How do locals know which market is cheaper at the end of the day?
Time changes prices as much as products.
Locals observe patterns over time. Markets selling perishable products often become more flexible with prices as closing time approaches.
Visitors usually compare prices across places. Locals often compare prices across hours.
The hidden mechanism is perishability pressure. Vendors selling fresh products face a choice near closing time: sell for less now or risk selling nothing later.
Imagine two fruit markets. One closes early with little unsold stock. The other routinely has extra inventory late in the day. Their pricing behavior will likely differ.
A second-order effect develops because customers adapt their schedules. Vendors expect late bargain hunters, and bargain hunters expect vendors to become flexible.
People often think prices belong to products. Markets remind us that prices also belong to moments.
