 on 11/09/2023 - 08:24

    I have the Bankwest Platinum Fee free card which offers no foreign transaction fees so I should be covered on that front.

    I couple that with a Macquarie Transaction account and they don't charge fees to use ATM's overseas or for card purchases or transactions made or processed outside Australia.

    So I think I am covered with trying to reduce charges. I expect the potential for a local ATM fee to be charged though. I would look to minimise the use of ATM's anyway.

  • 

    singlemalt72 on 11/09/2023 - 08:33

    OZB combo used to be 28 degrees and Citibank

    28 Degrees was the card of choice years years ago, but loses out on a lot of features other cards come with.
    Citibank accounts are all being migrated to NAB shortly . I had a nightmare on a recent trip to Philippines and Malaysia in April as, unbeknownst to me, Citibank in those countries was also bought out by other banks and we had the problem of ATM's no longer existing and problems using the banks that had taken over from Citibank.

    In future I think my CC will be the Commonwealth Ultimate Rewards (for the added lounge passes) and DC, possibly the HSBC Everyday Global.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/cards_with_no_overseas_tra…

    • 

      jollster101 on 11/09/2023 - 11:00

      +1

      Just reading through the PDS for the Platinum BW card I see they now provide Travel Insurance without the need to have purchased the trip, or any part of it, on the card.

      I thought I had read that a while back on this illustrious site but wanted to double check.

      Its a good offering all up.

      • 

        singlemalt72 on 11/09/2023 - 12:47

        Nice find, I'll look into that one too.

• 

  titan0r on 10/09/2023 - 23:08

  +2

  Be careful and only exchange cash at reputed/accredited places. There’s tons of dodgy exchangers in Nusadua area outside the resorts. DO NOT go to these tiny sheds. They display good rates but are dodgy AF.

  • 

    mrkorrupt on 11/09/2023 - 08:55

    +1

    they give you money at the good rate for you to count, only to take it back and take some away and give you about 20% less, then when you question it they say fee not commission

    • 

      valuer on 11/09/2023 - 09:41

      Yes, this is common practice.

      By all means change cash at the kiosk with the best rate but after they count it out you must check it right there in from of them and then DO NOT under any circumstances (such as bagging or a rubber band) hand the cash back.

    • 

      CheapskateQueen on 11/09/2023 - 21:58

      yeh, they tried to do this to us.

      i had them exchange one batch first.

      i swear i watched like a hawk and couldn't see him do it

      so i exchanged the second batch and he did the same hand action, and that's when i called him on it.

      at least he didn't fight giving back my money

      if it's too good to be true, it is

• 

  Tee Rex Arms on 11/09/2023 - 08:23

  +3

  Bargain by all means but don’t be a d!ck over like 50 cents.

• 

  CheapskateQueen on 11/09/2023 - 22:04

  Bali and Thailand tourist spots are very same same but different

  all activities, all shopping, all taxi fares require bargaining. if you're bothered and spending decent change, bargain with a few different providers so you can figure out what the real value is, or there abouts

  from my experience (maybe 8 years ago now) once the deal is done, the vendor/ driver/ activity provider is actually quite nice and respectful (compared to morroco where the scamming never ends)