A fortunate surprise

While looking for pictures for my blog one busy afternoon in Tunapuna a guy tapped me on the shoulder and and said 'big man two pairs for 100 bess price'. I laughed and declined his offer but asked for a picture of him. To which he was clearly enthusiastic about. He said 'make sure and link the sale for meh on the web'. The items that he has for sale are certainly not genuine and are what we like to call in Trinidad 'bootleg'. If you look closely you could see the back of the Tunapuna market and I suspect he waits for patrons to exit and then use his mercantile skills to lure a sale. Notice how he told me it was a two for one special ? This is just a business trick that convinces customers that they are getting the better deal. The case however is that these bootleg goods are imported for extremely cheap prices and resold to maximize profit. Once your understanding of shoe brands is sufficient you would understand that if applied to an economic perspective that they are indeed substitute goods (Lipsey). It should be mentioned that there are foot wear shops in Tunapuna but  in this context Mr. Gold teeth above is making profit with his cheap prices and good mercantile skills. Who would not like when the store comes to them ?

It may seem simple as to what he is doing but i understand it is a art on its own. I was almost convinced to buy the shoes myself and being involved in a business family I am not easy to con. To adapt to the hustle of the urban street life is a good skill that comes out of the informal sector. I like that he uses the urban area to his advantage together with selling fad items. Judging by his appearance one would also assume he is doing better than other vendors. One might argue that it people may get ripped off but their money is his bread.

References :

Chrystal, Lispey. 2011. Economics. Oxford University Press