Note – The shoe shiners featured in the photographs of this article did not scam me and never used any of the techniques that are listed below. They were friendly shoe shiners who agreed for their photograph to be taken and used. This article is not implying they are part of this scam.
One Turkish tradition I have always admired is the shoe shiner. Sitting on busy streets with their small stools and Ottoman style boxes, they ply their trade to everyone that passes. I believe my fascination with them is because this tradition has disappeared from the western world but is still very much alive in Turkey.
A friendly shoe shiner in Istanbul
Some people may consider this age-old trade to be a boring job, but for the dedicated shoe shiner, it is an art and a skill. The customers walk away with shoes looking as new as the day they were purchased. The shoe shiner will polish and buff with ease that only comes from years of experience. The price is just a few Turkish lira so he needs a steady flow of customers to earn a good wage by nightfall.
The last time I went to a shoe shiner was in the Aegean resort of Altinkum. He was a small boy aged approximately nine. I wore a pair of long, leather boots because it was the middle of winter. The boy was not experienced but did his best and I tipped him for his determined effort. The price I paid was five Turkish lira. (Roughly 2Uk pounds or 3USD)
On past visits to Istanbul, I never used shoe shiners because most of the time, I wore sports shoes to walk around the tourist sites. Maybe that is why the shoeshine scam of Istanbul has passed me by. I only discovered it now because I was researching the tradition for an article.
The Shoe Shine Scam of Istanbul
The scam is not elaborate nor complicated. It is simple and like many scams, it preys on the goodwill of people.
- The shoe shiner walks past tourists and drops one of his brushes
- A tourist picks it up and runs after the shoe shiner
- The shoe shiner is very grateful and offers to shine the shoes to show his appreciation
- While he works, he tells about his poor family, sick wife and many poverty problems
- End of the process and the price requested is a hefty amount. It is often ten times more than he would charge a Turk. One couple was charged 25 Turkish lira.
- Tourist pays up because of guilt for the poor man who struggles to feed his family
Most of the shoe shiners I have met were friendly and certainly not out to scam me, so I am not going to criticize this ancient trade. However, I warn readers. If you are in Istanbul and a shoe shiner drops his brush while walking past you, ignore him.
Readers Question: Have you heard about or been a victim of this scam before?
Further Reading
Spotting the scammer in Istanbul
The best shoe shiner in Istanbul (Youtube video)
This exact same scenario happened to me today, the guy showed me where to go and he charged me 80 lira!!! I looked at him like what the hell but felt bad for him then realized I’d paid £10 for a service that not only I didn’t want or need but that took less than a minute, I felt bad for the guy so I coughed up the money but on the way home another shoe shiner dropped his brush so I thought maybe something is wrong here and googled it, thanks for your words of wisdom gotta be on a bit of a high alert at all times because people will try to scan you
Sad to report that it just happened to me outside the Hilton Bosphorous. I arrived late last night after a trip involving a cancelled flight, arriving at the hotel where they couldn’t find my reservation (although I had the confirmation) and then my bags disappeared en route to my room… believing in the old adage that bad luck runs in threes I thought I was off to a good start this morning…
As I left the hotel I notice 3 shoe shiners sitting by the side of the road chatting about 30 meters ahead of me. One said something to the others and set off in front of me dropping a brush. I picked it up and called him back. He was “from Ankara”, insisted on giving my almost brand new Adidas running shoes the once over as a thank you, he was “going back to Ankara tomorrow” to be with his two sick children, had no money, etc etc. That’s when I knew I’d been scammed and gave him some money just to get away from him.
Lats time I was scammed was in Ho Chi Minh City 3 or 4 years ago so not bad going. The money involved is pretty near nothing in the grand scheme of things and should be taken as a fee for an interesting learning experience and a story you can tell when you get back home.
Hi Luke, thanks for dropping by and congratulations on the new site. Let me know when you are up and running on Facebook or Twitter so I can follow you. Shame to hear about your shoeshine scam – seems it is still going strong.
Hi Natalie.
This my first comment but I have been a long time fan of your blog!
I am English, having just Married my Turkish Wife in Izmir, with our wedding ceremony planned in September!
