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UNIT
FIVE

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Markets

Teacher’s note

These two chapters focus on aspects of of markets involved in the process. Together
life and commercial cycles associated with with understanding each step of the
markets. While some of these processes manufacture and circulation of a shirt, we
may be visible and, therefore, easily realise that some people stand to gain in
observable, there are also others that are the market transaction whereas others do
relatively unfamiliar. not gain as much, or none at all. The
opportunities are highly unequal. Ways do
Chapter 7 discusses ‘Markets Around exist, such as those of cooperative
Us’. At one level, we study different market marketing, which can provide a better
sites: a weekly market, neighbourhood return to the producers. However, we need
shops, a shopping complex, etc. At another to find many more viable avenues for
level, we explore the intricate question, equitable distribution.
‘how do goods reach these markets?’ We
examine how a chain of markets operates These chapters offer an opportunity of
and the role of wholesale markets within bringing in the experience of local markets
this, through the case study of a wholesale for discussion in the classroom. A visit to
vegetable market. We usually associate a wholesale market would be of interest,
‘market’ with marketplaces, but buying and and would allow the learner to find out the
selling takes place in diverse ways and the profit margins and details of daily earnings
chapter discusses how all of this falls so that those inequalities can be directly
within a larger understanding of markets. examined. The experiences of markets are
varied and also quite rich. Hence, one
Chapter 8 looks at how markets offer should allocate time for some questions,
people different opportunities. This is done not addressed in the text, which students
through the ‘story of a shirt’, and the chain may wish to discuss.

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CHAPTER

Markets Around Us
We go to the market to buy many things – vegetables, soap, toothpaste, masala,
bread, rice, dal, clothes, notebooks, biscuits, etc. If we make a list of the goods
that we purchase, it would be really long. There are many kinds of markets that
we may visit for our everyday needs: these can include shops, hawker’s stalls in
our neighbourhood, a weekly market, a large shopping complex, perhaps even a
mall. In this chapter, we look at some of these markets and try to understand
how the goods that are sold there reach buyers, who these buyers are, who these
sellers are, and the sorts of problems they face.

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Why do people go to a weekly Weekly market

market? Give three reasons.
A weekly market is so called because it is held on a
Who are the sellers in a weekly specific day of the week. Weekly markets do not have
market? Why don’t we find big permanent shops. Traders set up shops for the day
business persons in these and then close them up in the evening. Then they
markets? may set up at a different place the next day. There
are thousands of such markets in India. People come
Why are things cheap in the here for their everyday requirements.
weekly market?
Many things in weekly markets are available at
Explain with an example how cheaper rates. This is because when shops are in
people bargain in the market. Can permanent buildings, they incur a lot of expenditure
you think of a situation where the – they have to pay rent, electricity, fees to the
bargain would be unfair? government. They also have to pay wages to their
workers. In weekly markets, these shop owners store
the things they sell at home. Most of them are helped
by their family members and, hence, do not need to
hire workers. Weekly markets also have a large
number of shops selling the same goods which means
there is competition among them. If some trader were
to charge a high price, people would move to another
Sameer: Seller of clothes shop where the same thing may be available more
cheaply or where the buyer can bargain and bring
the price down.

One of the advantages of weekly markets is that

most things you need are available at one place.
Whether you want vegetables, groceries or cloth
items, utensils – all of them can be found here. You
do not have to go to different areas to buy different
things. People also prefer going to a market where
they have a choice and a variety of goods.
Sameer is a small trader in the weekly
market. He buys clothes from a large
trader in the town and sells them in six Shops in the neighbourhood
different markets in a week. He and
other cloth sellers move in groups.They
We have seen that the weekly markets offer a variety
hire a mini van for this. His customers
of goods. However, we also buy things from other
are from villages that are near the
marketplace. At festival times, such as
kinds of markets. There are many shops that sell
during Deepavali or Pongal, he does goods and services in our neighbourhoods. We may
good business. buy milk from the dairy, groceries from departmental
stores, stationery, eatables or medicines from other

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Sujata and Kavita were sent to buy

groceries from their neighbourhood
shop.This was the shop they usually
went to. It was crowded today. The
shop owner managed the shop
herself with two helpers.When they
managed to get into the shop, Sujata
dictated a list to her. She in turn
began asking her helpers to weigh
and pack the items. Meanwhile
Kavita looked around…

On the top left shelf there were

different brands of detergent cakes.
Another shelf had toothpastes,
talcum powder, shampoo, hair oil.
The different brands and different
colours looked so attractive. On the
floor lay a few sacks.

