These are some tips and tricks for navigating the busy markets of Lagos for the inexperienced. From one semi-ajebutter to you, with love.
I grew up in a middle class household. For us, this meant shuffling through aisles and picking clothes at Ruff n’ Tumble with daddy one weekend, and haggling prices at bend down select with mummy the next. (Bend down select: pidgin slang for second-hand shopping, what the cool kids call Thrifting these days.) I learnt to modify my behaviour in different social contexts because of all this; toning down and playing up my ajebo-ness depending on where we went. It recently came to mind to share a compendium of my garnered market street wisdom for the babes who might have grown up without frequent the bubbling Lagos markets much but find they would need to do so as adults. (I am being gender-specific because navigating Lagos as a woman is a peculiar experience and the area my scope of knowledge covers)
If you don’t want to get ripped off and pay for substandard items in some of these medium-to-large markets, keep on scrolling.
The first thing I would advise is this: look like you’ve been there before. The outfit? Simple. If you’re like me and squirm at people’s bare skin touching your upper arms, opt for a short sleeved top or shirt. Jeans. A comfy trouser. A cap, because the sun these days seems to take no prisoners. This is not the place for ostentatious bling; the simpler, the better. A bag of choice I would recommend is a Fanny pack. You can hang it on your waist or sling over one shoulder, leaving your arms free and your valuables in your view at all times. Hair preferably in a bun, away from the face. Shoes flat and comfortable, a slipper (if you were thinking of anything in the vicinity of heeled footwear, I…….maybe just stick to the Shoprites and Ebeanos. It will be for the best.)
Make a shopping list, preferably while you’re still at home. The market is huge, you can get there, get confused in the middle, and come out with items you don’t necessarily need forgetting the ones you do. One way I go about shopping lists is creating a Shopping List folder in my Notes app. When I realise I’m about to run out on something or decide I want to get a new item, I put it down. I go to it several times as many times as the need arises and keep adding to it. This way I don’t have to sit and create a new list when it’s time to go shopping – I already have one. Either using technology or pen-to-paper, a list is necessary. Make one first.
Next, unless you want to buy fish regularly priced at a thousand naira for three thousand after a lot of begging and ‘pricing’, avoid buying from traders you parked close to or those who likely saw you come down from a car. In these streets, you are sized up and given a ‘price’ based off that. So the aunty that came out of a Lexus, the young man that alighted from his Corolla, and the babe that arrived with Okada are going to be told different prices for the same item.
If it will be your first time at a very busy market, go with someone who has been there before if possible. I learnt so much about finding my way around market abuzz with activity from following my mother around. A maestro of the marketplace is who this woman is, I tell you. I have vivid memories of standing shyly behind her, holding our bought goods and watching her haggle brazenly with traders. Who even opens their bargain for a N5,000 item with N2,000? She always knew where to buy the freshest tomatoes, which seller sold at wholesale prices, and which part of the markets to avoid for safety reasons. It would be nice to go once or twice with such a person so you figure the place out quicker. Not that you cannot do it on your own though, it will just make it easier to navigate.
If you’re not pressed for time, avoid buying from the first seller you see. Ask, ask the ‘last price’ i.e the lowest they are willing to sell it at, say okay and thank you, and go to the next store. At shop number 3, you’ll know the average price for the item you’re trying to buy. You can make your choice then.
Call everybody your Customer. My mum taught me this pro tip. I do this even when I’m sure I’ve never gotten a thing from the trader in my life. For a newbie, never underestimate the power of a “ahh good afternoon customer, how are you?” Now you’ve called them with some familiarity, and since they see so many people each day, there’s a likelihood that they’ll think they’ve sold to you in the past, and they’ll be a bit more sincere with prices. Now please note that this is more of a hypothesis, and people can be somehow, so it might not always work. They may size you up and hike their price, which is why I said earlier that clothing is important.
This next one is item-specific: do not haggle with the meat sellers. This is mummy-imparted knowledge. The worse thing to do is to point to a slab of beef and ask how much. They’ll call a high price, you then begin to price/bargaim, you most likely will end up with less bang for your buck. Just tell them to cut (insert amount you want here) meat for you. If you’ve never bought meat before and want to buy a bigger amount, say ten thousand naira worth, ask them to cut 2,000 first. Then ask them to do it in four more places. That way you don’t get cheated. It’s basically the Nigerian math we do when buying roadside suya, only that the meat is raw in this context.
I still haven’t mastering the haggling/‘pricing’ like our mothers. I’m a decent one though, and I try to not be so shrewd these days because I’m not unaware of the current Nigerian economic climate & I want the trader to make a decent profit. Notwithstanding, I don’t want to be cowered into buying goods at overinflated prices, so I put up a decent pushback if I do say so yourself. It usually works best on items like clothes, shoes and appliances. For perishable goods, I tend to buy without much talk because I’m more aware of the prices since I buy them more often. Learn to bargain. It is okay to do so, the traders expect you to do it. A tip to help is to mentally deduct 30% of the item’s price and start from there. Bargain in the first stop, and as I mentioned few paragraphs earlier, bargain in the next shop. The more you do so, the higher your changes of leaving with a decent deal.
Thankfully, I have never been in a panic situation during any of my market runs. However, if people are running, you too pick race oh. You can be shouting your questions while on the run. This is my final tip: always be safety conscious. Be mindful of where your valuables are at all times. Do your best to finish up and head up while the day is still bright. Walk as briskly as you can through the market. I personally don’t put in EarPods or any similar gadget for this reason; I want to hear my environment clearly. That’s one reason at least,
Sidebar: I just want to say that all the above does not count when it comes to Computer Village though. The last time I went there & was in the middle of minding my business, one hot slap landed on my right cheek, delivered from an infamous neighbourhood agbero. Do with that information what you will. (The sellers there who saw the incident apologised to me and all oh, but I am yet to go back there for anything).
Still, the only way to overcome worry about marketplaces is by going to the market. You may shake small, then you will get the hang of it over time. You’ll figure out your own tips and tricks. Nothing do you.
ADA & HER TUNE. 