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Sam - How To Expat
Sam - How To Expat

Are They Overcharging You?! | How Not To Get Gouged In Colombia

How Not To Get Overcharged

In this video, I want to share a tip I use myself which helps me not to get scammed in Colombia.

I personally noticed, that most scams happen because people coming to Colombia don’t know the actual value of the Colombian Pesos.

When coming from another country you tend to think in your own currency. Which means most of the things will end up being super inexpensive. Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t get things for even less.

I recommend starting valuing the Colombian Pesos the same way as Colombians do. In this way, you will most probably understand if something is overpriced or not.

How do you do that?
I do it by deducting the last three, zeros from the price. If the remaining number is something I would pay in USD or any other currency too, then it’s most probably a good deal.

For instance:
Someone makes you an offer for an apartment for 6’000’000million COP.
In USD it would “only” be USD 2’000 which may be a good price back in your home country.
BUT if you actually subtract the last three, zeros you end up with the number of 6’000.

This is the price I personally use, meaning that I make my decision based on the last number, not the actually USD value.

Would you be willing to pay USD 6’000 for an apartment? If you do, then that’s fine. But most people wouldn’t and this is exactly how I spot when someone tries to overcharge me.

The post Are They Overcharging You?! | How Not To Get Gouged In Colombia appeared first on How To Expat.

Sam and Tacha
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Our mission is to help fellow Expats and Soon-To-Be Expats, to start their journey, avoid Gringo Prices, and settle down hassle free.

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