Souvenir Shopping in Jordan

Shopping in Jordan is definitely a learning experience. I'm talking about shopping for traditional Jordanian or Middle Eastern items, not everyday grocery or mall shopping. To get an idea of the sorts of items that are popular Jordan souvenirs, take a look at this blog post.


We were first introduced to tourist shopping in Jordan by our tourist drivers. Whenever we go on an excursion outside of Amman, we hire a driver.  The routine is always the same. After being on the road for awhile, the driver stops at a tourist shop. These are large shops that carry all sorts of Jordan souvenirs. Many also serve light food, coffee, and snacks.  Each is sort of like a Stuckey's on steroids (do Stuckey's still exist?). There are sometimes a couple of busloads of tourists at these shops when we arrive.  But, always a salesperson attaches to us and leads us through a hard-sell exploration of all the "treasures" in the store.


At least that's what happened until we became slightly more savvy tourists. The problem with these big tourist shops is that the prices are much, much higher than they should be--sometimes as in as much as ten times what they should be. They tell you they are giving you a discount, and indeed they do take about 10% off the original price.  But, still the prices are significantly higher than they should be. One of the reasons for the high prices is that your driver gets a commission on all of your purchases in these stores.


It took us about two stops--and a couple of unfortunate purchases for which we paid too much--at these shops to figure out what was going on. We figured out that if we buy the same items at "local" stores (that is, stores where the local people shop) or at bazaars, the prices were not only far less, but we still got discounts and could negotiate to some extent for an even lower price. The local stores are smaller, so you might have to go to more shops to find the wide array of items. And, you still have to watch out, since most retailers set the price when they look you over and assess your ability to pay. But the starting price is almost always significantly less and the negotiating room is almost always significantly greater at local shops and bazaars.


At all the souvenir shops--the smaller, local ones or the giant tourist shops--you can always find a huge assortment of souvenirs: Arabian knives, ceramics, scarves, mosaics, hookahs, rugs, olive wood statuary, and much, much more. There is jewelry galore. However, you have to be careful. Some of the things are high quality, locally made, and beautiful; some are of poor quality and are not made in Jordan at all but are imported from places where they can be made and imported cheaply.


For example, I once made the mistake of buying a scarf without taking it out of the package to examine it.  The seller assured me that the scarf was handmade in Jordan and of the finest quality just like the display scarf.  But, when I got it home, I found that it wasn't like the display scarf at all.  Two of the four edges of the scarf (the two that were not showing in the package) were unfinished and fraying.  Plus, the scarf was much, much smaller than most scarves and was made of very unevenly woven polyester fabric. A tag said "made in China." Lesson learned: I now take everything out of the package to check it; even when I'm buying two identical items, both come out of the package for inspection.


How do you tell the difference between locally made things and cheap imports?  One way is to look for either a tag that says where the item was made or the remains of a tag that has been cut off.  Often, sellers will cut off the tag that says "made in China" so they can sell it as a genuine-made-in-Jordan item. I am almost positive that a scarf I bought in Egypt was not made in Egypt despite the seller's enthusiastic assurances that it was.  The tag was cut off and when I asked him why, he gave me some lame excuse and pretended not to speak enough English to explain it to me.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  It doesn't matter because I really like the scarf and would have bought it anyway--in fact, I did buy it knowing full well that it probably wasn't made in Egypt.


Another way to determine if something is really locally made is to examine the item itself for signs that it was really hand made.  For instance, I found some red Wadi Rum sand inside some pillow covers that were purportedly hand made by Bedouin women in the desert.  The sandy dirt was certainly evidence that this was true. And, the pillow covers were all unique, another sign that they were hand made.


There are also some very upscale retailers of local goods, and it is easier to be assured that the items from these stores are handmade locally.  They are also of a much higher quality. For example, the Jordan River Foundation, which is chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania, sells beautiful tapestries, hand-woven rugs, and other locally made items.  The mission of the JRF is to "empower society, especially women and children, and in turn, improve the quality of life to secure a better future for all Jordanians." Wild Jordan, the business unit of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, operates stores that provide opportunities for local people to make and sell products using local resources and skills. Some of the items available at Wild Jordan stores include jewelry, olive oil and olive oil products (such as soaps), painted ostrich eggs (a traditional Jordanian art and a very popular, but expensive, item in souvenir shops), and organic jams and fruits. And, we must not forget Silsal, and other artist-owned galleries.  Of course, one pays more at these places, but the quality of the items is outstanding and you can be sure that the things you buy were made by Jordanian artists.