Everything So Expensive - So Watch The Scale!

Since the oil price hike, everything has become so expensive. Especially so when you do your groceries weekly and keep tabs of your spending like I do!

I used to frequent the Pasar Tani Mega in Danau Kota for weekly grocery. Things are relatively cheap here. However, since the oil price hike, even the cheapest 'sayur longgok' are expensive. It used to be RM1 for a bunch of threes (mix and match if you wish). Now, it's RM2 for a smaller bunch and there is lesser choice now.

And while some grocers are kind enough to tell you of impending increases or cease to sell vegetables that have ridiculously high prices, I noticed that some grocers were out to pull a fast one.

I do not wish to name names or identify stalls but let it be known here, to anyone who knows anybody trading there, that at least one consumer is wise to their antics.

Next time you buy something that needs to be weighed, watch the electronic scale carefully. See that the weight of what you purchase EXCLUDES the weight of the basket/aluminium tray/trough they use to put vegetables like tomatoes, chillies, etc, in before weighing.

I bought some chili padi, tomatoes and brinjals which were weighed today at one of the many green grocer stalls there. When the weighing was done, the seller unknowingly (forgotten?) left the empty aluminium tray/trough onto the scale. It registered 35g.

Although this is not much, and I did not make an issue there, imagine how much this little discrepancy contributed to the grocer's profits at the end of the day. Suffice to say, the price per kilo of whatever sold here was based on the weight of the trays and troughs, too.

So, if you are shopping at the Pasar Tani Mega, keep an eye on the weighing scale all the time.

Unlike at the wet markets, Pasar Tani do not have a calibrated scale which you could check the weight against what was offered by the grocers. You will have to be smart to the antics of some people who are unscrupulous.

Never the less, some of the traders here were kind and helpful, considerate to say the least. Only some black sheeps that should be watched out for and identified and boycotted.