Asking Prices and Negotiating in Amharic

When buying items in Amharic culture, it’s important to negotiate instead of paying the initial price without question. I understand that Islam discourages excessive arguing or haggling, but this principle is sometimes exploited by sellers. For instance, an item that should cost 100 birr might be priced at 300 birr. This kind of overcharging is prohibited in Islam. The teaching, “Do not oppress or be oppressed in buying and selling,” applies to honest transactions. If sellers give a fair price upfront, we should respect it and avoid unnecessary bargaining or repeatedly asking for discounts.

In this lesson, you will learn how to ask prices and negotiate in Amharic.

For example, if you want to buy a pant, you can say, ሱሪ አለህ? Do you have pants?

Then the seller might say: አለኝ። አዎ፣ አለኝ። or አለኝ አዎ። Yes, I do.

Now, you can use the following sentences to ask the price:

• ስንት ብር ነው? What’s the price?
• ዋጋው ስንት ነው? How much is it?
• ስንት ነው? What’s the price?

The vendor = ሻጩ

• 1000 ብር ነው። It is 1000 Birr.
• ዋጋው 1700 ብር ነው። Its price is 1700 Birr.
• መሸጫው 1500 ብር ነው። The final price of it is 1500 Birr.

መከራከር (Negotiating the price)

• አይቀንስም? Is there any way to reduce the price?
• አስተያየት አድርግልኝ። Please, just a little discount for me!
• አይ፣ አይቀንስም። We can’t go any lower, sorry.
• ትንሽ ቀንስልኝ። Please lower the price for me.
• ዋጋውን ቀንስልኝና ልግዛህ። Lower the price and let me buy you.
• በምችለው ዋጋ አድርግልኝ። Please make it more affordable for me.
• የምትሸጥበትን ዋጋ ንገረኝ። Tell me the price you sell it for.
• መከራከር አልፈልግም መሸጫ ዋጋውን ብቻ ንገረኝ። I don’t want to argue; just tell me the selling price

The vendor = ሻጩ

• ዋጋው እንደዛ ነው። The price is set.
• ዋጋው ድርድር የለውም። The price is non-negotiable.
• ከዚህ በታች ምንም የለውም። There’s no price lower than this.
• አያዋጣኝም። That price wouldn’t leave me with any profit.
• ይጎዳኛል። That hurts me! I can’t go any lower.
• እሽ ስንት ትገዥኛለሽ? What’s your best offer? (for a woman)
• ስንት ትገዛኛለህ? How much are you willing to pay?
• ስንት ነው አቅምህ? How much can you afford?
• አንተ የምትገዛበትን ንገረኝ። Tell me the price you buy at.

ከተስማማህ/ሽ = If you agree:

• እሽ ስጠኝ። Okay, give it to me. (I’ll take it.)
• እገዛዋለሁ። I will buy it.
• እወስደዋለሁ፣ በቃ። I will go for it.
• እወገዛሃለሁ። I will buy you.

When we decide not to buy:

• ተወው። I’ll leave it for now.
• ይቅር። I’ll leave it for now.
• አልፈለኩትም። I didn’t want it.
• ይለፈኝ። I’ll let it go. (Let it pass me.)
• አይ፣ ተወው። Leave it
• እኔ የምፈልገው አይነት እቃ አይደለም። It’s not the kind of stuff I want.
• ዛሬ መግዛት አልፈልግም። I don’t want to buy today
• በጣም ውድ ነው። It is very expensive.
• ዛሬ ለመግዛት አላሰብኩም። I didn’t plan to buy it today.
• በጣም ትንሽ ነው። ልክ አይሆነኝም It’s too small; it doesn’t fit me. 
• በጣም ትልቅ ነው። ልክ አይሆነኝም። It’s too big. It doesn’t fit me. 
• ለዚህ እቃ ይሄን ያህል ገንዘብ አልከፍልም። I would not pay that much for this item.
• ዞርዞር ብየ እመጣለሁ። I will go around and come back.
• እስኪ ቆይ ዞር ዞር ብየ አይቼ ልምጣ። Let me see what else is available and come back.
• ሌላም ጋ ላጣራና ካጣሁት እገዛሃለሁ። Let me look around, and if I can’t find it, I’ll buy it from you.

If you just want to browse:

• አይ፣ ለማየት ፈልጌ ነው። No, I just wanted to see.
• ለማየት ያህል ነው። It’s just to see.
• ዋጋውን ለማወቅ ፈልጌ ነው። I want to know the price.

For example, when you go to a shop to buy shoes and the clerk says to you, ምን ፈልገሽ ነው? ወይም ምን ልስጥህ? (What can I give you?”)

Then you can say the following expressions:

• ጫማ አለህ? (Do you have shoes?)
• ዘይት አለህ? Do you have oil?
• ስኳር አለህ? Do you have sugar?
• ዳቦ አለህ? Do you have bread?
• ሞባይል ካርድ አለህ? Do you have a mobile airtime card?
• ኮት አለህ? Do you have a coat?
• ጃኬት አለህ? Do you have a jacket?

Sample Amharic shopping dialogue:

• Buyer: ሰላም፣ የቆዳ ቦርሳ አለህንዴ? Hello. Do you have a leather bag?
• Seller: አዎ፣ አለን። ምን አይነት ቦርሳ ነው የምትፈልጊው? Yes, we do. What kind of bag are you looking for?
• Buyer: መካከለኛ ቦርሳ ነው የምፈልገው። I’m looking for a medium-sized bag.
• Seller: እሽ፣ ይሄው። ከትክክለኛ ቆዳ የተሰራ ነው። Sure, here’s one. It’s made of genuine leather.
• Buyer: አሪፍ ነው። ስንት ብር ነው? It looks nice. How much is it?
• Seller: 500 ብር ነው። It’s 500 Birr.
• Buyer: ውድ ነው። ዋጋ ትቀንሳለህ? That’s a bit expensive. Can you lower the price?
• Seller: 450 ትገዣለሽ? How about 450 Birr?
• Buyer: 350 አድርግልኝ? Can you do 350 Birr?
• Seller: 350 በጣም ቅናሽ ነው። ነገር ግን 400 አደርግልሻለሁ። ይሄ የመጨረሻ ዋጋው ነው። 350 Birr is very low, but I can make it 400 Birr. That’s my final offer.
• Buyer: እሽ፣ በ 400 ብር እገዛዋለሁ። Okay, I’ll take it for 400 Birr.
• Seller: ጥሩ፣ አመሰግናለሁ። ልጠቅልልልሽ? Great! Thank you. Should I wrap it for you?
• Buyer: አይ፣ አመሰግናለሁ። እንድሁ እወስደዋለሁ። No, thank you. I’ll take it as it is.

Don’t forget to click on “Complete” below because it will help you later to easily identify which lesson you have finished.