Every two metres you walk in Bali, you can buy something. Bali really is a shopper’s paradise.

There are several tiers of shopping options which at the highest quality is the designer shops like Polo, and there are a lot of international designers that base themselves in Bali too. There are also Malls and Shopping Centres just like you would find at home, some items are just a bit cheaper, then you have discount stores, and the markets which have both fixed price and the bartering stores.

Here are the best stores that you should visit for all your shopping needs:

1. Bintang Shop (located in Seminyak, Ubud & Dalung) is a great place to buy household items, fruits and vegetables and anything else you would buy in a store at home, some items are cheap others are more expensive due to importing. bintangsupermarket.com
2. COCO Marts, Mini Marts, and Circle K shops to buy general items some are open 24 hours per day. Some of these locations you can also exchange money safely.
3. The Krisna (four locations Kuta, Tuban and two in Denpasar) which is THE place to buy traditional Balinese items and souvenirs cheaper than anywhere else.
4. The Matahari is great for the Myer experience of Bali (there are other options in this category), you can buy great shoes here ladies!
5. Designer shops are mostly located in Seminyak, but they can be found in most tourist hotspots, they have great quality clothes at similar prices to home, but some really unique designs that will get you lots of compliments back home.
6. Shopping at the markets-Here you will find sarongs, dresses, pants, shorts, shirts, hats, sunglasses, DVD’s- and pretty much anything you could imagine! Some items are genuine Balinese items, or imports from China, others are not genuine and are sold on the black market like fake Billabong clothing, DVD’s and other designer brands.

You can have fixed priced markets, and the markets where you barter for a price.

Bartering

A lot of the shops are the same and each location has its own market. Prices change dependant on the location as rents, transport of goods and taxes are higher in some locations. Kuta and Sukawati Markets are by far the cheapest that I have found and sometimes the hawkers on the beach are cheaper too-the hawkers in these locations are very persistent. Do your research first by looking at fixed price shops, talking to other tourists or asking your driver. The general rule is to divide by three from whatever they first offer and don’t go any higher than half, or ask for Bali pricing (which they won’t give you really but it will give you an idea of their cheapest rate to tourists) if you speak a little bit of Indonesian, this also helps get a better price. A simple “Tidak Terima Kasi” which means “no thank you” will often get them to sharpen their pencil.

Top Bartering Tips

1. Never take the first price you are offered as it is often double or even triple the real price.
   Knowing a little bit of Bahasa (Indonesian) will often get you a better price. See the basics on our website to print and take with you.
2. Check out the set price shops where you can buy most market items still for a reasonable deal and to give you an idea of pricing.
3. When shopping in Bali if you are buying multiple items you should get a better price.
4. Stick to your guns and walk away if you don’t get the price you think is fair. Or say you will come back later and give yourself time to think about it, in most cases you can always go back!
5. Remember that Rupiah sounds like a lot more money than it is. Haggling for a price of 50,000RUP, and they want 60,000RUP is only an aussie dollar difference and will not impact your bottom line much, but it is a meal or more for them. You want to pay what is fair, absolutely, but try to be kind too.