Young people set up stalls in a Buddhist way: selling and giving away goods, not for money, but for fun

Nowadays, many young people have started to set up stalls. Some do it to relax, and some do it to start a business. The author of this article interviewed 5 stall owners. Let's take a look!

When setting up a stall, the most important thing is to have fun.

A trend of setting up stalls is becoming popular among young people.

Since the liberalization of street stalls in some areas of many places, the number of street stalls has increased, especially among young stall owners born in the 1990s and 2000s, who have become a moving landscape.

As the sun sets, these young vendors bring their homemade picture frames, hairpins, and beautifully packaged toys and flowers to the market or the roadside to set up stalls and display items. When it gets darker, these stalls wrapped in decorations and lights instantly brighten up the entire street, and passers-by even have the urge to take photos even if they don't buy anything. More and more young people are setting up stalls, and the market has become a fashionable place to relax.

The most interesting thing is that many of them work very hard to set up their stalls, spend a lot of time on product selection and layout, and even reflect on their business, but they are relatively indifferent to making money and are easily bargained down, or even take the initiative to sell or give away items.

Are these young people setting up stalls not for the sake of making money? "Focus" talked to five young stall owners.

It is indeed not easy to make money by setting up stalls. Some of them can earn a thousand yuan a day, while others even lose money. However, compared with making money, they all value the process of setting up stalls more. Some do it to kill time and experience the feeling of doing business; some worry about unemployment, so they develop a sideline business of setting up stalls; and some do it to fulfill their dream of setting up stalls.

This sounds too idealistic. These young stall owners have indeed experienced the "torture" of reality, such as encountering "hard bargainers" and having disputes with customers.

However, without exception, they all mentioned that doing what they like and receiving recognition and encouragement from the outside world is a very fulfilling experience.

Street stalls are very interesting places. There are no concrete walls here, which is a great window for them to experience life and observe the world. The following are the stories of five young people.

1. Find the feeling of entrepreneurship in setting up stalls, and review and summarize every time

PapaBear | Post-90s Internet practitioner in Beijing

I had just quit my job and had nothing to do, so I decided to set up a stall in the trunk of my car. It was almost May 20th, so I wanted to join in the festive fun by selling flowers.

Photo provided by the interviewee

We went to the roadside of Shougang Park, the intersection next to the shopping mall, and the observation deck of Miaofeng Mountain Scenic Area. We set up stalls four times in total, each time for one or two hours, and in the end we made a net profit of more than 500 yuan.

We didn't set our prices high, and we didn't raise prices on 520. Although our profits were low, our sales were good, so we had no flowers to sell on 521.

Once, we met a customer who happened to be having a birthday and loved flowers. She bought two bunches at once. We couldn't help but give her a 50% discount and gave her a gift. The net profit that day was less than 100 yuan. As a result, before closing the stall, we bought some dried fruits to eat. Because we didn't check the price, a bag of pine nuts cost 200 yuan, which "lost" the profit of two days.

When setting up a street stall, you must have a good attitude, think carefully and make various preparations. You can't just sell whatever you think of on a whim.

The stalls we often see are nothing more than a few categories: toys, food, wine and beverages, flowers, pets, and fruits. For food, we should focus on the stability of taste, for toys and small commodities, we should consider practicality and safety, and for flowers, we should learn how to package and preserve them by ourselves.

For example, in order to package and retain water for flowers, we watched a lot of videos to learn. There are also tricks to choosing a stall location. For example, when we sell flowers, we don’t have to go to the area with the largest flow of people. We need to find people who are more willing to buy lifestyle and literary products.

My experience is that even if you have prepared for this for a long time, you still have to be prepared to lose your products if they cannot be sold. Don't envy others who make hundreds or thousands of dollars a day, and don't think that if you take a small chair and sit on the side, someone will come to buy . Since you are setting up a stall, you can't be too shy. At least when you see someone passing by, you should shout a few words.

People who are afraid of trouble are not suitable to try to set up stalls, because there may be many unexpected situations. For example, the last time we set up a stall at the Miaofeng Mountain Observation Deck, a popular check-in spot. There were many young people there, most of whom came to take pictures and drink coffee. The night view was also beautiful enough.

