Markets and Bargaining

Open-air markets are the key shopping source for many Kenyans. The markets can have such things as clothes, food, jewelry, bedding, bags and potentially furniture. This is a great place to go buy things at a fairly cheap price.

There are two main markets that I've been to, Toi and Adams. Both primarily sell clothes and food, and are close together. The clothes that most stands have is actually donated from the western world. The clothes come into a center in Nairobi, people buy the clothes in bundles and then take them to their stands to sell. There are markets literally all over the city.

As I said, markets are a great place to guy buy clothes. But part of going to a market in Kenya involves bargaining. My main experience with a market prior to traveling to Kenya is the Farmer's Market in Madison. There, if someone gives you a price, you generally pay that price. In Kenya, it's a different story.

In Kenyan markets, bargaining happens with almost every purchase. The sellers expect you to bargain, and you have to get good at bargaining to get the price you want. I have been able to bargain for a couple items in some broken Kiswahili, but most people speak English fine. The Kiswahili gives the impression that you know what you're doing.

But bargaining also takes some practice. I've learned the general method of taking the first offer and going under half of that price. For example, I bought a pair of almost new Abercrombie and Fitch jeans at the market today. When I first asked the price, he wanted me to pay 1450 shillings. So I started at 600. We worked our way back and forth until I got him to 1100 shillings.

At this point I used my favorite bargaining move that also worked with the bracelet I bought today. You just walk away. At this point they realize that either you can buy it and they can make a profit or they can make nothing. So the guy came out of his stand after me, we continued bargaining and I finally bought the jeans at 950 shillings. It was a bit more than the 750 that I actually wanted to pay, but $12-13 for an almost brand new pair of brand name jeans is not too bad.

I've learned to like bargaining. While I get a bit mad that I often get initially offered the mzungu price, I like the game of trying to figure out who's actually willing to give more. And no matter what, someone won't sell you something if they won't make a profit. The problem is that I'll have to remember to keep my new bargaining to a minimum when I come home.