All right, let’s talk about Greenhills. I love this place. I have been there about 8 times now. I know exactly what time to leave my house to get there the fastest, I know exactly where to park as to get out of the parking lot the easiest, I know where to get everything we want or need there. Here is a list of things that I have bought there:
- Pearls
- If you get easily distracted or easily overwhelmed, you will need to take heart when shopping for pearls here. They have everything possible you could ever want. They have super cheap pearls and really expensive pearls and everything in the middle. I’ve learned how much the cheap ones should be and how much the more expensive ones should be. I’ve learned how to walk away and get good deals on the middle level pearls, which are the ones I tend to buy.
- The best tip: Tell them what you want. Ask them to show you different kinds in different price ranges. Then finally, tell them how much you want to spend and each thing. I was helping a friend but some earrings. We knew exactly what we wanted and how much we wanted to pay. So we told them and they went searching for them for us and sold the to us at the asking price. IF you want more details, just leave a comment, I’ll get back to you personally.
- Clothing
- I think of their clothing section as the outlet malls of Manila-only cheaper, much cheaper.
- Nike golf clothing
- LOADS of shoes mostly men’s name branded stuff. Lots of Toms and Crocs though.
- NorthFace coats: amazingly priced, rain jacket with a fleece inside for 2,000 pesos
- MJ Nike Shorts 300 pesos each
- Skyline socks
- Lots of cute shirts and dresses
- Carter PJs for the kids 350 pesos a set
- Loads of RL and Burberry kids and men’s stuff
- Then there are the random Gap, Banana and Anne Taylor stalls
- Accessories
- There are two types of accessories here:
- Class A which are the cheaper versions of the original items
- Replica items which are exactly like the original items, made with high quality real materials
- Sunglasses
- The replica items are really quiet nice. they are heavy, have nice lenses, some even Polarized, and they look JUST like the originals.
- These replicas are not cheap, about 1500-2500 pesos each, but they are really nice.
- Watches
- These are like the sunglasses. The replicas are nice and well made.
- The MK rose gold watches are 3,000 pesos. I have yet to buy one. I’ve been trying really hard to get them to go down. I’ve been to the same place several times and I’ve brought in loads of customers, but they won’t drop lower than 3,000.
- Bags/Wallets
- Again, the difference between the replicas and the Class A are extreme. The replicas are made with real leather and look really good, and you will pay more for this.
- They have every type of purses and wallets you can think of… almost. A MK basic wallet should not run you more than 500 pesos. The purses have a very high range.
- We bought two really nice NorthFace duffle bags one for 1,100 and the other for 1,500. Both are waterproof and turn into back packs. We used these for Thailand and they were a dream.
- Electronics
- The entire second floor is full of electronics and electronic accessories. I’ve never bought anything up there. So, I don’t have much to say about this area.
- Cases for everything you could ever want
- All Apple products and other products
- Pirated movies (these guys walk around all sneaky and will stalk you unless you basically yell at him to leave you alone.)
- Home Goods
- This section is huge and I’m not going to go into all that they have. Basically, you can find most Filipino goods here for cheaper than Kultura.
- There are two types of accessories here:
So, there is Greenhills – kind of. It’s my daughter’s favorite place because they have these huge porcelain animals that she like to call her friends and spends so much time “feeding” them. We’ve been there so many times that some of the vendors know her by name and call out to her by name when they see her. Anyway, Greenhills is amazing, I love it, I love taking people there and it makes me feel like I’m part of the culture and really experiencing the Philippines.
A Diplomat's Wife 
Hi Mrs. Connally.
I was reading your post about Greenhills and… well, I’d really like to go to Greenhills, specially for the main attraction; the pearls. But the thing that is stopping me from going is this known fact that ‘if you are a foreigner, you will be overcharged; because they have prices for locals and prices for foreigners’. I’m an expat and speak no Tagalo at all, so… Could you please tell me what do you do to get a fair price?
Do you recommend a certain stall?
Thank you!
Hi, thanks for writing! The stalls are always changing. The prices vary a lot on the different types and quality of the pearls. So, it depends on what you want/need. If you are looking for cheap pearls, you can find those. If you are looking for nicer more expensive ones, they will have that as well, but they don’t have the super great quality ones… well, maybe they do, they are just harder to find. I would learn about pearls and then decide what exactly you want. They are good about finding what you want too. You can just tell them your price range and what you want and they can find it for you. If you still feel like you are paying too much, then you can walk away. If they call you back, then you know that they were trying to over charge you. There are a TON of stalls there, it is very easy to get distracted or overwhelmed. I would suggest you go knowing exactly what you want and searching for those things. As you do that you might find other stuff you like too. Get a price write it down, walk around and see if you can get better prices. It’s work, but it will work out. In the end, the price you pay as an expat will still be way cheaper than you would have thought. As for the other goods, just get quotes and go from stall to stall. Tell them what you’d pay for it, and leave it at that. Make sure they give you a price first, then base your price on what they first said. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your reply Mrs Connally, it has been very helpful! One of this days I’ll go there, I just hope it won’t overwhelm me!
Thanks again!!
Just back from a visit to Greenhills and bought 2 bags; not sure if they are class A or replica. For traveling back to the states, do you recommend using them as if they are my pre-existing bags, or pack them in my luggage?
Hey there. Good work getting your bags! I think you should use them how ever you’d like. If you need a bag for travel, use it that way, if not just pack it up. Good luck.