Handbags and Shopping Styles

I am feeling particularly exhilarated today. After months of procrastination, I finally knuckled down and made some handbags. And even if I say so myself, they were/are gorgeous!

We were invited to a BBQ on Sunday and just on a whim I decided to take the bags with me to get a feel of what the feedback will be. I needn’t have worried at all. They had barely landed on the ground before they were all snapped up – all six of them, plus I left with orders for more!! I was absolutely beside myself. It was a really heady feeling having people admire my stuff and most importantly, more than happy to fork out money for them!

It’s a pity though that  I didn’t take any photos of them to post on the blog I have set up for my stuff (www.olivegirlthings.blogspot.com – it’s up but not running yet) as I didn’t realise I would be coming home without them in tow. So as soon as I finish the next batch of orders, that’s the first thing I will do.

But I noticed something curious in shopping style between non-Nigerians and Nigerians. All my non- Nigerian friends and acquaintances look at the bags, pick out the ones they like and pay. On the other hand, all my Nigerian friends look at the bags, pick out the ones they like and immediately say ‘Ah, you have to give me a discount oh!’ I cannot tell you how much this pisses me off. I’m like heck why? Do you know how much I’ve spent on the materials to produce these bags? Do you know how many hours, and hours of gruelling and painstaking detail has gone into the sewing of them? I just don’t get why our people always want things a) for free and b) for next to nothing. It takes all the strength I have not to tell them where to get off. I am beginning to think I shall stay clear of this target market.