Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

With a thirsty throat, tired legs and a sweaty body, I crashed onto the nearest sofa, carelessly dropping the heavy bags I had brought along. In less than a minute, I was in deep sleep.

 It had been a long day of shopping for me; I combed the ever busy Balogun market frantically in search of bargains and eventually left her, a victor; spending way below budget despite the dreadful prices tendered by the greedy traders and the similitude of fire beamed on the earth by mother nature.

 My heroics at the market place encouraged the intuition of electronic shopping. With another N10,000 to play with, I deemed necessary to purchase the much needed Beats®by Dre earphones which cost exactly N8,000 according to the catalogue.

 On getting to Ikeja, I was greeted by a market flooded with new products and pensive traders competing for every single person that walked on the streets of computer village. Many packets of electronic gadgets adorned the shelves and also littered the streets. Nevertheless, I pressed on walking briskly towards the shop that advertised the original Beats®by Dre earphones in the catalogue.

 Adjacent the shop was a panel van conspicuously showing off all sorts of Beats®by Dre products and was graced by inquisitive customers who peeped with a intent. In a split second I made a detour and moved towards the van. Goodness gracious! Beats®by Dre earphones sold for N1500, Gaga HeartBeats® sold for N2000, Studio Beats®by Dre headphones sold for N4000 and Monster Beats®by Dre headphones sold for N7000.

 I couldn't believe my eyes and ears, I quickly grabbed the last box of Studio Beats® before another buyer laid hands on my dream headset. I tested the device and it boomed Olamide's Durosoke with more bass than I imagined. I was delighted to pay for my newest gadget and shortly after, I walked away listening to loud music. With about N6000 left, I was afforded the luxury of purchasing an optical mouse, a twin joypad and an 8Gb memory card to satisfy my auxiliary needs.

 Truth be told, it was all a dream to me, making all those purchases and still having about N1800 in change. As I made my way home, I thought about how the gods had indeed smiled on me. The heavy bags unofficial shopping bags (a.k.a. 'lylon') that I carried put a pressure on my muscles that reminded me of the  purchases I made.

 No wonder I collapsed like a pack of cards when I got back home; who wouldn't after touring 2 notoriously busy markets while laden with burdens?

 After being refreshed, I returned to my latest acquisitions as any sane person would, to test them and to also bask in my new found reality. I, a proud owner of a Beats®by Dre headphones, an optical mouse, a twin joypad and an 8Gb memory card and a new wardrobe of clothes. My face carried the smug look worn by every 007 when given instructions by Q.

 Suddenly I heard a crackle after I plugged my headphones to my laptop and was then greeted by a loud silence. I fiddled with the headphones port and audio jack to no avail then decided to test it with my phone, also to no avail. Beads of sweat were beginning to slide down my visage: I hoped it wasn't what I was thinking. 

Sadly, the newly purchased headphones had gone to the dogs. It was more useless than the 't' in depot, I so was furious!!! I knew my N4000 was gone, I'd been carried away by the light price tag and bought a well imitated fake. The original Beats®by Dre earphones I planned to buy would have never messed me up.

 Even if it had suffered similar fate, I would have been able to return it due to the warranty on it. Sadly, the same could not be said about the Chinese imitation I bought. It was gone for good. N4000 vanished before my eyes after less than 3hours of use, exactly half of what it would have cost me to buy an original which would have lasted for years.

 I felt foolhardy but found solace in my optical mouse, joypad, memory card and N1800 change. After all, I satisfied other needs which would have remained mere wants if I had bought the initially desired earphones.

 Truth is, I relegated quality in the wake of a similar looking cheap substitute and I paid for such an uneducated choice. Luckily I did not pay dearly. Quality over cheap substitutes anytime, any place...I concluded.