Photo provided by the interviewee

But we drove up the mountain road for an hour, starting at 4pm and stuck in traffic until 6:30pm, when we finally reached the No. 1 viewing platform. Just after 8pm, it started to rain and the car was filled with dirt. The wind was so strong that it even knocked over the buckets where we put the flowers. We had no choice but to close the stall and wait for the rain to stop. We waited until 10pm, but the strong wind showed no sign of stopping, so we had no choice but to close the stall and go down the mountain.

The stall was only open for over an hour, but business was still pretty good. If you don't count the ticket price, the cost of that batch of flowers was just recovered.

Although we don't care much about the income, we are definitely not a Buddhist stall owner. We will review and summarize every time we come back , and then improve the problems. We are mainly accumulating experience, hoping to find the feeling of entrepreneurship and the state of working for ourselves in the stall project.

For me personally, seeing many people very happy after buying flowers gives me a sense of accomplishment.

2. Buddhist stall, 5 days of business 8 hours, earning 800 yuan

Lin Zhouyi (Resigned) | 26 years old Guangzhou

"A large bracelet is 10 yuan, a small bracelet is 5 yuan, and two sachets are 5 yuan each."

These cheap, good-looking and nice-smelling gadgets are very popular among young girls. Even though I have only been open for 5 days from the end of July to now and my stall hours are not fixed every day, sometimes in the evening and sometimes in the afternoon, I have already made 800 yuan.

The reason I set up a stall was because I quit my job and wanted to find something to kill time. I happened to see a lot of content about "stalls" on social platforms, and I also like to visit street stalls, so I placed an order on an e-commerce platform for two kilograms of jasmine flowers, as well as some materials for making bracelets and sachets, and planned to set up a stall to sell jasmine bracelets and sachets.

These little things are very cheap, and I spent a total of more than 200 yuan on them . At that time, I thought that even if I couldn't sell them, the jasmine flowers that cost the most money could be made into drinks, so I wouldn't lose money anyway.

The technical requirements for making jasmine bracelets are not high. I wear them while watching TV series, and it takes about three to five minutes to make a bracelet.

Photo provided by the interviewee

Because I set up the stall with a playful attitude, I have always been very Buddhist.

For example, my first day of setting up a stall was very random. I made a few bracelets with my friends and went out. It was already 9 o'clock in the evening, and there were not many people near the park. We sold and delivered goods, and went home after one hour. The income for the day was only 50 yuan. On the way back, we also bought two grilled sausages and drinks, which was basically zero income.

The summer in Guangzhou is very hot, with temperatures over 30 degrees every day, so I usually wait until the evening to set up my stall, and go home when I’m tired of selling. I don’t set a goal for myself on how many orders I should sell in a day.

But going out late also means missing out on some customers, after all, the sales will be much higher if you go out early. For example, once I went out at 4 pm and sold 50 bracelets in less than two hours . At that time, there were still many customers who wanted to buy, so I made a lot more temporarily.

I have stopped setting up stalls recently, thinking that the experience is enough after one time, and now I have to focus all my time on finding a job. And there are more and more competitors for setting up stalls. When I set up a stall at the end of July, I didn’t see any friends selling jasmine bracelets at the scenic spot where I was, but now, there are already five or six people pushing carts to sell them.

Most of them are college students who want to set up stalls to earn some pocket money. Jasmine bracelets have low cost, are fragrant and beautiful, and are easy to sell, so many college students are interested in this business.

Rather than making money, what made me happiest during the process of setting up the stall was seeing so many heartwarming scenes.

A little girl came up to my stall, took her father's hand and said she wanted to buy a bunch for her mother to take home. Although they didn't buy any in the end, I was still touched by how cute the little girl was.

There were also grandparents in their 70s who took their grandchildren for a walk. Each of them bought a string of jasmine flowers. The sight of them walking hand in hand with jasmine flowers was particularly healing.

In short, I had a very good experience setting up a stall this time, which was a small wish of mine. I had been watching the idea of ​​setting up a stall for a long time, but I had never taken action. I thought it was a bit far away and difficult, but it was not the case. So for those who want to try setting up a stall, I want to encourage everyone to do it bravely, so that their restless hearts will not always be thinking about it. If you are worried about losing money, start with a low-cost small business.

3. Treat stall business as a start-up: I have lost things and been told they are “worthless”, but I will persist

Lulu | Post-90s Internet Operations in Hangzhou

Because I was afraid of losing my job and having no income, I always wanted to develop a side business. During the Lantern Festival this year, my family and I tried to set up a stall to sell lanterns and toys at a market in a scenic spot.