Since we have been dating for over 4 years I have just started creating a blog about our experiences as a couple and also trying to detail my tips for travelling to Istanbul as a tourist. I will leave my website link, would be grateful for your opinion 🙂
Anyway, the reason I commented on this particular post is because I took my father over to Istanbul in February for the Engagement Party and we were also where almost scammed for Shoeshine. I had never heard of it before.
He dropped his brush, my father ran after him and of course he insisted on a polishing his shoes.
At the end I gave him 5TL and told my family to move on and leave him. Quite upsetting for them both as his Fiance at the time was pregnant and already exceptionally worried about being in a foreign country. It really did put a downer on the trip.
I have a photo here: https://www.exploreistanbul.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/20170201_125136-e1503775167875.jpg of the chap who did it. Photographed before I knew he was scamming us. Feel free to use it if you like, though it is not as good as your photos!
Thanks for the Post.
~ Luke
I’m sorry to hear that Kieran but don’t let it change your character. Plenty of Turks wouldn’t dream of scamming you like that.
It happened to me just yesterday and I am saddened and disgusted since the scam is based on the kindness of strangers. This makes me not want to be kind to Turks on the street, which would be such a shame. I do not want to change character because of these scammers. And there are tons others, such as the ones who say, Are you Turk? You look Turk, etc. Turks are from Scandinavian blonde to Afghani looking to Indian looking, so that’s a broad choice of people to scam. I am not happy about it to say the least.
What a wonderful story Steven. Thank you for sharing it
I have a nice story about a kind shoe shine vendor today. Visiting Istanbul, I had looked up a Turkish friend of a friend back home. This man, Erman, took us to see a wonderful shop in the Grand Bazaar. It was like a museum and we could not afford any of the valuable antiques. Afterward, I asked if he could help me find a shop where they sold inserts for shoes, like orthotics. He was directed to a shoe shiner who tried to explain where the shop was but it was too complicated even for someone who grew up in Istanbul. So the shoe shine man left his stand and led us several blocks to the perfect shop that had more kinds of shoe inserts than I could have found any place in Boston.. It was perfect and I got exactly what my feet needed and just the right size. He waited with us to be sure I got what I needed before I left. So I was so grateful, I gave him 5 TL for his kindness. Later that day, we were the victims of three taxi scams, but the genuine kindness of the shoe shine man who makes far less than a taxi driver is a wonderful memory.
Thanks for sharing Nat! Turkey is such a beautiful place, sadly tainted by some of these very intense scammers over there. I write quite a bit on other scams in Turkey, such as the can i be your friend scam, the tricks taxi drivers use, and all the overcharging and fake stuff that are pushed. If you’re interested, here’s a list: http://travelscams.org/europe/14-common-tourist-scams-turkey/
The benefit of wearing training shoes!
Holy shit someone just tried this scam on me yesterday while I was wearing Asics Nimbus….they’re running shoes and not really meant for shoe shining, he kept persisting me to get one when I was in a hurry to get to the ferry, glad I kept saying No and walked quickly away.
Well, I am glad you enjoyed your first time there Lee and happy to read that you want to return. Just let me know if you have any questions.
I just returned from a week-long business trip to Istanbul on 4/25. I had little time to explore the city, just one day in fact. While I had a great time I regret that I had not discovered your blog prior to my visit there.
I hope to return within the year and will be much better prepared to enjoy all that Istanbul has to offer because of your excellent information and insights.
Surprised they did not want to polish your toe nails! 😉
Because I was wearing sandals all of time, I never needed a shoe shiner.
I am sorry to hear that TJ – I think the problem the Turkish authorities have is prioving it. Don’t let it spoil the rest of your holiday though
I read this because I just became a victim this morning – exactly as what’s described here – and I knew it’s a popular scam when a second shoe shiner dropped a brush in front of me in 10 minutes, and sadly I googled online and found it is not only me. I was basically robbed of 50 lira and left with some small changes from the shoe shiner. I feel very bad just by thinking that this has been existing for years and how easily they make so much money by taking advantage of others’ kindness – it is so unfair to other down-to-the-earth, hard-working Turkish people! I wish some Turkish authority will look into this – these shoe shine gangs must have made a huge amount of money.
