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#11
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This does not "feel" true. I never felt like anyone was anything but being
honorable to me. Even if I left the vendor and sat down nearby they would locate me and deliver the change. "Hans-Georg Michna" wrote in message ... On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 08:38:11 -0700, "None" wrote: Thanks for the clues, but I think there is more than meets the eye, too. Some of these vendors are doing windfall business taking orders, and cash at an amazing rate. It seems quite improbable that they are almost always short cash on hand, even 200 or 500 shillings. All this off site change making takes place in the dark. If there is some kind of underground banking going on it is amazing how it all happens without any visible records. They hope you will not have the time to wait and either buy more or leave them the change. Apparently this behavior is widespread all over Africa. You might as well ask, why do people never repay their debts? In Africa, borrowed money is considered a gift. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#12
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#13
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#14
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#15
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On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 20:12:11 -0700, "None" wrote:
This does not "feel" true. I never felt like anyone was anything but being honorable to me. Even if I left the vendor and sat down nearby they would locate me and deliver the change. Oh, sure. If you insist and wait for the charge, you will get it. But some customers, particularly tourists, give in and renounce the change, and that's what the trader is hoping for. If it is dishonorable, it must at least be deniable. There are some fine lines in the behavioral code that aren't usually crossed. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#16
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On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 20:12:11 -0700, "None" wrote:
This does not "feel" true. I never felt like anyone was anything but being honorable to me. Even if I left the vendor and sat down nearby they would locate me and deliver the change. Oh, sure. If you insist and wait for the charge, you will get it. But some customers, particularly tourists, give in and renounce the change, and that's what the trader is hoping for. If it is dishonorable, it must at least be deniable. There are some fine lines in the behavioral code that aren't usually crossed. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#17
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On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 20:12:11 -0700, "None" wrote:
This does not "feel" true. I never felt like anyone was anything but being honorable to me. Even if I left the vendor and sat down nearby they would locate me and deliver the change. Oh, sure. If you insist and wait for the charge, you will get it. But some customers, particularly tourists, give in and renounce the change, and that's what the trader is hoping for. If it is dishonorable, it must at least be deniable. There are some fine lines in the behavioral code that aren't usually crossed. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#18
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Marc,
I don't generally believe these low markup percentages. In many cases the profit is low because of low trading volume. There are often very many, very small traders, all competing for the same business. In many businesses, like tourist souvenirs, the markups are very high, several hundred percent, if not several thousand, but the volume is extremely low. Reminds me of the peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown opens a little booth with just one tin of Coca Cola with a $100 price sign. So Lucy passes by and says, Charlie, you're crazy. Nobody's going to buy a Coca Cola at that price. Answers Charlie Brown, "But think of it, I only need to sell one to be rich!" Reasons for this tiny shop phenomenon are several, one being bad economic policy (no land rights, extortional taxes, etc.), others being lack of education (can't calculate the business properly) that makes it very difficult for small traders to expand their business. So most of them can never run an efficient business, like a real, normal-sized shop. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#19
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Marc,
I don't generally believe these low markup percentages. In many cases the profit is low because of low trading volume. There are often very many, very small traders, all competing for the same business. In many businesses, like tourist souvenirs, the markups are very high, several hundred percent, if not several thousand, but the volume is extremely low. Reminds me of the peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown opens a little booth with just one tin of Coca Cola with a $100 price sign. So Lucy passes by and says, Charlie, you're crazy. Nobody's going to buy a Coca Cola at that price. Answers Charlie Brown, "But think of it, I only need to sell one to be rich!" Reasons for this tiny shop phenomenon are several, one being bad economic policy (no land rights, extortional taxes, etc.), others being lack of education (can't calculate the business properly) that makes it very difficult for small traders to expand their business. So most of them can never run an efficient business, like a real, normal-sized shop. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#20
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In article ,
Hans-Georg Michna wrote: On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 20:12:11 -0700, "None" wrote: This does not "feel" true. I never felt like anyone was anything but being honorable to me. Even if I left the vendor and sat down nearby they would locate me and deliver the change. Oh, sure. If you insist and wait for the charge, you will get it. But some customers, particularly tourists, give in and renounce the change, and that's what the trader is hoping for. If it is dishonorable, it must at least be deniable. There are some fine lines in the behavioral code that aren't usually crossed. Hans-Georg From experience in Morocco I think the situation is physically created by the fact that there isn't a large amount of small change minted in the first place because its expensive to produce coins and for some countries coin may be imported from foreign mints. As many people are poor they tend to save change and they don't tend to have bank accounts therefore the change gets hidden away as savings, further reducing the amount in circulation. This also accounts for the fact that many countries aren't keen on you taking currency out of the country. -- besters.. Ned === |
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