Agra sells what it has made since Shah Jahan's workshops closed: marble inlaid with carnelian and malachite, gold zardozi embroidery, and cheap leather. Skip the commission-driven tour-bus emporiums and shop where Agra actually shops.
Kohinoor on Munro Road (open 10:00–19:30) is one of the older family firms, but the real education is the small pietra dura workshops behind Taj Ganj, where artisans grind carnelian and lapis into 1mm slivers. Coasters ₹800–2,000; tabletops ₹25,000+.
The cantonment's main shopping street, pedestrianised in the evenings, packed with fabric shops, zardozi embroidery counters and shoe stalls. Most shops open 11:00–21:00 and close Tuesdays. Salwar suit fabric ₹400–1,500; embroidered dupattas from ₹600.
Petha — translucent ash-gourd candy — is Agra's edible souvenir, and Panchhi is the name locals name first. The Hari Parvat outlet sells dry, angoori, kesar and paan varieties by weight, boxed for travel. Open 08:00–22:00 daily.
Agra makes roughly two-thirds of India's shoes, and Hing ki Mandi is where the small units cluster — leather uppers stacked in doorways, hand-lasted juttis, and export-surplus brogues. Shops run 10:00–20:00, closed Sundays.
The state-run craft complex 500m east of the Taj's eastern gate, built as a permanent haat for artisans from across Uttar Pradesh — dhurrie weavers, brassware, Firozabad glass bangles. Open 10:00–18:00; stalls rotate, so stock varies week to week.
A café run by acid-attack survivors with an attached shop selling their hand-painted textiles, tote bags and stationery. There is no menu price — you pay what you think the meal was worth. Open 10:00–22:00.
Agra's air-conditioned mall option: three floors of Indian high-street labels — FabIndia for block-printed cotton, W and Biba for ready-made ethnicwear — plus a food court. Open 11:00–22:00. Useful when the afternoon heat makes bazaars unbearable.
The old city's wholesale trimming market behind Jama Masjid: gota ribbon, sequins, zari thread and wedding-lehenga fabric sold from cupboard-sized shops. Best after 18:00 when the lanes light up. Closed Tuesdays.
The silk and cotton wholesale market running from Jama Masjid toward the fort, where Agra's tailors and small retailers actually buy. Bolt prices rather than tourist prices; shops open 10:30–20:00, shut Tuesdays. Silk from ₹350/metre.
The brass and copper sellers clustered near Malka Bazaar deal in cooking vessels, not decor — thick-walled degchis, kadhais and lotas sold by weight rather than design. Priced at roughly ₹700–950 per kilo of brass.
Firozabad, 40km east, makes most of India's glass bangles, and Rawatpara market is where they land in Agra — boxes of a dozen in every colour, plus lac bangles set with mirror work. Open 10:00–20:00.
The stretch near the cantonment church holds a handful of long-running dealers in old brass, Mughal-style miniature paintings on silk, and knotted wool carpets from Bhadohi. Genuinely old items need an ASI export certificate.