Florence Leather Market

The Florence leather market is a sensory experience: hundreds of leather jackets, wallets and purses displayed, tempting you with their pungent aroma and soft feel. Stalls line either side of the street, with actual leather stores in the buildings behind the carts. Rain or shine, the vendors are there, peddling their goods. Even though the majority of the city shuts down on Sundays, in respect to the Roman Catholic Sabbath, the leather market is still open for business. It is a booming economy in the city, and primarily relies on the tourism industry to bring in new customers daily.
The leather market is governed by haggling: if a price is not written down, you can assume it is a soft price and open for negotiation. Even smaller items, like sunglasses and keychains, can be bought for a bargain. Larger items, primarily jackets, have exponentially inflated price tags. Every vendor seems to have sales: they promise student discounts; but if you listen as they talk to the people around you, they also have honeymoon discounts, senior citizen discounts, and discounts “for people they like”. The flexibility and amount of haggling varies by the hour. When sales are up, it is much more difficult to wheedle your way into a bargain. Weekends, holidays, and sunny warm days all increase sales, so it is best if you have the time and patience to wait for an unpleasant day in order to get the best deals.
Flattery is deceitful at each and every stall. The salesmen are smooth talking and work quickly. They shower you in compliments; if you can resist purchasing anything, just walking through the leather market is a huge ego boost. Walking down the strip, you are addressed as beautiful, honey, and dear, and suddenly your body is perfect for any style jacket or purse. You are glamorous and sexy. You are also nothing more than a money making opportunity to these men, so take it in stride and be consciously aware of their tricks if you intend to make purchases.
If you intend to buy a jacket, know that the vending carts are nothing more than extended store front windows. If you look around and notice, there is not a single person trying on a jacket at the stall itself. The peddlers with the carts are there to entice you to look at their goods, try on a jacket, feel the leather. Once they have wrangled you in, they corral you into their store where there are full length mirrors and a larger selection of products. This way, whatever final deal they cut you seems more personal, and it prevents anyone on the street from hearing the final cost of the jacket.
Once in the store, the average Florentine leather salesman becomes part magician, part psychologist. Selling a leather jacket is a game: they must flatter the customer and convince them how much they want to buy a particular jacket, but they must not lose the sale or bargain the price too low. Even within the same store, there is competition amongst the salesmen; they clearly receive commission off each jacket sold.
To start, the salesman asks what is your favorite color, or if you have something in mind for a jacket. Whatever information you give him: the game has begun. From here, he is watching your body language and reaction to every jacket you try on. He is most complimentary of whatever jacket you are most enamored with at a given moment. If your interests change, suddenly his compliments do too. If you try on a bomber style jacket and seem to like it, he will have you model the coat, and tell you that it fits your figure perfectly. If upon trying on the next coat you find that you prefer a more tailored and feminine cut, he will tell you that the other jacket was not an everyday jacket, that this one is more versatile, and that this jacket makes you look sexier. You must listen to his compliments very closely and watch how they mimic your body language. He tries to appear humble when offering his opinion, saying, ‘If I may, signorina, this jacket is perfect on you. See how the leather stretches and moves with your body? It was made for you’, all while manipulating you into a purchase.
In order to demonstrate that each jacket is real leather, handmade and not chemically soaked, the salesmen bring out their secret weapons: scissors and lighters. In a big showy affair, they demonstrate that the leather can neither be burned nor scratched up. For those not used to the trick, it seems impressive and magical; it validates the quality of their product and seems to make the salesmen more trustworthy.
You can play along with his game too though, if you are smart. For jackets and purses alike: never let him know how much you love any single item. You must pretend as though it is disposable to you and that you can leave his stall and find another one just as good at a stall down the street. Pretend that it is flawed and not exactly what you wanted, and he will lower his price to entice you to make a purchase. Once you have him focused on selling to you, start to leave and he will often call out a lower price in hopes that you won’t go. Be confident in what price you ask for. If the salesman senses that you are willing to pay more or are hesitant in offering this price, he will walk all over you and demand much more. Lie and say that it is the only money in your wallet, or that you need the money to buy your lunch that day. Always carry your cash in smaller bills so you can pull out exactly what you need to and he will never know how much you actually have. Remember this is all about mind games and deceit; ultimately you have the final say because you are the one spending money.

Another update with pictures to come soon! I have a midterm tomorrow and 2 papers due at the end of the week, so unfortunately I haven't updated my blog as often as I wanted to!