Every Indian mom knows the secret: "Go to the market in the evening for cheap prices, go in the morning for fresh items." But what is the exact correlation? Is the discount worth the rot? I tracked the price of 1kg Tomato, Onion, and Coriander at 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM.

> THE DATA (MORNING VS EVENING)

₹60
(AM)
₹30
(PM)
TOMATOES
₹40
(AM)
₹35
(PM)
ONIONS
₹20
(AM)
₹5
(PM)
CORIANDER

> THE QUALITY DECAY

8 AM TOMATO
(Firm, Red, Proud)
8 PM TOMATO
(Squishy, Sad, Leaking)

Tomatoes: 50% Discount. But 30% of the evening tomatoes were unusable mush. Effective Price: ₹42/kg. Savings: Marginal.
Onions: 12% Discount. Onions don't rot in 12 hours. Savings: Real. Always buy onions in the evening.
Coriander: 75% Discount. The vendor practically threw it at me. "Take it, or I throw it." It was wilted, but water revived it instantly. Savings: Massive.

// VENDOR PSYCHOLOGY At 8 AM, the vendor has "Price Pride." He won't negotiate. At 8 PM, the vendor has "Inventory Panic." He wants to go home with an empty cart. His urgency is your margin.

> THE STRATEGY

The "Mix Strategy": Buy "Hard Vegetables" (Onion, Potato, Carrot) in the evening. They survive the day. Buy "Soft Vegetables" (Spinach, Tomato, Flowers) in the morning. The quality loss isn't worth the discount.
Also, never bargain at 8 AM. You will be insulted. Bargain at 8 PM. You are doing them a favor.

> CONCLUSION

My mom was right (as usual). But doing the math proved that buying cheap tomatoes is a false economy. You just end up cutting away the bad parts. I'm sticking to the 8 PM Corriander Heist though.