Sorry to hear that Emre – like you say, we can just live and learn though
They scammed me so well I ended up paying 20 liars for a paint job in my blacks vans sneakers.
I felt bad that he needed rent.
Now I feel bad I was scammed. Make errors and learn from life I guess!
Glad to have saved you some money Greg!
I read this blog last night in the hotel in Istanbul. This morning while killing time waiting for a friend, we were wondering around Taksim Square and I watched a man with a plain wooden shoe shine box ( not the cool looking ones) race to get in front of us. I watched the mechanism that dropped the brush, it was a string attached to a pin that caused the brush to fall from the box. I had not had a chance to talk to my wife about the scam and she grabbed the brush and returned it to him. He was instantly setting up to shine her hiking boots out of “gratitude”. She was a little taken aback when I started firmly saying no and was pulling her away. I was stoked to see the whole process and was thankful for your blog about the scam as I am sure we would have given him a fair amount of money.
Love your blog it has been helpful in many ways.
Safe travels,
Greg
Sorry to hear that IT – Hope you did not give over too much money
Just happened to me on side street coming from Galan tower. Being a Texan we are very friendly. Too friendly. Knew it as scam the minute we started to get poor me story. Lesson learned. He has to answer to a higher authority some day for taking advantage of my kindess.
Very true Lori – get them all over the world. If people know about them, hopefully they can avoid them
Not so nice at all. But scams – with different themes, are present all over the world. I recently saw some in Paris…
Helps when we have the locals to show us around Jessica. The scam never happened to me either but would be mad if it did
That’s a pretty sneaky scam. I heard about loads in Istanbul, but not that one. Luckily, I didn’t actually see any when I was there because I had a local friend to show me around.
Isn’t it? If they only realised that its taints the destination as well
It seems like every country has it’s own unique tourist scam 🙁 such a shame
It is sad Jessica but I like to believe that 99% of people are alright. It is just the select few
It’s so sad when you don’t know whether or not to be nice to people when you travel, or even in general. The other day a woman dropped her wallet and I had read about some thieves who ‘innocently’ drop their wallet and then when you run after them they basically rob you and take theirs. I ended up running after her anyway, and she was genuinely pleased, but the thought went through my mind just to ignore it, for that very reason….
That is what gets on my nerves as well. When the authorities turn a blind eye simple so they can have an easier day.
Just shows, we are all suckers for a sob story, and tourists are too easily scammed. A very informative post Natalie, I really believe scams should be highlighted as much as possible. The trouble is the authorities know these scams are going on but they are reluctant to take action.
It is a cultural experience that needs to be done Turtle. I hope people read the article thoroughly though so they get to know the scammers and separate them from the proper shoe shiners.
It’s so sad to hear of this kind of thing. Because getting a shoeshine can be such a cultural experience for visitors to Turkey. But you’ll find that many will be scared to do it because stories like this will make them worried they’ll be ripped off!
Very true and I think we should focus on the nice people
All kinds of scams in the world. I don’t even own shoes that COULD be shined, so I hope i would be more immune to such a thing. But as you say even hearing about such scams make the little paranoia wheels turn when I travel. A little is probably ok, but the vast bulk of people ARE nice.
Most of the shoe shiners I have met are courteous and friendly John. It is just a shame that a few in Istanbul want to ruin the good name of the trade through their scams. I bet your time as a peace corp volunteer was good. Heard of quite a few people that did that.
I certainly would not let it ruin my trip Abby. I hope you managed to lose her somewhere!
The more scams we are educated about, the less easily we fall to any of any kind, anywhere, so thank you! That said, if I fall to a scam over $10, I get upset and don’t fall for it again. But I don’t let it ruin anything. I was traveling with someone recently who was determined to let it ruin her whole trip!
Interesting article. When I lived in Elazig and Erzerum as a Peace Corps volunteer shoe shiner were very prevalent, courteous and good. Cost was from 50 kurush to 1 lira. Tip was usually 50 kurush. All total about 20 cents. Many time students would give teachers for free. Typical generous Turks.
I have not seen him Di – will keep an eye out for him this winter
I would fall for it if he happened to me. Sometimes I am naive and gullible when traveling!
