I will be visiting Beijing on November 15th and plan to visit the Pearl Market near th the Temple of Heaven. I am looking to buy a pearl neckless or two. I found a few e-mail addresses for some of the venders on the 3 and 4th floor.

I requested a price for an 18 inch freshwater pearl neckless; 8-9 mm; round; high luster; gade AAA.

Ming Li Pearls on the 3rd Floor quoted me $300 USD in an email.
Ling Ling Pearls on the 4th Floor quated me between 800 and 1200 Yuan

What are you thoughts? Are these prices reasonable? What price should I be looking at? Any tricks of the trade or things I should be watching out for? Will they bargain with me?

Thanks for Any Help That You can Provide.
Richard

[jshepherd]

Ling Ling is a very good dealer - very honest. I would definitely recommend her over Ming Li.
Regarding your request for 'AAA' grade, however, this would mean nothing to them. They do not grade their pearls on any scale that we use here, but solely on the price they paid.
Negotiation is absolute in Beijing. I would suggest remaining firm on 30% of the originally quoted price - whether this be pearls or anything else in the Hongqiao market.
A strand in the 8-9mm range, in the quality you are looking for (round, high luster, no flaws, etc) can be had in the $200 range. But here are a few important points to look for:
The pearls should appear to be round - not potato shape, no rings.
The surface should be clean - no bumps or crevices in the nacre.
the luster should be sharp - a good reflection should be visible in the pearl.

If these conditions are met, 1000 Yuan is not an unreasonable price for the strand. If it helps, print this picture and compare.
http://www.pearlparadise.com/detail.aspx?ID=374