Kathleen,
In Kenya, one of our tour guides took us to his village outside one of the game reserves where all the Masai were living in thatched huts. The women set up "shopping" just for us - all the women of the village had their rugs out with their wares (pretty much the same items you saw everywhere else). We didn't haggle one bit and paid whatever their asking price since it was obvious they were not getting rich off the tourists. However, you would go into some of the established shops/trading posts and bargaining is such a part of their culture - it just absolutely wore me out being approached constantly to where I just had to stop shopping. Interesting enough, at the end of our trip we had lunch at a very upscale hotel in Nairobi, and we found the prices were much cheaper at the hotel gift shop for the same items we saw in absolutely the middle of nowhere and no bargaining required! Not that I minded paying what we did to be fair to the people, but it is hard to figure! On a lesser scale, I envision the same thing in Istanbul (probably alot like Morroco and their rugs). I'm really not planning on buying anything (I bought my rug in Morroco) - so I doubt if my husband and I even go into the Grand Bazaar. Anyway, I will be in Istanbul later this month and will let you know - sorry I'm no help in knowing what is a fair price. The one thing I learned in Africa and Morroco, is if you like what you are buying - buy it if you think it is reasonable and don't look back, because someone will always proudly tell you they got it cheaper.

Sally