Toy vendors in Rome (on the piazza)

Question

Just kind of a weird question.

I'm in Rome right now, and tomorrow, I will meet with friends with two young kinds (7&9) for the remainder of the week.

I know that at some point they will want to have some of the toys that some street vendor sell (especially the ones that have lights).

I don't expect the toys to last more than a couple of hours.

Is it safe to buy from them (the act of buying)?

Edit :

We finally did not buy the toys from the street vendors, there were sold cheaper at the convenient store next to my place.

Thanks,

This question reminds me of a question about unscrupulous street vendors in Milan and another question about similar unscrupulous hawkers in Paris. — shoover, Oct 08 '18 at 21:13
Does ‘safe’ refer to the act of buying the toys, or the quality of the toys themselves? Maybe you could just say no to the kids when they ask, or have a quiet word with the parents beforehand. — Traveller, Oct 08 '18 at 22:11
@Traveller, It might be me of the parents that will buy it, I will not buy it before asking permission — Max, Oct 09 '18 at 06:17
A street peddler toy will unlikely explode in your face, but may not be the wisest long-term investment... Health-wise, I'd say it's "safe" as long as you don't lick it or put it in your mouth. — undercat, Oct 09 '18 at 07:01
Just to clarify, are you afraid of being scammed, mugged, extorted in any way, whilst being distracted by the sale? — JoErNanO, Oct 09 '18 at 07:03
@undercat LOL, I'm not looking for a long term toy, just something for the boys to play for a couple of hours to spend off some energy. — Max, Oct 09 '18 at 10:45
Your fear is more than enough to save you from being assaulted (not particularly likely) or unduly scammed (possible, but then again these toys are in themselves a scam, since in any actual shop there are nicer, non-counterfeited, and perhaps with a lifespan of more than one hour). I'd steer children and parents toward a real toy shop, or a “cartoleria” or at the very least to a Chinese general store. — DaG, Oct 13 '18 at 20:44

Turkeyphant · Answer 1 · 2019-06-01T13:11:07.193

2

Yes it's completely safe according to your definition of safe. I have been to Rome many times and spent lots of time people watching there. Locals and foreigners alike have no issues with their purchases although, as some have mentioned, the products are typically low quality and overpriced.

in my experience the same is true of similar vendors in any city popular with tourists anywhere in the world. I have never heard of the things you are afraid of happening.

edited Jun 01 '19 at 13:11

answered Jun 01 '19 at 02:36

Turkeyphant

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That wasn't specified in the question so I gave a straightforward response to directly answer it. I've now added background context (which was already strongly implied). – Turkeyphant Jun 01 '19 at 13:12
It’s implicit in every question, and “I know what I’m talking about” is, sadly, not implicit in responses on the Internet. Thanks for your edit: you’ve made it clear that you do know what you’re talking about and this is now an excellent answer, so +1. – David Richerby Jun 01 '19 at 13:15
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Sorry, I'll be more careful in the future. – Turkeyphant Jun 01 '19 at 17:16

Toy vendors in Rome (on the piazza)

1 Answers1