The tie guy...
In Piazza Barberini (a metro station in Rome) there's this tiny little shop where you can buy 100% silk ties for only 7 euros. When I say little, I mean only a couple of people can actually fit in the shop at any given time (the owner usually exits while you shop). We probably purchased more than 50 ties here during our two year adventure living in Italy. (The ties say made in Italy but who knows?) The quality is good and the owner always gave us a discount (5-6 euros each). How that's possible I don't know (but I would see the same ties in retail clothing stores priced from 30 euros on up).Along the streets in Italy's major cities you'll find unauthorized street vendors who have knockoffs of everything laying out on sheets or sheets on cardboard displays. There's always a lookout (on each end of the street) who signals when a policeman is coming and within two seconds, they are gone, the merchandise is gone, and they were never there. Ten minutes later, they return and its business as usual. I remember one time when the lookout was distracted and several of these street vendors lost their merchandise to a pair of policemen who happened by.
You can barter with these vendors (frankly, you can barter with almost any vendor in Italy). My advice is to get the price for something, say "thank you but it's too expensive" and walk on to see if you can get a better price nearby. If not, circle back and the vendor will remember you and shout out a discount. I've actually done this several times to get the price down to where I was willing to buy. It's a lot of fun but don't show any emotional connection to the item or they've got you!
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