Consumer tips on buying goods and services

Global socio-economic trends these days indicate that the consumer must be more prudent in dispensing the meagre income trickling into increasingly emptying pockets. While income is shrinking daily, basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, education, health and even entertainment, are making us masters at juggling priorities and balancing budgets. The least one would expect is that the trade environment would adjust to these challenges and help stretch the  naira to maximum value. Unfortunately, various factors are colluding to make the commercial environment increasingly hostile. So as a consumer, you need to be more discerning, alert and enlightened so that you won’t end up with the current Nigerian financial dilemma of “no cash-backing for budget implementation.”

One key aspect of commercial transactions is the issue of trust between the consumer and the manufacturer or service provider. When we exchange cash for goods and services, there is an implied assumption that we trust the manufacturer enough to accept his claim that the product will meet a particular need. For instance, if you buy a television set, you assume that the manufacturer has installed a receiver that will pick up the signals of TV stations and transmit them to your home via the set so you paid for without any doubt at all. That is trust.

Unfortunately, the consumer can no longer conduct transactions naively like this as the incidences of fraudulent manufacturers and service providers abound. They capitalise on the consumer’s trust to defraud by putting sub-standard, fake and sometimes life threatening goods on the shelves for sale. This is why the Latin maxim “caveat emptor” which means “let the buyer beware”, must be your watchword when buying goods and services, especially in Nigeria where there are very weak or non-existent structures to protect the consumer from this kind of exploitation. A crash programme on protecting yourself from buying goods that will not serve you is thus necessary to get value for your ever shrinking naira in this cashless economy. The buzz word here is “warranty” or “guarantee”.

 Commerce, in trying to sustain the trust between buyer and seller, evolved the principle that the seller must commit to the veracity of his claim concerning his product or service by giving the buyer tangible additional assurance that his good or service is authentic and can be trusted, within a specified period, to deliver on its expected use or benefit. A buyer can thus rest assured that his trust in the seller’s integrity is not misplaced so he buys with confidence and peace of mind. That is a warranty.

While this principle is the global standard for trade, it is almost totally absent in our commercial environment. Nigerian consumers either do not understand they have a right to expect a warranty at point of purchase or are just too disillusioned to expect anything from the seller. This inertia unfortunately, fuels the dumping of sub-standards goods and poor services in the Nigerian market, resulting in great loss of value in the consumer’s purchasing power. While we wait for the Federal Government to put some sanity in the commercial environment, here are tips to protect you from being cheated or wasting money on sub-standard goods.

 • Have a budget: Decide how much you are willing to pay for any item or service long before going to buy it. You can compare prices in other markets via the internet to get a fair price range so you know when a product or service is overpriced.

• Always ask for a discount: Even on ‘fixed’ or advertised prices. I have a book titled “Never Pay Retail” which has eye opening tips on how to pay the least possible for the most quality. I might share some of those principles sometime on this page. I ask for discounts on bank charges like COT, super market prices, fixed prices, everything. The worst the seller can say is no but 99% of the time; I always get something off, no matter how small.

• Ask questions: Never let your tight schedules make you buy what you can’t use especially big ticket items like consumer electronics, cars, phones, etc. Engage the seller so you know what you are buying. Many times, while questioning the seller, I realize a new phone does not have the facilities to do what I need to do. A seller wants to sell so he won’t tell you unless you ask.

• Avoid buying in traffic: Suddenly, we now buy pillows, tables, blenders, and more while in traffic. This is the  surest way to buy a sub-standard product. Be honest, how many things have you bought in traffic only to find them broken, fake or overpriced? My list is endless. Let’s stop throwing money away.  If you cannot return it, don’t buy it!

• Insist on a written warranty before paying for any product or service: Retailers have this dubious clause printed on their invoices that “goods purchased in good condition cannot be refunded, returned or replaced”. That is a direct violation of your consumer rights. There is a reasonable time that a durable product is expected to last before it becomes unserviceable. It is called ‘implied warranty’ and recognised in law. I Never accept an invoice with that clause, even in the open market. The clause must be cancelled or I will not buy the product.