I hope the tradition stays alive as well Ozlem. It is one of the things that I associate Turkey with
there is an old guy with the roughest grugest voice ive ever heard he comes to the Didim winehouse on a saturday afternoon in the winter and shines everyones shoes for 2ty i hope he comes back this winter he’s a nice guy its a nice stop off on the way back from the market
Luckily this never happened to us in Istanbul. Its one of those things that are so easy to fall for though!
Oh, that’s sad to hear.. The shoe shine experience is a hugely popular thing for my husband, my dad and many friends. We never had the scam, that I am grateful. Unfortunately, it looks inevitable at some touristy spots, but happy to report, never had any. My husband so looks forward to traveling to Turkey, have his haircut, his shoe shined, and I truly hope these traditions and experiences stay alive!
One of the articles that I linked to, said that the shoe shiner originally said there was no charge. That is where the confusion came into it
The way that I read it, they are led to believe that the shoe shin is free. A thank you for returning the brush. That is what one of the blokes who was scammed thought
I can deal with persistent but not angry or abusive Duke. That is when I start to get angry back. Most of the time though, the shoe shiners just end up posing for a photgraph
Very true Alan. 99% of the worlds population just want to make it from one day to the next
I agree with you Jennifer. The majority of shoe shiners that I have met are hard-working and decent.
Agree with Michael…I would never just agree to a service, whether traveling or not, without knowing the cost upfront.
Never understand why people just don’t ask how much something costs before they agree to it. “How much is the shoeshine?” “5 lira (or whatever).” Then you can bitch and moan all you like about your family or cancer or whatever and… I’m giving you 5 lira.
We experienced this in Istanbul when we were visiting Turkey probably 6 years ago before we moved here. Like Tom we refused and laughed as we were wearing Nike tennis shoes that could not be shined. The shoe shiner was persistent but not angry or abusive. My friend saw the guy surreptitiously knock his brush off so he knew what was going on.
. . the majority of the world’s population struggle to exist whilst being bombarded with advertising and media to have the newest/latest/snazzyist/etc. It is small wonder that a small minority sink to the same thieving, twisted ways as the politicos/bankers/corporatist elite.
As we learn all the time on our travels, most people are decent.
`It makes me angry to hear of any scam that affects the good work of the majority who are honest and hardworking. I had my hiking boots cleaned in Urgup Otogar Cappodica. I had just returned from Mount Nemrut . I was embarrased at the small amount I was charged as he made my very dirty and worn boots look like new. I gave him a good tip. He was happy and I was happy. These men work so hard for so little. Its a pity a very small minority would give the profession a bad name.
So targeting Turks as well, not just foreigners!!
I was really surprised because in 11 years of being in this country, I had never heard of it before.
I do wonder how they make money because the true price is not a lot of money but it seems that some have found other ways to cut down their work load!
I just told my husband about your article and he said it is a very old scam, when he was in university in Eskisheir they would ask the students to use there lighter.
They would then say thank I will shine your shoes and after say well can you give something towards soup and if you refused would get up set and give you hassle. My husband managed to escape without paying but his friend got caught he thought a couple of lira would be enough and the man said it was not enough in the end he pay 10 lira for a free shoe shine!
I had never heard of the scam Tom until I started researching it for an article. Kind of damages the reputation a bit but i will still continue my fascination with them.
YES I’ve seen it, but managed to get away. I was walking over a bridge in Istanbul when a shoe shiner dropped his brush. I picked it up, went to give it back to him, and then he swiftly took the brush out of my hand, clamped his arm around my wrist and started trying to drag me away to get my shoes shined.
I don’t know exactly what he wanted to shine as I was wearing Adidas trainers, but he was very aggressive. I freed my arm and just continued walking where I had been as he started hurling abuse after me.
Thanks for sharing this, Natalie – I didn’t realise it was a full-on scam, and glad I didn’t lose any money out of it.
That is why I added the note to say they were not part of the scam Nihal. I wanted to use actual pictures of shoe shiners to portray the ancient trade as it is today. I have moved the note to the top of the article so that readers know this straight away. Do you think that is better?
But…when you put their photos under such title you protrait them as part of this scam, I wish they never let their photos taken.