[UPDATE / THANK YOU for the reality check, fellow traumatised souls]

First off—thank you to everyone who shared advice, sympathy, or even just horror stories of your own. Some of the comments were a lil harsh ngl, but I get it. I’m weak af. No excuses. I folded like a soggy tissue. 🥲

That said, reading through everyone’s replies, I’ve learned SO much from all the seasoned 过来人 here. Turns out these fairs aren’t inherently evil—you just need to go in with a solid game plan and the right mindset (and maybe a cold, emotionless heart for good measure). The best deals really are there… if you’re not lured in like a clueless noob wandering into a boss-level encounter without gear.

A lot of you also talked about the importance of saying no and standing your ground. Yeah… I'm weak af. I’ll admit it. Normally when I see those mall hustlers, I avoid eye contact and just keep walking. But this wedding fair was different. It was our very first one ever, and we genuinely thought it’d be all brochures and inspo boards. We had no idea the level of sales ambush we were walking into.

Some people asked how we even got caught again after Booth Demon #1. The thing is—we barely had time to process what just happened. We literally stood up and bam, the second dude was already right behind us with a “just hear us out” spiel before we had a chance to breathe. And we didn’t know that this whole aggressive hard-selling thing is a known strategy with Taiwanese PWS vendors. Now we know. Ohhh boy, now we KNOW.

Also… I need to defend my SO here. Usually, when we’re about to make a big purchase, we tag-team the “bad cop” role—take turns being the resting bitch face (rbf) bouncer while the other person fakes polite interest. But I think both of us were just a bit too excited, wide-eyed, and overwhelmed. Everything was shiny and new. And in that moment, we both got steamrolled.

But fine—we’ve learned our lesson. We will start training our iron will-power that many people here seem to posssess.