If a family reunion is organized in my home including both extended family and we are all asked to choose the one person known for making good purchases, this involves cost and quality, without taking much time, all hands will be pointed at me, as we've Jokingly spoken about it numerous times while having a family gathering, the reason why anyone going to the market would always request I accompany them.
Well, it isn't magic, nor a talent, or maybe it is indeed a talent that I like making sure that my money is worth the purchase and also critically choosing where I buy my goods from because living in Nigeria has taught me that marketers are not sincere enough to trust them, so I make sure that item gotten are refundable in case of it not working as expected at least for the warranty period.
Nevertheless, one can't be too careful and would always fall victim to bad buys, but first, let me start with the good buy.
My very first weaving machine,
As a fashion designer, one critical aspect of your job is to ensure good finishing, which the weaving machine helps accomplish, but getting the industrial one at that time was not possible since Zi couldn't afford it, I visited a friend's shop one day, and was complaining of my inability to secure an industrial weaving machine when she became alarmed and notified me of someone that visited her the previous day, he urgently needed money and wanted to sell his for a giveaway price, when told the price, I was not convinced because it was too low, even compared to the second-hand price, and was doubtful If it was indeed working perfectly, to cut the long story short, they both assured me that it was an opportunity to make a good buy, which I did eventually, and so far, the weaving machine has been serving me exceptionally well and has helped me cut the cost of taking my designs somewhere else to get it weaved.
The bad purchase
Thinking about the lamp you can see in the picture above always gets me upset, unlike me that made sure I bought from where I could easily get a refund or replacement, I did below that the day I bought this lamp from a marketer who walks door to door advertising his goods, I guess the fine looking lamp tempted me to buy it, and to make it worst, it wasn't cheap whicht made me think it was indeed quality, the marketer also had his way with words to make even the strong-hearted man fall for his gimmicks, he tested it, putting it on, it was low, told me to charge it fully before usage, I followed the instruction govchargest the lamp was still low after putting it on, and it didn't even last up to 20 minutes after that even after several charge, I felt very bad for wasting my money and not enjoying what I paid for even for one day.
Lesson learned
I learned not to trust the words of any marketer since then, instead get reviews from the consumers of the goods.
As for the good buy, it's best to have assurance or a witness before buying a used item from someone, and also make sure that I don't buy electrical or refundable items from hawkers or marketers, you might not see them again after that day, just like I didn't see the marketer of the lamp after the day of purchase.
Image 1 is edited using canva
Image 2&3 are mine