The Maasai Market - Bargaining

by Navid Naghavi
(Teheran, Iran)


My second picture from the Maasai Market in Nairobi, where the Maasai tribe sell products made by them. The main material that is used for making these crafts are wood, leaves and leather.

The masks and wooden sculptures are most popular item in the Maasai Market, but at a glance you see that the shapes are not that original as expected and are designed especially for tourists.

After the vendor tells you the price, they usually asks yours! As an Iranian I know how to bargain well, but I felt that Europeans had to pay double or triple the price even after bargaining.

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by: Keen Tourist

Arjen, your feeling that Asian Shops with price tags at the coast do not fleece customers is very far from the truth .... the price indicated is just the starting place ... after that bargaining will bring the price to what you may feel is fair .... until you go to the Maasai Market and get shocked at the low prices on offer
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by: Anonymous

These traders know what they are doing. More than likely YOU end up paying more than the "fixed" Indian's price. I can tell you that they do not sell at a loss. Just enjoy the culture. Even Kenyans bargain for everything they buy - that's the spice of Kenyan trading.
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by: Arjen Koopman

Navid, thanks again. The bargaining is a hassle for us Europeans too... We aren't used to it. In Kenya I almost never know if I pay the 'right' price - meaning a price that gives the salesman his due, but is not a rip-off. I remember the Indian shops (in the coast region) doing a better job. They wrote fair prices on all their products and didn't bargain. The tour guides knew that tourists appreciate that, and brought them directly to the Indian shops...

I once suggested a Kenyan shop owner to do the same. I explained him in detail that he would make much more money this way. But his only response was staring blank at me and asking me for a cigarette...

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