A walk around an Oko Oba market in Lagos with MarketFriday

I must admit that there are some things I am not good at. Yes, I'm admitting to it because I can't lie to myself.

"You are the kind of person that would go to the market and just waste money, don't you know how to price things?"

Has anyone ever told you that, and how did you feel?

I have been told this many times and depending on the situation, sometimes I just pretend not to have heard the statement, other times I react angrily, It just depends on the situation and my mood.

I'm a type of person who prefers to have enough money to afford what I need, it's not like I'm trying to act like a wealthy lady but the truth is that, sometimes, when I meet a vendor and I pick what I need, I always feel confident touting especially when I know what I am buying, and know how it is sold. However, if I'm not sure, it makes touting a bit difficult for me.

Every vendor aims to make sales and get profits from the services they offer. I always consider this whenever I go to the market because as someone who renders services to people, I also understand that the profit means a lot to the vendor.

I mentioned earlier that I can confidently price particular goods or services if I know enough about them, I won't just let someone overcharge me unless I just feel like sparing the cash.

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#MarketFriday by @dswigle

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I went to the market today with my son to get some items that I needed to use in preparing soup. The matron of the shelter needed some items too so I volunteered to go to the market to get the things. I also thought about the fact that it would be a good time to take pictures for today's market Friday post.

On getting to this busy market, I stylishly brought out my phone to take this shot as I went around to check for the items that took me there. The first items I bought were leaves for the soup I wanted to prepare. (Utazi and Oziza leave) which I got for N400, I also bought stockfish, and black pepper before leaving there. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it.

Since I was still new to that market and wasn't so familiar with the place, I had to ask the woman who sold the leaves to me to show me the direction of how I would locate the place where the fish, meat, and cowskin sellers are. She gladly did, as I walked to the place she described, I saw that it wasn't so hard to locate.

I stopped by at the ice fish seller's place.on entering her corner, she showed me two fish and asked me to take them for N2,200. I looked at the fish and said " ah madam, it's too expensive o".
My budget for the ice fish was N800, I made it known to her. After a little more touting, she agreed to sell one of the fishes for N800. I paid and went to the meat seller's corner.

I stared at the meat for a while, looking for the one to choose. As if the man noticed that I was having a little difficulty deciding, he spoke and asked how much meat I need. I replied and told him N1000.
I usually complain a lot to meat sellers, telling them that what they've sold is too small but I didn't this time because a little voice in my mind assured me that he sold the meat well. So I paid him and went to the cowskin seller.

I got here and she told me that one part of it was N100 each while the other part was N200 each. My budget was N400. I went ahead picking the hard cowskins that are sold at N100 each. After leaving there, I left that area and went to the next block where smoked fish are sold.

The ones I bought are also called (kpanla fish) in the Yoruba language. I bought the fish in separate nylons, one was N500, and the other was N300. I gave the seller N1000 and waited for a little while to collect my N200 balance. At this point, I didn't go further into the market, I went in the direction that would lead us out of the market. I stopped by in the shade of a tomato and pepper seller.

I bought about N600 tomatoes and pepper in three different nylons because it wasn't just mine I was buying. I had to make the seller put in enough tomatoes for me even though I was only buying N200 each in three places.

Finally, I went out of the market, I sighted detergents and that reminded me of the laundry I had said I would do tomorrow.

I bought one viva plus detergent which costs N200. At this point, I was done and had checked out all I had on my market list.

I'm glad that I can participate this week in the marketFriday by @dswigle.

By the way, if you would love to see the soup I prepared with these things I bought, stay tuned to my blog as I would be updating that in the foodiebeehive community.

Thank you for reading.