Inside Lagos’ booming third-hand market

The crunching economy has got Nigerians graduating from second-hand merchandising to third-hand materials. CHUKWUMA OKPARAOCHA and CHIMA NWOKOJI ‘patronise’ the market.

There is now an abiding love for used wares in Lagos. From the remote parts on the mainland to the posh areas on the Island, the business of selling and buying used items has been witnessing unprecedented growth in recent times.

Even more interestingly, it is not only imported materials that are dominating the market, particularly in the areas of clothes and home appliances. In the past, ‘second-hand’or ‘tokunbo’ materials were essentially items shipped in from outside the country. Today, in Lagos, most of these items sold are those used in Nigeria.

It gets even more complicated when an attempt is made to trace their origin. Some were initially purchased as original, some as ‘fake’ or ‘Chinko’ and some as ‘imported tokunbo’. In Lagos markets, however, they are all united as one.

According to traders who spoke with Weekend Lagos, there are now various sources through which Lagos residents can sell their used clothes and other items. Markets such as Aswani near Oshodi and a few others on the Island have sections dedicated solely for the sale of such items. A trader who sells his wares in a car at the General area of Agbado told Weekend Lagos that a major challenge facing the business is supply, since it is almost always difficult to meet the growing demand.

Why people sell

“People who sell their personal stuffs do so for various reasons. But even then, they can only sell limited items at a time, irrespective of the channels through which they are sold, whether online or not”, a respondent told Weekend Lagos.

Recently, some trucks carrying huge containers were intercepted by police officers at the Meiran area of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. Needless to say, the interception caused massive gridlock on the ever busy expressway that lasted for several hours.

The containers were later found to contain a large quantity of used clothes. The trucks were also found to contain, also in large quantity, tokunbo home appliances, such as pressing irons and diverse forms of small electrical gadgets primarily used in homes. However, a few days later, many of such trucks were spotted traveling on that road, and this time, nobody intercepted them.

This development has continued to beg the question: why is the business of used clothes and other home appliances on the rise?

Recession?

Speaking with Weekend Lagos, Uchenna Obodo, who deals in fairly used items, said because of the country’s worsening economic fortunes, Nigeria has become the new dumping site for used items. According to him, importers now ship those items directly to Nigeria and people have adopted various methods of selling them, due to disturbances from various government agencies that have placed restrictions on selling by the roadside.

Obodo, who has lived in Benin Republic for over 20 years, said what is happening at the moment is the reverse of what used to be the case. Specifically, he said, rather than Nigerians going to Benin Republic with stronger Naira to buy cheap things that were considered to have been dumped in Cotonou, businessmen from Benin Republic now come to Nigeria to buy things, while those items are now offloaded in Lagos.

The Republic of Benin market began its free fall last year when Nigeria’s economy slipped into recession. Benin, a tiny country with scarce natural resources, relies on its port business to survive. From the port city of Cotonou, imported cars, fabrics and food from all over the world get distributed across West Africa. But since the Nigerian economy crashed, following the collapse in global oil prices, Benin Republic has been suffering knock-on effects.

“Most businessmen have stopped going to Benin Republic to buy goods because the value of the Naira has gone down. Those of us, who live there, can stay idle for several days without any business going on. I am praying that God will show me the kind of business that will make me earn CFA Franc because things that used to be cheaper in Cotonou are now costlier,” Obodo said.

The businessman, who said he now squats with his younger sister in Lagos and returns to Cotonou every weekend, also added that the same applies to most of his friends.

Hostility

Another aspect, according to Obodo, is that there is growing hostility between the Beninese and Nigerians living in their country, even as authorities continue to demolish shops regarded as illegal structures.

“As it applies to used items, so it applies to food items. A bag of rice that we used to buy at N6, 200 now sells for N11,000. A tin tomato now goes for N60 instead of N30. A gallon of olive oil now goes for N1,800 as against N1,200. A carton of Indomie Noodles that we used to buy from Nigeria at less than N3,000 is now N5,000.

“Containers of apple from Europe, that used to be offloaded in Cotonou, are now offloaded in Lagos directly. It is cheaper now to buy cars in Nigeria than going to Cotonou to bring in cars, either formally or informally,” Obodo explained.

He emphasised that the free fall of the Naira has strengthened CFA Franc, so that people do not go to Benin Republic to do business anymore. “The money people used to buy two cars before, they now use the same amount of Naira to buy one car,” he lamented.

A single mother who sells used clothes at Mile 2 also said she had since stopped going to Cotonou. “Our people are not going there to buy goods anymore; instead, they find a way to sell tokunbo. So, it has affected their economy. That is why I am not travelling until the Naira regains its value,” the woman, who identified herself as Vera, said.

Old better than new?

Curiously, buyers of such items say they enjoy the items better and that they last longer than the new ones which are mostly produced in China, and are thus referred to as ‘chinko’ products. Indeed, it would seem that the motto here is ‘tested and trusted’, since there is really no way it can be ascertained whether a new product would last or not.

Truly, to most of the people who patronise used items, affordability is a major factor, since they are generally less expensive than the new ones. However, as Weekend Lagos observed from market surveys around the metropolis, buyers are also increasingly interested in longevity.

To perhaps lend credence to this, fairly used gas cookers that are mostly found at Iyana Ipaja Under-Bridge area cost more than the brand new ones which are mostly ‘chinko’. For example, it was found that a used two-burner table gas cooker is sold for as much as N12, 500 whereas, a brand new one costs N10, 000. A three-burner gas oven cooker costs between N25, 000 and N32, 000, but a brand new one is N65, 000.

A similar situation exists for refrigerators, as a tokunbo medium-sized fridge could cost as much as N35, 000, but a brand new one would go for as twice the price of that.

Based on the information gathered, it could be said that the smaller an item is, the easier it is to find its fake (‘chinko’) in the market. Thus, it is far easier to find the ‘chinko’ for items such as pressing iron, electric kettles, ‘junction’ boxes, fans, table-top cookers and blenders, among others, than bigger items, such as refrigerators, gas oven cookers, microwaves and deep freezers, among others.

“The reason for this is not hard to see. The fake or chinko version of such small items are very common, and they don’t last,” a seller of used electrical home appliances at Iyana Ipaja, told Weekend Lagos.

Also sharing a similar view, a student who simply identified herself as Tonia, said she preferred going for used clothes and shoes than new ones “because they are of better quality and higher grade than the so-called new ones which are mostly produced in China”.

Shops on wheels

Sellers of used items generally prefer to rent shops or, at least, make use of moveable metallic containers to sell their wares which, apart from the already enumerated electronic items, also comprises items such as clothing, shoes, bicycles and various other items. However, apparently due to financial constraints, many are now opting to be using their vehicles as their mobile shops.

In this kind of method, which is fast becoming common, a car owner loads his car with diverse used items, especially clothes and shoes, drives to a spot (this is usually a busy bus stop) where he hopes to attract passersby. Quite often, people who have adopted this method do not have to announce what they are selling. Rather, they rely on the visibility of the items stacked in their vehicles to attract passersby.

In some instances, one could find sellers displaying such items on mats spread on the ground, while the sellers would adopt diverse theatrics to attract buyers. For example, it is common to hear funny comments such as “Na only mumu dey go boutique”, suggesting that since what they are selling are as good as those sold in more refined boutiques, why go there?

With Lagosians ‘flinging’ their possessions, even those they bought as ‘tokunbo’, the question is, what lies ahead?