Posts Tagged ‘Borough Market’
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Market challenge: How much can you haggle or get for free? [Part 2]
It’s 4pm at Borough Market, and even though I’ve just filled up on a three-course menu of samples, I really need to get down to some haggling business. And just as I’m starting to panic that I’ll never pick up a bargain, a cacophany of mad discounting fills the air as the stall owners start to pack up for the day.
It’s half-price fish over at Furness Fish Market, “two pies for a fiver” (down from £3.95 each) at Pie Minster and the fruit and veg stand on Stoney Street is flogging bowls of assorted veg for a £1.
I head over to Flour Power City Bakery as the stall owners are clearing the tables by throwing dozens of loaves into bin liners. This is it – time to haggle.
“Will you take two pounds for this?” I ask, pointing at a loaf of £3.50 soda bread.
“No,” says Gruff Dude, shovelling more loaves into the rubbish bag.
“Er, you’re not chucking those away, are you?” I nervously laugh, in a rather clumsy and futile attempt to make conversation.
Gruff Dude continues to shovel bread. The stall is almost empty.
I decide to press on. “So, how much do you want for it?”
“£3.50”
“Ohhh…”
“But I’ll throw in some free bread if you like…”
Aha! A ray of light! “Deal,” I say, handing over the cash.
I watch as Gruff Dude reaches for a shopping bag and proceeds to stuff it with as many different loaves as he can. I take home a total of four loaves of artisan bread valued at £14 – for a total cost of £3.50.
I’ve learnt my lesson. Whilst drastic discounting is out, free extras on top of the original asking price is totally in.
I continue on my merry haggling way, and end up going home with:Wedge of Welsh cheese £2 – reduced from £2.90
4 loaves of artisan bread £3.50 – reduced from £14
6 pork Boston sausages £4 – reduced from £5.20
2 slices of Banoffee pie £3 – reduced from £4
Total spent: £12.50
Full price of produce: £26.10
Total saved: £13.60
Posted in Bargains & Markets, Food
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Market challenge: How much can you haggle or get for free?
I love the idea of haggling. Really, I do. It’s an age-old system of two parties negotiating the best deal for themselves. But I just happen to be spectacularly crap at it. Especially at farmers markets - I feel like a total cheap-arse offering a farmer-type peanuts for their organically grown and loving-tended potatoes. OK, so that’s not exactly the reality of the situation, but you know what I’m getting at. Nobody wants to be a scumbag.
So this really was a challenge for me on a number of levels. Especially as my local “farmers market” also happens to be one of London’s number one foodie tourist attractions, Borough Market. I generally make a weekly trip to Borough to pick up some goodies for the week – and to grab some coffee from Monmouth to kick-start the weekend. The thing is, I often go first thing in the morning, mostly to avoid the tourist crowds which really start to get crazy at about 11am.
But one week I happened to be there towards the end of trading, around 4pm, and noticed that the stall owners were madly discounting all their produce. So I decided to head back there at 3.30pm, to find out exactly how much I could haggle - or get for free.
First thing I noticed? Nobody is discounting at 3.30pm. It’s still packed with tourists milling around the stall counters and paying top price for produce. So there’s no need for the owners to discount or bargain with customers. I snuck up to a couple of stall owners and offered £2 for half a dozen sausages, and was just about laughed away. The embarrassment!
So whilst I waited for the crowd to dissipate and the day to wind down, I dedicated myself fully to getting as much free stuff as possible – ie. samples. Now, I usually steer entirely clear of food samples. Honestly, I really don’t want your teensy bit of bread covered in oily pesto that has been man-handled by hundreds of other grubby fingers. Yeeuurk. So I literally had to swallow my germ-phobia and get on with it. I felt like a total scavenger, swooping in on any out-stretched platter of crumbs.
But you know what? I did quite well. In fact, I just about made a three-course meal of it. Here’s what I scored…
STARTERS:
10x chunks of cheese
3x pesto on breadMAIN:
2x samples of sausage
2x samples of ravioliDESSERT:
3x pieces of cake
1x pieces of fudge
2x pieces of browniesI was starting to feel quite full by the time 4pm drew near, so I had to draw on my inner reserves and steely determination to haggle with the best.
Coming up in part 2: The full haggling results! In the meantime - enjoy this video:
Birdy Moola goes to Borough Market! from OolaMoola on Vimeo.How much can you haggle or get for free? Read more at our blog!
Posted in Bargains & Markets, Food
