Where do you shop in Bali?

Bali produces a great deal of what it sells: woodcarving in Mas, silver in Celuk, stone in Batubulan, textiles in the east, and a design industry in the south exporting furniture and homeware worldwide.

The markets

Ubud Art Market, opposite the palace, for sarongs, bags, carvings and textiles. Busy, touristy, and bargaining is expected.

Sukawati Art Market, between Ubud and Denpasar, larger and cheaper, where many Ubud sellers buy their stock.

Badung and Kumbasari markets, Denpasar, the real produce and household markets where Balinese shop.

Gianyar night market, for food more than goods, and excellent.

Canggu and Seminyak weekend markets, small, curated, local designers and makers.

The craft villages

The road from Denpasar to Ubud runs through them, and stopping is worth an hour.

Celuk for silver and goldsmithing. Mas for woodcarving, including serious gallery-level work. Batubulan for stone carving. Tegallalang for the rattan, wood and homeware workshops that supply exporters. Sidemen and Tenganan in the east for weaving, including double ikat gringsing at Tenganan, which is made in very few places in the world.

The boutiques

Seminyak, particularly Jalan Kayu Aya and Petitenget, has the best concentration of local design: clothing, jewellery, leather, homeware and surf brands that started here.

Canggu and Pererenan have the younger version, more surf and streetwear.

Ubud has textiles, art, ceramics and the better craft shops.

Bargaining, explained

Where it applies: markets, street stalls, souvenir shops, and some art and furniture dealers.

Where it does not: boutiques, supermarkets, restaurants, fixed-price shops and anywhere with price tags. Trying to haggle in a boutique is mildly rude.

How it works: the opening price to a foreign visitor is often two to four times what the seller expects to accept. Counter at somewhere around a third, settle in the middle, stay cheerful, and be willing to walk. Walking away is the strongest and most normal move in the routine; being called back is part of it.

The tone matters. This is a friendly negotiation, not a confrontation. Grinding someone down over the equivalent of 50 cents to win is poor form and locals notice.

Furniture and shipping

Bali is a genuine furniture manufacturing centre, and buying teak, rattan or custom pieces here can be very good value even after shipping. Exporters in Kerobokan, Tegallalang and Gianyar handle containers routinely.

If you are shipping, get a written quote covering packing, freight, insurance, destination charges and customs clearance before paying for the goods. The freight is usually the larger number and the surprise is always at the destination end.

What is worth buying

Textiles, particularly hand-woven endek and ikat. Silver from Celuk. Ceramics. Rattan and woven bags. Wood carving, if you buy above souvenir level. Coffee and cacao. Clothes from local designers, which are well made and cheap by European standards.

What is not

Anything described as antique without provenance. "Luwak" coffee at plantation stops. Branded goods at a suspicious price. Mass-produced carvings sold as one-offs. And anything made from protected species, coral or turtle shell, which is illegal to export and to import almost everywhere.

Practical notes

Carry cash for markets. Most boutiques take cards, some add a surcharge. Check airline baggage allowances before buying the large rattan bag that everybody buys. And be honest with yourself about whether the sarong will get used at home.

Supermarkets and everyday shopping

Pepito, Popular and Grand Lucky are the larger supermarkets in the south, with imported goods at import prices. Bintang in Seminyak and Ubud is the long-standing one visitors use. Alfamart and Indomaret are the minimarts on every corner, for water, SIM top-ups, snacks and paying for things.

Local produce is much cheaper at the traditional markets, which start very early and are largely finished by mid-morning. The Sindhu market in Sanur and Badung market in Denpasar are the ones to see.

Taking things home

Check your airline's baggage rules before buying anything large, because the rattan bag and the wooden bowl are the classic overweight charges. Wood and plant products are restricted entering Australia and New Zealand in particular, and will be inspected. Anything made from coral, turtle shell, ivory or protected timber is illegal to export and to import almost everywhere, regardless of what the seller tells you at the stall.