Buying Folk-art on the Streets

Guatemalan textiles are among the most look-after items in the folk-art markets. You have to be careful though, they come in two categories: cheap imitations and the expensive hand-woven originals. The Indigenous women only wear the original stuff, so if you want to buy a piece that will last for a long time, make sure you compare it against what these women wear. Another tip is that if what you buying is inexpensive, compare to other pieces in the market, then it is just a cheap imitation, probably from India or China. One more thing to remember is that their asking price is inflated about 200%, maybe more, so you have to negotiate their asking price. This is not a retail store, prices are not fixed.

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