Markets Around Us
Text Book Page No. 96
Question 1.
Why do people go to weekly markets ? Give three reasons.
Answer:
People go to weekly markets because of the following reasons :
- Most of the things they need are available at one place.
- There is competition among sellers because of a large number of shops selling the same goods. It provides opportunity to buyers to bargain.
- Many things in weekly markets are available at cheaper rates.
Question 2.
Who are the sellers in a weekly market ? Why don’t we find big business persons in these markets ?
Answer:
- Small traders are the sellers in a weekly market.
- Big business persons are not found in a weekly market because of their large shops permanently fixed at a place. It is not convenient to shift the shop from place to place daily.
Question 3.
Why are things cheap in the weekly market ?
Answer:
Things are cheap in the weekly market because of the following reasons :
- The shop owners don’t have pay rent, electricity charge and fees to the Government.
- They don’t hire workers and are helped by their family members.
- There are competition and bargaining because of a large number of shops selling the same goods. These bring the price down.
Question 4.
Explain with an example how people bargain in the market. Can you think of a situation where the bargain would be unfair ?
Answer:
(1) People-bargain in the market by saying lower price of a product than what the seller charges. For example, Manu goes to ‘Subji Mandi’ in the evening. He asks the rate of potato to a vendor.
Vendor says ten rupees per kg! Manu asks the vendor for six rupees per kg. But, the vendor agrees on eight rupees. Manu buys five kgs. of potatoes at the rate of eight rupees per kg.
(2) Yes. At the fixed rate shop bargaining will be unfair. But at the shops other than the fixed rate, we can bargain to bring the price down.
Text Book Page No. 97
Question 1.
Why did Sujata carry a note book? Do you think this system is useful ? Can there be problems ?
Answer:
- Sujata carried a notebook to get the amount of things she bought noted in it. Because she took the things on credit.
- Yes. To buy things on credit is good both for seller and buyer if they don’t loose the faith of each other.
- There can be problem if the seller charges more price than the general cost and the buyer doesn’t pay the credit on time.
Question 2.
What are the different kinds of shops that you find in your neighbourhood? What do you purchase from them ?
Answer:
(1) The different kinds of shops found in my neighbourhood are of dairy, general stores, stationeries, clothes, eatables, medicines and roadside stalls of vegetable hawker, the fruit vendors, the mechanic, etc.
(2) We purchase milk, groceries, stationary items, eatables, medioine, vegetables, fruits, etc. from those shops.
Question 3.
Why are goods sold in permanent shops costlier than those sold in the weekly markets or by roadside hawkers ?
Answer:
The goods sold in permanent shops are costlier than those sold in the weekly markets or by roadside hawkers, because the shops in permanent building incurr the following extra expenditure :
(1) The permanent shop owners have to pay rent, electricity, fees to the Government.
(2) They also have to pay wages to their workers while in weekly markets, most of the shop owners are helped by their family members and they need not to hire workers.
(3) There is less competition and bargaining among the permanent shops.
Text Book Page No. 98
Question 1.
Why do you think the guard wanted to stop Kavita and Sujata from entering the shop ? What would you say if someone stops you from entering a shop in a market ?
Answer:
- They seemed to be general. They were neither wearing high quality dresses nor looked like from a rich family.
- I would ask that the shop is for general customers or for a particular group, if someone stops me from entering a shop in a market.
Text Book Page No. 99
Question 1.
Why do people not bargain in shops located in malls whereas they bargain in weekly markets ?
Answer:
People don’t bargain in shops located in malls whereas they bargain in weekly markets because of the following reasons :
- The shops located in malls are generally fixed price shops.
- The goods available in shops located in malls are generally branded and are sold on a fixed profit margin.
- The buyers, who go to shops and show rooms located in malls, are high profile rich people. They don’t like to bargain. They always prefer to buy quality choice and don’t care for the price.
Question 2.
How do you think your neighbourhood shop gets its goods ? Find out and explain with some examples.
Answer:
My neighbourhood shop gets its goods from wholesale traders. For example, wholesale traders of clothes, vegetables etc. first buys these goods in large quantity.
These goods then are sold to other traders, generally called distributors. These are the distributors who sell the goods to retailers, i.e., neighbourhood shop owners.
Question 3.
Why is a wholesale trader necessary ?
Answer:
A wholesale trader is necessary because we, the consumer and retailer cannot buy goods from the producers i.e., factories and farms located at distant places.
Nor would the producers be interested in selling the retailers small quantities of goods. So, the wholesale traders act as a connecting link between the producers and the retailers.
Exercise Questions and Answers
Question 1.
In what ways is a hawker different from a shop owner ?
Answer:
(1) Hawker sells different goods, generally vegetables in the streets. He doesn’t have a permanent place to sell goods from. He brings goods on his ‘Thela’ in the morning, sell them in the streets and return back to his house.
(2) But, a shop owner has a permanent place, generally a big room as shop either in the neighbourhood or in the market. He either owns the shop or pays rent along with electricity charge, government’s fees, etc.
The shop owner keeps different goods in large quantity for sale. He does not carry goods from home to shop and vice-versa daily as hawker does.
Question 2.
Compare and contrast a weekly market and a shopping complex on the following :
Answer:
| Market | Weekly market, Shopping complex |
| Kinds of goods sold | Groceries, cloth items, vegetables, utensils, etc. branded cloths and readymade clothes, icecream, burger, Pizza |
| Prices of goods | Cheaper, expensive |
| Sellers | Small traders, big and rich traders |
| Buyers | Villagers, the people living nearby, rich people |
Question 3.
Explain how a chain of markets is formed ? What purpose does it serve ?
Answer:
(1) A chain of markets is formed starting from wholesale markets to retail shop owners who sell directly to the consumers. In between wholesale markets and retailers there are medium and big traders.
For example, a hawker or retailer purchases plastic items from a wholesale trader in the town. The town wholesaler, in turn, buys from a bigger wholesale trader in the city.
The city wholesale trader buys a large quantity of plastic items directly from the factory and stores them in their go downs. Thus, a chain of market is formed.
(2) A chain of market serves the purpose of producer and consumers. Because neither a producer can sell a small quantity of goods to an individual consumer nor an individual consumer can buy large quantity of goods from producers. So, wholesale traders, retailers, etc. are required to link the producers and consumers.
Question 4.
‘All persons have equal rights to visit any shop in a market place ’. Do you think this is true of shops with expensive products ? Explain with examples.
Answer:
(1) Yes. All persons have equal rights to visit any shop in a marketplace. Either it be a shop with expensive products in shopping complex or cheapest items in weekly markets, any person (i.e., consumer) can visit any shop and can see products and buy if the price suits his/her pocket.
(2) For example, Kavita and Sujata went to Ansal Mall. They entered a shop and looked at some branded readymade dresses. None of them had their prices less than Rs. 2,000. It was almost five times the weekly market price. They didn’t buy and went to another shop.
Question 5.
Buying and selling can take place without going to a marketplace. Explain this statement with the help of examples.
Answer:
(1) Buying and selling can take place without going to a market place. This statement is true at present scenario of new trend in marketing.
(2) Technology has changed the traditional concept of marketing by manual presence in the market to buy and sell anything.
(3) Now-a-days, it is not necessary to go to the market to purchase goods. Anyone can place orders for a variety of things through the phone or the Internet and the goods are delivered at the home or place where needed.
(4) For example, you can see, in clinics and nursing homes, sales representatives waiting for doctors or taking orders at shops for different goods or medicine. Thus, retailer or consumer can place order for any items without going to market.