Anybody Still Doing Bazaars After All These Years

[DarleneZ]

Just wondering, how many of you guys here are still doing bazaars all these years? I have been doing flea markets and bazaars for the past 6 years but I see no breakthrough at all. I feel like giving up altogether. Initially, I was excited as I got some pocket money to pay for some utility bills and I did hope that one day I would be able to own a physically shop and leave bazaar life.
Sometimes it is tiring to do setup at every event and packed up when it rains (Outdoor event). Plus, the market is so competitive nowadays as more and more people are doing bazaars. The products that they are selling is actually so cheap that I wonder whether they really want to earn money or just want to spoil the market.
When I look at retail shop, the startup cost (renovation, deposit, stocks, manpower) is about 50k-100k. It is too much to take a risk. Is there anyone here that has gone through bazaars and then move on to retail shop? Would appreciate any form of advice. Thanks

[beztech]

It is very difficult to move up from bazaar life to outlet. Business is very competitive now. Unless you have a team of players, you might as well just give up. Doing bazaars for too long is very tiring. Honestly, I have never heard of bazaar vendors who have successfully made a transition to retail outlets in Singapore and did well. Maybe there might be a vendor that open up just 1 retail shop and surviving alone as they do not need to hire staff but pay themselves for working there. Unless you consider those small retail outlets at Scape Underground to be successful.

[Janice78]

It's not easy to move on from Bazaar to Retail outlet. You will need a lot of patience, perseverance and luck sometimes. You can start small in a lower cost outlet and then build on from there on. It is not easy to manage a retail outlet. You will need to be disciplined as most shopping malls require you to open from 11-10pm. There is no such thing as you only open your shop when you are free. You need to hire staff and manage them. You will need to think of packaging of your products, advertisement, marketing and change your products once in a while.
I do know of a few bazaar vendors that have made the transition from bazaar to retail outlet. They are located at Scape shopping mall, The Cathay and Orchard Central. Maybe you can drop by these few outlets and check out their shops. For your info, not all shopping malls rental are high. From what I know, some of the small size shops at Orchard Central is less than $1k a month. Maybe you can go and ask.

[wychee]

Does anyone consider doing business online via ecommerce website/ internet marketing?

I attended a business training by an entrepreneur who uses ecommerce platform and do global sales like how Taobao and Amazon do it. It is a very informative and a must-know for anyone who is considering other business options besides renting bazaar or physical retail spaces.

If anyone is keen to attend the training, please msg me.

[beztech]

In my opinion, both Orchard Central and The Cathay are "dead" malls.

[erickz]

Originally Posted by beztech

In my opinion, both Orchard Central and The Cathay are "dead" malls.

LOL.. that's why the rental is cheaper than those with traffic.. In any case, those who want to set up shop there need to do your own analysis by observing the traffic there on a weekend for a few hours.