It took almost 20 minutes to weigh

and pack all the groceries. Then
Sujata showed her “notebook.” The
woman noted the amount of
` 3000 in the notebook and gave it
back. She also noted the amount
in her big register. Then Sujata took the heavy bags out of the shop. Her family will pay for the
purchases in the first week of next month.

Why did Sujata carry a notebook?

shops. Many of these are permanent shops, while
Do you think this system is
others are roadside stalls such as that of the
useful? Can there be problems?
vegetable hawker, the fruit vendor, the mechanic,
etc.
What are the different kinds of
shops that you find in your
Shops in the neighbourhood are useful in many
neighbourhood? What do you
ways. They are near our home and we can go there
purchase from them?
on any day of the week. Usually, the buyer and seller
know each other and these shops also provide goods
Why are goods sold in permanent
on credit. This means that you can pay for the
shops costlier than those sold in
purchases later, as we saw in Sujata’s case, for
the weekly markets or by roadside
example.
hawkers?

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You might have noticed that there are different

kinds of sellers even in the neighbourhood markets.
Some of them have permanent shops and others sell
their goods on the roadside.

Anzal Mall is a five-floor shopping

complex. Kavita and Sujata were
enjoying going up and down in
the lift. It seemed as if it was
made of glass and they were able
to see outside as they went up.
It was fascinating to see so many
different kinds of shops such as
the ice-cream, burger, pizza and
other food shops; shops full of
home appliances; footwear and
leather items as well as
bookshops.

While wandering about on the

third floor they entered a shop
that was selling branded ready-
made clothes.The security guard
looked at them as if he wanted
to stop them but he did not say
anything. They looked at some
dresses and then looked at the
price tag. None of them was less
than ` 3,000, almost five times the weekly market price! Sujata whispered to Kavita, “I’ll take you to
another shop which has good quality ready-made clothes at more reasonable prices”.

Why do you think the guard Shopping complexes and malls

wanted to stop Kavita and Sujata
from entering the shop? What So far we have seen two kinds of marketplaces –
would you say if someone stops weekly markets and markets in our neighbourhood.
you from entering a shop in a There are other markets in the urban area that have
market? many shops, popularly called shopping complexes.
These days, in many urban areas, you also have large
multi-storeyed air-conditioned buildings with shops
on different floors, known as malls. In these urban
markets, you get both branded and non-branded
goods. As you have read in the chapter on advertising,

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branded goods are expensive, often promoted by

advertising and claims of better quality. The
companies producing these products sell them Why do people not bargain in
through shops in large urban markets and, at times, shops located in malls whereas
through special showrooms. As compared to non- they bargain in weekly markets?
branded goods, fewer people can afford to buy
branded ones.

Chain of markets

In the previous sections, you have read about

different markets from where we buy goods. From
where do you think shop-owners procure their goods?
Goods are produced in factories, on farms and in
homes. However, we don’t buy directly from the
How do you think your
factory or from the farm. Nor would the producers
neighbourhood shop gets its
be interested in selling us small quantities such as
goods? Find out and explain with
one kilo of vegetables or one plastic mug.
some examples.

The people in between the producer and the final

Why is a wholesale trader
consumer are the traders. The wholesale trader first
necessary?
buys goods in large quantities. For example, the
vegetable wholesale trader will not buy a few kilos of
vegetables, but will buy in large lots of 25 to 100
kilos. These will then be sold to other traders. In
these markets, buying and selling takes place
between traders. It is through these links of traders
that goods reach faraway places. The trader who
finally sells this to the consumer, is the retailer. This
could be a trader in a weekly market, a hawker in
the neighbourhood or a shop in a shopping complex. Azadpur

Daryaganj
We can understand this with the help of the
Keshopur
following examples –

Every city has areas for wholesale markets. This Okhla

is where goods first reach and are then supplied to
other traders. The roadside hawker whom you read
about earlier would have purchased a large quantity
of plastic items from a wholesale trader in the town.
He, in turn, might have bought these from another, The above map of Delhi shows four of the
even bigger wholesale trader in the city. The city 10 wholesale markets in the city.

