A Kenyan woman selling secondhand clothes (mitumba) has shared a video of Lady Luck smiling at her. A seconds hand clothes vendor found money in her bale. Do mtumba sellers find money in bales? @wambuichristabell specialises in selling jackets which she sources from Gikomba. The entrepreneur, who sells her wares on TikTok, visits the market and thrifts for the items before posting them. In a twist of fate, Wambui recorded the moment she found money on one of the jackets she wanted to sell. While going through the pockets, the vendor discovered €500. She did the conversion and it amounted to Ksh 67,975 at that time.
Wambui converted the money into the Kenyan currency and showcased the wads of notes online. Many Kenyans could not believe that someone could get that much money without breaking a sweat. However, those in the mtumba business shared similar experiences, with some claiming they discovered life-changing sums of money in the imported items. Here are some of the reactions: Slay_my thrift bags: “I stumbled upon a Giorgio Armani perfume in a bag, one of the most expensive perfumes. Thrifting is nice.” Luciana: “A man opened a bale of shoes and found dollars hidden in the boots. He took them to exchange and it was KSh 110,000 shillings. He didn’t go to work for a week.” WavinyaDiaries: “What kind of vehicle did you take to Gikomba? Which side did you sit on? What time was it? Give us all the details.” William Samoei Ruto Parody: “Where is my tax, young woman?”
Mitchell Amanda: “I remember back in 2018 there was a woman in Gikomba who got USD equivalent to around KSh 1.8 million in a boot. Let me tell you Maina, she gave us the rest of the shoes for free as she was running to the bank.” Clothing CTRL: “It reminds me of the day I got $1100 back in 2022 in some military cargo pants!” 3D Entertainment Sound: “I put that money in the leather jacket. Love from Australia.” The Kev: “My friend sells trench coats. We got a $100 when he opened the bale and the first thing we did was go party.” How was mtumba seller disappointed? However, not all mtumba sellers are as lucky.
TUKO.co.ke previously reported that a woman’s happiness after buying a bale quickly transformed into tears. The woman forked out KSh 36,000 expecting to get high-quality items for sale. The woman got home and opened the bale, only to find ‘rubbish’ clothes. According to the entrepreneur, she would not be able to recover the investment cost. However, she noted that she would not give up on her dreams. Social media users had mixed reactions, with some narrating going through similar experiences.
by William Osoro