Masaai Market can be found next to the Meridian hotel, one of the most famous hotels downtown Nairobi (of course Hilton hotel is the most famous in Nairobi but Meridian is not too far away from it, just 10 minutes walk.) The Maasai market is only opened on Tuesdays from early morning (around 7 o’clock) to early evening (no later than 7 o’clock in the evening.) It is a rather dangerous place if you have a camera with you so I only took one good picture of the place as you can see.
It’s not the cheapest market in the city. I honestly went there because it was just next to my hostel and because I forgot to bring a belt from Chicago so my trousers were inconveniently falling down every once in a while. I managed to buy 2 belts for 700 shillings. The seller asked for 1800 for both. I told him I will not pay more than 700. She said no. I left, she came after me. The deal was sealed. I also bought a very nice wooden picture frame in the shape of the African continent. Very, very nice. Initial price: 4200. Final price 650. Do you want my advice? Get into the Maasai market knowing that you have to negotiate hard to get what you want. If you’re white, they will want to charge you tenfold. You should under no circumstances pay more than 1000 shilling for any item in that market.
Set up a starting price that should be about 60% of what you want to pay. Then ask for what the seller wants. Tell him/her you price. He will say no. Then increase the price to whatever you’re willing to pay. He will certainly say it’s too little. Then simply say “I’m not gonna buy it.” In 9 out of 10 cases they will come after you.
I cannot stress enough that most items can be bought for as much as 10 dollars, that is around 600 Kenyan Shillings.
Have fun in the Maasai market. And do hide your camera!
August 16th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I hear this advice so often, with different percentages each time.
The trick is, there are fixed prices to almost everything! You just need to know them. Ask a Kenyan friend who knows the prices to come with you: you will discover prices that you never would have achieved by blind bargaining–prices you never could have imagined.
If local help is sparse, of course, then you need to fake it, as you wrote above. Other tips to blind bargaining: do comparison shopping as a matter of course and make it clear to vendors that you are doing so; learn a few words and numbers in the local language (a bit of a time investment if you’re just touring); and try striking up real conversations with your vendors before getting their starting prices (asking for help with the local language is a good conversation-starter); be male.
There is an argument that blind bargaining is fine: that you should aim for a price which seems fair to you. Otherwise, you can find much cheaper prices.
August 17th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Hi Adam
Believe man I know that. I bergain a lot. But I’ll get overcharged anyway. Some say it’s reversed racism. Reality is more complex than that. People would try to trick everyone including those of their own kind. The only difference is that is will most likely happen to people like me who happen to be white. It’s a fun journey though!
August 29th, 2008 at 1:14 am
I went there 3 months ago!!!!!!!