My parents both can speak a little of the language though they're not turkish at all. The overcharging of tourists there is ridiculous (in Istanbul at least). You pay a much higher price as a foreigner than any local. So it's possible you got a very high mark-up on the tea that paid for the spoons.
1. How much more money do westerners travelling to Turkey make yearly, vs. native Turks? You might get overcharged, but it's not like you can't afford it.
2. You might get overcharged, but it's still cheaper than it would be in richer countries.
3. Most importantly, countries like Turkey tend (in my limited experience) to have a less fixed price structure. Bartering (at least in the markets) is completely beyond my ability, since this isn't something I grew up with in North America, but I have an Israeli friend who will back-and-forth with a vendor until he offers to sell for one tenth of his original price (and he's still making a killing).
The first two points make me out to be an apologist, but it's not like he's charging you $10 more for the tea vs. locals and using his massive margins to throw in a $0.50 set of tea spoons for free so you'll tell your friends.
1. How much more money do westerners travelling to Turkey make yearly, vs. native Turks? You might get overcharged, but it's not like you can't afford it.
2. You might get overcharged, but it's still cheaper than it would be in richer countries.
3. Most importantly, countries like Turkey tend (in my limited experience) to have a less fixed price structure. Bartering (at least in the markets) is completely beyond my ability, since this isn't something I grew up with in North America, but I have an Israeli friend who will back-and-forth with a vendor until he offers to sell for one tenth of his original price (and he's still making a killing).
The first two points make me out to be an apologist, but it's not like he's charging you $10 more for the tea vs. locals he's using his massive margins to throw in a $0.50 set of tea spoons for free so you'll tell your friends.
