This is Natalie. I joined Mark in Morocco on Sunday, and we first spent about 3.5 days in Fez. We're now in Rabat, where I will be until Sunday, when I come home. Mark is leaving tomorrow.
In Fez, Mark and I walked around a pretty public garden, saw the king's palace and "hiked" up a hill to see the Tombs of Merinides, from which we got a great view of the city. We also spent a lot of time walking around the souk, or market, and shopping. In fact, it felt like that was most of what we did there. We bought several items, but we can't tell you about all of them because some are gifts.
For each of the things we bought, we bargained. We became reasonably good bargainers after a few times, but I still think we can get better. It's pretty fun, actually - sort of like acting out some kind of game. After doing all this shopping, I'm now reading online other tourists' tips for bargaining, and finding that we sort of instinctively followed some of these tips/rules. One tip I heard that's good is that you can find reasons for your prices, each time you offer one. Eg, you can say "oh, well, it's really beautiful but it's not EXACTLY what I was looking for so I really can't go higher than 400 dirham..." or something like that. I think Mark and I mostly just said "umm...that's too much, we're students, sorry..."
We also weren't sure where you are supposed to make your first offer, relative to the first price the seller offers. I'm now thinking that you generally should start with less than half of what the seller offers, PERHAPS even a third. I think starting too low is a bit insulting though, but in general I started too high. This site says there's no fixed price relative to the seller's offer where you should start, and gives some interesting insight about why the price might change throughout the day: http://www.moroccotouristguide.org/marrakech.htm
This site talks about one tourist's experience with some really elaborate negotiating processes, but Mark and I didn't do anything like these:
In general, we walked in and looked but didn't ask about price unless we were pretty sure we wanted something. I once made the mistake of asking about a blanket's price before feeling pretty sure I wanted it, then walked out without negotiating...I think the guy would have followed us and been really pushy, but he had other customers, fortunately.
I was looking for a leather jacket, and the first day negotiated in several places, but didn't end up getting anything. I finally bought a jacket in the tanneries, and I think I overpaid by about 200 dirham.
In general though, the things I learned about bargaining are:
Don't ask about price unless you want the item(s).
Before even asking about price, think about how much you're willing to pay for the item. I feel like things are cheap in Morocco, so the price I'm willing to pay here is generally lower than what I'd be willing to pay in the U.S.
Start low but not insultingly low. Probably you can always start at less than half what the seller initially offers.
Move up slowly, and don't be afraid to be hesitant and act like you're walking out (or really walk out!). You can also offer fun reasons for your reluctance to go much higher (ie you can be more creative than me, all I said was "um, that's too much. Next time, I'll try stuff like "I spent practically all my money getting here..." or "I have three years left of school to pay for.")
A footnote about your starting price, the seller's, and how quickly you move up: I think these are closely related, which I guess is sort of obvious. But I just mean, while the seller's first offer price gives you an indication of how much he'll eventually sell it for, there's no general rule like "if he starts at 1000, it means he's willing to sell for 500 at the lowest." I noticed some salesman came down really quickly when I started negotiating - they knew we were tourists and perhaps named outrageous prices just to see if they could get them, and then the second we started bargaining came down to something reasonable. Anyway, if a seller starts way higher than what you're willing to pay, you might start really low (like a third or fourth of where he's starting) and see how quickly he comes down. He may come down quite quickly or you may have to move up quickly and perhaps walk out if it looks like you can't get it for more than your limit.
Do be ready to leave if they won't come down fast enough and it seems they are really going to insist on more than you're willing to pay.
When the salesman says "Name the last price. the final offer. What is the democratic price?" he doesn't mean it. ie, he'll say that every time.
Some things I've read have said the Moroccan salesmen take their time with the negotiations, but all ours went pretty quickly.
On our last evening in Fez, Mark and I debated which of the three kids in our family is best-looking. We decided it's definitely not Charles.
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