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wholesale trader would have bought a large quantity

of plastic items from the factory and stored them in
a godown. In this way, a chain of markets is set up.
When we purchase, we may not be aware of the chain
of markets through which these goods travel before
they reach us.

Aftab – The wholesaler in the city

Aftab is one of the wholesale traders who purchases in bulk. His
business starts around 2 o’clock in the morning when vegetables
reach the market. This is the time when the vegetable market or
mandi starts buzzing with activity. The vegetables come in trucks,
matadors, tractor trolleys from farms both near and far. Soon the
process of auctions begins. Aftab participates in this auction and
decides what he will buy. Today, for example, he bought 5 quintals of
cauliflower, 10 quintals of onions. He has a shop in the market where
he stores the vegetables that he has bought. From here he sells to
hawkers and shopkeepers who start coming to the market around
six in the morning. They have to organise their purchases so that
they can start their shop for the day around ten in the morning.

Markets everywhere

So far we have seen different marketplaces where

people buy and sell a variety of goods and services.
All these markets are in a specific locality and work
in a particular manner and time. However, it is not
always necessary that one has to go to the market to
purchase goods. You can place orders for a variety
of things through the phone and these days through
the Internet, and the goods are delivered at your
home. In clinics and nursing homes, you may have
noticed sales representatives waiting for doctors.
Such persons are also engaged in the selling of goods.
Thus, buying and selling takes place in different
ways, not necessarily through shops in the market.

The markets that we looked at above are the ones

that we recognise easily. However, there are markets
that we may not be so aware of. This is because a

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People in urban areas can enter markets

without stepping out of their homes via
the Internet. They use their credit cards to
make ‘online purchases’.

large number of goods are bought and sold that we

don’t use directly. For example, a farmer uses
fertilisers to grow crops that he purchases from
special shops in the city and they, in turn get them
from factories. A car factory purchases engine, gears,
petrol tanks, axles, wheels, etc. from various other
factories. We don’t usually see all the buying and
selling, but only the final product – the car in the
showroom. The story is similar for any other good.

Markets and equality

In this chapter, we have looked at shop owners in a

weekly market and those in a shopping complex.
They are very different people. One is a small trader
with little money to run the shop whereas the other
is able to spend a lot of money to set up the shop. A car being put together in a factory.
They also earn unequal amounts. The weekly market
trader earns little compared to the profit of a regular
shop owner in a shopping complex. Similarly, buyers
are differently placed. There are many who are not
able to afford the cheapest of goods while others are
busy shopping in malls. Thus, whether we can be
buyers or sellers in these different markets depends,
among other things, on the money that we have.

We have also examined the chain of markets that

is formed before goods can reach us. It is through

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Malls, like the one above, sell expensive this chain that what is produced in one place reaches
and branded goods. people everywhere. When things are sold, it
encourages production and new opportunities are
created for people to earn. However, do they offer
equal opportunities? We will try to understand this
through the story of a shirt in the next chapter.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)

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EXERCISES

1. In what ways is a hawker different from a shop owner?

2. Compare and contrast a weekly market and a shopping

complex on the following:

Market Kind of goods sold Prices of goods Sellers Buyers

Weekly market

Shopping complex

3. Explain how a chain of markets is formed. What purpose

does it serve?

4. ‘All persons have equal rights to visit any shop in a

marketplace.’ Do you think this is true of shops with
expensive products? Explain with examples.

5. ‘Buying and selling can take place without going to a

marketplace.’ Explain this statement with the help of
examples.

Glossary

Weekly market: These markets are not daily markets but are to be found at a particular place on
one or maybe two days of the week. These markets most often sell everything that a household
needs ranging from vegetables to clothes to utensils.

Mall: This is an enclosed shopping space. This is usually a large building with many floors that has
shops, restaurants and, at times, even a cinema theatre. These shops most often sell branded
products.

Wholesale: This refers to buying and selling in large quantities. Most products, including vegetables,
fruits and flowers have special wholesale markets.

Chain of markets: A series of markets that are connected like links in a chain because products
pass from one market to another.

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