Later, in order to save costs, we also tried to set up a "wild stall" in the park, but it was "attracted" security guards not long after we set up. Because we were worried about affecting our business and fearing that we would be fined, we began to switch to paid markets.

After setting up a stall for a few months, my feeling is that although setting up a stall may seem simple, there are actually many tricks involved and many uncertain factors.

The most difficult thing is to find a unique category. Nowadays, many categories that are easy to sell and have high profits are everywhere on the streets, and even price wars are going on, so you don’t make much money. Some markets now require stall owners to have original products. If the products and displays are not unique, it is difficult to be selected.

To this end, I taught myself handicrafts and tried drip glue and cream glue, but I gave up because the materials would be slightly toxic during the production process and I was afraid of affecting my health. Now I make twist sticks, twisting the raw materials into the shapes of puppies, cats, and flowers, and then trimming the fur, shaping, coloring, and adding accessories, which is also very time-consuming and laborious.

Recently, markets have sprung up everywhere, but the registration fees are getting more and more expensive, ranging from 50 to 150 yuan per day, and some popular online markets have already risen to 300 to 400 yuan per day. Not to mention that the customer flow and consumer spending power of different markets vary, even if the same market is arranged in different locations, it will affect the income of the day.

Many stall owners have had their goods stolen and have had disputes with customers, and I have experienced this myself. In addition, the cost of raw materials is high, and the money earned from selling goods is used to purchase goods, so the actual profit is not much. If you encounter a "hard bargainer", the profit will be further reduced.

The reason why I still insist on setting up a stall is that my whole family is involved in this business and they have given me great support. I am quite socially anxious, so my family members will take the initiative to introduce products and attract customers. My mother-in-law can also crochet and help me sell.

Another great joy of setting up a stall is the customers. At first, I had no confidence in myself, and some customers said that my handicrafts were not worth the price, which frustrated me . Later, I found that more people would say that they were cute and praised my dexterity. I would feel happy from the bottom of my heart when they saw my efforts.

During the stall operation, I also accepted suggestions from customers. An old man bought a puppy for his granddaughter and said that my packaging was too simple. Some stall owners also gave me suggestions on display. I gradually improved my packaging and after-sales service, established the brand "Sweetgo Handmade", and shared my stall experience on Xiaohongshu.

Photo provided by the interviewee

Now I am working two jobs. When I get home from work I have to stock up and review what items are selling well. On weekends I set up a stall and make products on site. I am so busy that my fingers hurt.

We have already regarded setting up a stall as a way out for ourselves, and for this reason, our family will continue to persevere. Although the sales volume is not very high now, I believe that my future self will thank me for working so hard now.

4. I set up a stall to create a self-media account and unexpectedly made 1,000 yuan a day

Yuzu | Freelancer in Dalian since 1990

My stall is called "Mario's Grocery Store" and is located in a market at a tourist attraction in Dalian. I sell a variety of items, priced between 15 and 40 yuan, and open the stall from 5 to 10 pm every night. The past two months are the peak tourist season, and my stall has a daily turnover of about 1,000 yuan.

Just three or four months ago, I had no idea what to do. I have been working for 10 years and I used to set up stalls, but I just thought it was fun. In May this year, I officially started setting up stalls because after I left my job, I planned to start my own media, so I chose setting up stalls as my own media content, because if I want to have an account, I must have a persona and content to post.

I started out selling bags and accessories, but accessories didn’t sell very well because they were easily duplicated by others, so I added some hair accessories, key chains, and other small gadgets. Later, I noticed that there were a lot of children visiting our market, so I selected some things that children would like, such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, as well as Squeezies, Egg Boys, and Peppa Pig.

Photo provided by the interviewee

At the beginning, I focused on Douyin, and now I work on Xiaohongshu. I shoot videos, post pictures and texts, and occasionally do live broadcasts. The results are not very good yet. As a newbie like me, I don’t have a team, so I can only explore little by little.

But as a novice in setting up stalls, I did a decent job. After constantly adjusting the display and adding new products, I made about 500 yuan a day in the previous off-season, and about 1,000 yuan a day in the peak season of July and August. 20% of the turnover was the stall fee. After deducting the cost and the commission, about half of the turnover was the profit.

