After a 6-month hiatus, I’m back again with my sunday activities. It’s time again to wake up at 3.30 in the morning every Sunday.
What’s so interesting about Sundays?
Well, wake up at 3.30, take a bath, perform Fajr prayers, rock off with a friend to the Sunday Market, and open up a stall.
The last time I was trading at the Sunday market was before the exams last year. After stopping for about 6 months (holidays in Malaysia and all, read about it here and here), it does take a while to get the momentum up again. At first, the prospect of waking up at 3.30am on a Sunday was unthinkable! But once you’re there, and goods started to sell, then it becomes interesting.
I first started trading in the sunday market about a year ago with a friend. Started off with no experience at all and without knowing what to expect. As time goes by, you start to get the hang of it. The money is nothing to be proud of, but hey, at least I’m doing something. Plus, the experience that you get by interacting with locals and observing how businesses are run is priceless.
You know what? There are two most common questions that people we know usually asks us after discovering that we are traders at the Sunday market. They are:
1. Where do you get the stuff you’re selling?
2. Do you make a lot money?
Our usual answers would be:
1. Barang dapat merata-rata lah (As if I’m going to tell you! :P)
2. Untung ada la sikit-sikit
Here’s something interesting about the market. Sometimes, when traders discovered that somebody else is selling things that are similar to them but grossly under priced, they buy them off these folks, display them in their stalls, and jack up the price. I do this often too! 😉
Also, come to think of it, trading at the Sunday market is actually quite similar to trading in the stock market. In both cases, you are a trader. At the Sunday market, you trade goods. In the stock market, you trade stocks. Technically also, I’m applying leverage to my Sunday market activities. How? Well, instead of using only my limited amount of money to purchase goods to sell, I also borrow some money from a financial institution. Let’s call the institution as, Ma & Pa Bank. So, borrowing money from Ma & Pa Bank to buy goods to be sold at the Sunday market is effectively leveraging.
Another thing, after a while, I have developed a sense of respect towards market traders, penjual di pasar malam, penjual ikan dan sayur, penjaja pasal tani, and etc.
Before, I was looking down towards that profession with the assumption that those jobs are only for those who are unsuccessful/academically challenged . Boy, was I wrong. I mean, these folks are independent and run their own businesses for heaven’s sake. Perhaps much better than slaving away for 4 years getting an accounting degree (and spend so much money) only to again be made a slave in an organisation?
Now, I don’t really mind anymore in joining the ranks of market traders or even farmers (in fact, I am actually working of launching my own farm. More on this later.)
Anyway, till next time folks.
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– Sunday Market Business
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