Thread by @ShoutsAndMiras

@YusufIsmail1 @jomikky The middle men/women seem random but it’s a pretty organized system. You pay a fee to enter the market, you pay for people to offload your tomatoes, then you find a broker (if you don’t already know one). Brokers have to pay a fee for the right to buy and sell in the market. 1/

@YusufIsmail1 @jomikky You can negotiate with the broker in some cases but some markets mandate that all brokers get paid the same way. @ Mile 12 you usually lay the broker a percent of what he sells, which incentivizes him to get the best prices. Other mkts have a flat fee (500 or 1k naira) per basket

@YusufIsmail1 @jomikky The markets usually open at certain times. Mile 12 opens at 6am. If your goods aren’t ready by 6, too bad. Brokers start calling prices for tomatoes and buyers circulate to see what they want to buy. You’ll find some buyers who buy many baskets and some who only buy 1 or 2.
3/

@YusufIsmail1 @jomikky As the day wears on, prices tend to drop because the fruits start to deteriorate out in the open. At the end of the day, you get your money. If you don’t have a rep on hand to watch the process you will have to just trust that the broker is telling you the truth about prices. 4/

@YusufIsmail1 @jomikky If you have a rep, s/he takes the money from the broker for you. If not, the broker can make a transfer to your account but they charge you a fee for this. Brokers usually share one account for multiple ppl. You have to pay 1 or 2k for each 100k that they transfer. Whew! 😪

@YusufIsmail1 @jomikky And God help you if you try to sell to retailers anywhere near the market without actually using the market system. We tried this a few times in Mararaba and got blacklisted at the “orange market” which is one of the big markets outside Abuja.

@YusufIsmail1 @jomikky The retailers we approached with tomatoes wouldn’t buy from us - wouldn’t tell us why. Finally one of them said they get fined and blacklisted from the main market if the market enforcers find out that they bought from any farmer who tried to bypass the market. 7/

@YusufIsmail1 @jomikky In short, the open market is a pretty well organized system that provides a clear funnel for tomatoes to be bought and sold, but there’s a bit of thuggery in the way the system is enforced, and I’m not convinced that the fees you have to pay to participate are fully justified.