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Practical information : Treat yourself (& others) Peru
Timetable
There is no time for shopping, especially in the most touristy cities. There are many handicraft shops that are often open until late in the evening. The craft markets also remain open until about 8pm.
Budget & Tips
You have to compare! And don't hesitate to bargain or buy in groups. Merchants more easily offer discounts on several purchases. Another argument can be to indicate that you intend to pay in cash. In the markets card payments will not be possible, in the classic handicraft shops it is. Take into account the quality of the product, which can vary greatly from one place to another. In the shops of associations or producers, the prices are more difficult to negotiate, but you realize that the quality is quite different.
Sales
The sales are practiced several times during the year at the change of season: mid-January and mid-August in general. However, the products that one comes to Peru to look for are rarely concerned, except perhaps the most beautiful clothes in alpaca or vicuña of marks like Anntarah or Kuna which one also finds in the airports and shopping centres.
What's very local
Each region has its own techniques and some traditional art objects or ways of weaving. If you like something, don't hesitate too much because even if everything is similar, you may not find exactly the same product elsewhere. In Lima and Cusco, the big craft markets gather the productions of different regions. The markets remain the most popular places to shop or some more elegant shops. We can also see the emergence of some small designer shops that reinvent and merge traditional techniques and current fashion. Peru remains a very creative country with magnificent unique pieces and it will be necessary to make choices between silver jewelry, hats, sweaters or coats in alpaca or vicuñas, altarpieces, shipibo fabrics from the jungle, musical instruments. Make room in your suitcases.
Tourist traps
Everything is "baby alpaca". Touch it, take the time to learn and recognize it. Even here, what is very cheap is rarely of good quality. The eye gradually gets used to it and distinguishes between mass-produced items and the most beautiful ones.