Setting up a stall is a small business, just like opening a store, it takes a lot of thought. I think the most important thing for setting up a stall is product selection and market selection, followed by display, etc. I used to work in management and sales, so it is not difficult for me to sell products. What I ignored before setting up a stall was the issue of product selection. In fact, if it is not related to handmade or original, it is difficult to increase sales. Now the competition between stalls is very fierce. If I put up a new product, other stalls may see it and quickly follow up, and the price may be cheaper.

Display props are also very important. Even small items like packaging bags, small cardboard, plates, and plating can have a huge impact. In addition, if sales are not very good, you can think of other ways to attract customers, such as making some 5.9 yuan or 9.9 yuan traffic-generating items, or playing some small games. Winners get free gifts, and losers pay the bill. First attract traffic, then think about conversion.

If you don't want to make a lot of money, I think setting up a stall is at least not a loss. You have more free time, and you can sell things you like. It's also very happy to be recognized by others. You can also meet different people and make new friends.

May to October every year is the peak season for stalls. This year I will probably do it until October, then continue to work on self-media, and start stalls again in May next year. In the future, I will still set up stalls in professional markets, because there are fixed stalls, standardized management, and the market will also help control the quality, which is relatively formal and worry-free.

5. The time cost of setting up a stall is very high, and positive value feedback is more important

Dai Xu | Post-90s media practitioner in Beijing

I have always had a dream of setting up a street stall. Three years ago, when the street stall economy was booming, I wanted to sell electric fans at the subway entrance. At that time, I bought two boxes of goods from the Internet, and the packaging, signs, and payment codes were all ready. I was about to start working, but was stopped. This batch of goods was left in my hands, and I gave them away to others. I haven't given them away yet.

This year I made a lot of small handicrafts, including various plant picture frames, plant hairpins, and small brooches, all of which were original creations. At first, I made them purely for fun and gave some to friends. Later, I thought that maybe I could set up a stall at the market.

I attended the market for the first time last weekend. It was set up in a park near my home for two nights, from 5pm to 10pm.

I arrived at the site at around 3pm on the first day. I was the first to arrive. All the stalls were empty, and even the stall numbers hadn't been posted. It took me almost an hour to set up the stall, posting signs, placing products, putting up price tags, hanging lanterns... During this time, stall owners came in one after another.

Photo provided by the interviewee

There weren't many people at the beginning. From 5 to 6:30, few people took the initiative to ask, but people who passed by praised the products for being beautiful. Several people stood in front of my booth to take selfies, and some took photos of my products with cameras.

At around 7 o'clock, the number of people increased significantly. The first order came from a little girl of about seven or eight years old. She took a fancy to a plant hairpin at first sight, picked it up and left, waving her hand to let her father pay for 20 yuan. Her father bargained with me, but I didn't react for a while, and hesitantly said that it couldn't be cheaper, and the other party paid.

Soon, a girl who looked very delicate bought a plant ornament for 59 yuan. Soon, the booth was crowded with people, three layers inside and three layers outside. There were so many people asking that I couldn't handle them all. In the next two hours, I sold several plant picture frames and all the hairpins were sold out, and the total sales amounted to more than 900 yuan.

The booth fee for two days was 300 yuan. My initial expectation was to just make back the booth fee, but the actual performance on the first day far exceeded my expectations. Later, I talked to the neighboring stall owners and found that their sales were average, and some only sold more than 200 yuan.

The biggest gain is the recognition from the outside world. Most of the people who passed by my booth gave positive comments, with "good-looking", "clever" and "artistic" being the most frequently used words. Several people also asked me if I had an online store and where they could buy my products in the future. One of the customers strongly encouraged me to open a store. This gave me great motivation and showed that there was a market for my products.

Setting up stalls is a very good way to experience life and observe the world.

From a business perspective, it is relatively difficult to make money by setting up a stall. As for my own products, because they are purely handmade, they cannot be produced by machines, standardized and scaled. Even if there is a market, supply will be a problem, so the price cannot be too low.

The cost is actually very high. In addition to the raw materials, packaging, booth fees, and taxi fares, I also have to invest a lot of time. If all the costs are taken into account, there is no profit. It is more about doing what I like and getting a positive value feedback.

* At the request of the interviewees, Lulu and Dai Xu are pseudonyms in this article.

Author: Xingxing, Bruce, Hanmo, Wengu; Editor: Xiangyuan

Source: WeChat public account "Dingjiao"