Pavement Economics

[roddy]

Seems to me that a couple of years ago anyone selling stuff on the street would be doing so using either a blanket on which to lay out their wares, or some kind of wheeled cart, possibly with a horse attached. Both arrangements allow a quick get away.

This summer I've noticed a lot more people selling, particularly clothes, out of the back of cars and vans. I see this locally (anyone near BNU may have noticed the van that's regularly at the rainbow archway south of the west gate) and I was up at Wudaokou yesterday evening and the chengtie - BLCU strip was lined with car boot sellers.

Is the street clothes-selling business so profitable these people can suddenly afford cars? Have cars got significantly cheaper? Have lots of small shops been demolished and the proprietors forced to go mobile? Is this a sideline for people with other, car-purchase-allowing jobs, who make a bit of extra pocket money in the evening selling clothes?

And incidentally, what's with the chaos at Wudaokou these days? I'm all for a bit of lively pavement fun, but that whole strip is just a mess at the moment - you can't just walk down the street, you need to hop, skip and jump through Tibetan jewelery, clothes stalls, assorted cheap tat and all the student girls browsing it. If you need any evidence that the 城管 are either incompetent or corrupt, Wudaokou is currently it.

[Outofin]

Is the street clothes-selling business so profitable these people can suddenly afford cars?

It's one of my interests to calculate small businesses' profit, such as family child care, restaurants, swimming school. It's pretty easy to get a basic sense of what level they're operating on.

You may want to spend a few minutes now and then to find the answer of "At what price are they selling the goods? How many customers do they have, on a normal day and a weekend day?"

As for car market, from news I read, the government is subsidizing rural car and many other purchase so the market is extremely hot this year. But of course, you guys with first hand info should know better than I do.

[Scoobyqueen]

you can't just walk down the street, you need to hop, skip and jump through Tibetan jewelery, clothes stalls, assorted cheap tat

and dont you just feel like walking directly through it sometimes.

I agree with about the streets of Wu Dao Kou 越来走下坡路 literally!

[leeyah]

Is this a sideline for people with other, car-purchase-allowing jobs, who make a bit of extra pocket money in the evening selling clothes?

This is a possibility. I saw them down Taidong in Qingdao two years ago, they seemed to just pop out of nowhere, cramming the narrow streets with their improvised stalls, evenings only. Daytime they were gone, back to their regular jobs, most likely. Which may not be the case with the poor 'blanket jewelry' and wheeled-cart food sellers, roaming the streets all day, as in Guangzhou.

[Outofin]

I couldn't find the article online but the government is considering legalizing street vendors (excluding pirated DVDs, sorry) to mitigate the high unemployment rate and the tension between chengguan and street vendors. This is minor but really good news.

Who likes chengguan running about beating poor street sellers, or rich kids driving race cars killing pedestrians crossing the street? What kind of world are we living in?

[gougou]

or rich kids driving race cars killing pedestrians crossing the street?

And what does that have to do with anything? You think it's going to stop because the rich kids will stop driving their Porsches and sell jianbing instead?

[muyongshi]

We can hope!

[Outofin]

And what does that have to do with anything? You think it's going to stop because the rich kids will stop driving their Porsches and sell jianbing instead?

I hope they do, to earn money with their own hands!

But, no, that's irrelavant. I was complaining about chengguan, and those recent accidents in Hangzhou that were even more irritating conveniently came into mind, so I put them together. But they're irrelevant.

[jbradfor]

Seems to me that a couple of years ago anyone selling stuff on the street would be doing so using either a blanket on which to lay out their wares, or some kind of wheeled cart, possibly with a horse attached. Both arrangements allow a quick get away

Maybe it wasn't quick enough, so they changed to cars/vans, for an even quicker get-away?

[onebir]

Is the street clothes-selling business so profitable these people can suddenly afford cars? Have cars got significantly cheaper? Have lots of small shops been demolished and the proprietors forced to go mobile? Is this a sideline for people with other' date=' car-purchase-allowing jobs, who make a bit of extra pocket money in the evening selling clothes?[/quote']

I think it might be what some white collar workers, who already had cars, or have relatives with cars, do when they lose their jobs.

Given that exports are down 20+%, I imagine there are quite a lot of companies selling off stock for next to nothing, and there are pretty good margins to be made...

See this thread.

[bhchao]

Here is the article that talks about China giving street vendors legal status: China to Revise Policy Toward Peddlers

In Nanjing, street vendors must provide proof of low-income status to register.

China is preparing to give millions of street vendors legal status, a move aimed at creating jobs and curbing a rash of violent conflicts between the sellers and law-enforcement officials who police them.

The country has for years struggled with managing street vendors who sell everything from housewares and clothes to candied fruit from makeshift pedal carts or sheets spread across sidewalks. Peddlers are a source of inexpensive and convenient goods for local residents, but the merchants are often seen as an eyesore by government officials. Beijing cracked down on street vending ahead of the Olympics a year ago, and the number of peddlers in the city center remains diminished....

Some owners of small shops were sanguine about the proposed regulation. "There's already a lot of competition," a clothing boutique owner in Beijing named Xu said. "This new regulation just means we have to sell the right stuff at the right price. And now if I go out of business, I can always start selling stuff on the street," he joked.