Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

08-29-2008 17:52
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/08/117_30234.html

Vendors Clinging to Hope in Running Subway Trains

By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Kim Myung-hee, 41, gets on a train at Dobong subway station every morning. It's not to commute to work. The subway is where she sells things.

In a not so crowded subway car at around 2 p.m., Thursday, she makes a deep bow and starts selling long wristlets, a hot item during the summer.

``Let me introduce anti-ultraviolet wristlets to you.'' She said, a little too loudly, so as to attract attention from the nonchalant commuters.

She sold nothing in the cabin. ``You know most people are just indifferent. This chilly response is always depressing,'' she says.

From umbrellas, music CDs to small lanterns, the items subway vendors sell are diverse. Like any other business, the selection of items is very important.

The veteran vendor normally works from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and her beat is between Cheongnyangni and Guro on subway line No. 1.

Kim sells about 30-40 pieces a day, 3,000 won ($3) apiece. She says she nets about 50,000 won for every 100,000 won in sales, a profit margin of about 50 percent.

These venders on subway trains are called ``Giabai.'' They say it is a Japanese word meaning poor people. But others claim the word is coined from the English ``gear'' and ``buy.''

Many of these Giabai maintain close relationship with small retailers at Dongdaemoon Market in eastern Seoul, purchasing their items there.

But competition is getting fiercer. Many retirees in their 40s and 50s, after failing to land other jobs, end up selling stuff in subway cars. To avoid competition, some are forced to sell items during dawn or rush hour, braving complaints and angry responses from busy passengers or those in need of a quick nap.

The economic slump is making passengers more hesitant to open their wallets. Giabai must also look out for subway guards to avoid a 30,000-50,000 won fine.

``I don't understand why it's illegal to sell goods on subway trains," another peddler Park Jong-won, 50, said. He was even caught twice in one day. He has accumulated fines of more than one million won but can't afford to pay them.

``I know I have to pay the fines someday. However, I earn about 30,000 won a day. It's impossible,'' he fumed. ``But that's part of the reason I cannot quit this job. It's a vicious cycle.''

Not all giabai are in such gloomy circumstances, though. Lee Jin-ho, 43, has worked for five years. ``I know it's illegal, but I can't survive without this job,'' he said. He was selling some old pop CDs.

Regardless of the hide-and-seek, the job is not that bad for some peddlers, he said.

``At first, it was really hard to speak in front of people and I often got frustrated. As time went by, however, I became familiar with the job,'' he said, beaming. ``Some people give me beverages and cheer me up, and I sometimes get a small applause because I sell goods in a funny way."

Most of these peddlers want citizens to be more lenient toward them.

For Lee Young-dong, 55, a cold response from passengers is the biggest hurdle. ``These people like me are really struggling hard to survive. We are selling things in running subway cars in order not to give in. I want people to take us a little bit positively,'' he said.

[email protected]
[email protected]

Korea Times intern Bang Yeon-hee contributed to this article.

[wylies99]

Did anyone know that it's illegal? Ever seen them get arrested?

[CentralCali]

I've seen one guy get apprehended for it. That was about a year ago in Busan on the way to Busan Station from Seomyeon Station.

[shifty]

God's truth Wyliies , have you no mercy?? Want to kick a man when he's down!!?

Did you have to sleep 10 in a bed as a kid or something, that you're so hardbitten??

[itaewonguy]

yeah its illegal just like pojangmachas.. they get fined all the time..
the average fine for a street tent bar is about 10 million won a year!
most of them dont mind paying the fine becuase they earn about 10 million a month! yeah thats right! that poor old ajuma at EXIT 6! she aint that poor! she is racking it in! and the guys in hongdae outside TIN PAN!
forget about it! they are pulling in 20million a month easy!

[wylies99]

[ajuma]

[Ruraljuror]

ajuma.

Best avatar ever.

[wylies99]

The ones who "sell" the pirated music CDs play that crap at top volume.

The worst ones are the beggars who sing.

[pkang0202]

I like buying from the subway vendors. I've found some of the best stuff there. you can't beat a rechargeable electric razor for 5,000w.

[Hyeon Een]

I've often thought that if I had the right product I could CLEAN UP working that job. I reckon a decent looking western guy in a nice suit who could pass as a banker would be able to sell all kinds of crap on the subway (or the streets) in Korea. I'd be able to get everybody's attention so much easier than a middle-aged adjossi or adjumma, plus all the Uni-chicks would be desparate to buy my stuff hoping I'd flip them my business card. Roll on the F2.. I'm gonna work the subway and pay my 30k fines..

(Unfortunately I'd probably be selling too much stuff to fit it into a manbag, so I'd need a roll-on suitcase kind of deal)

[sineface]

No.

F**k those f**kers! I'm on that train on the morning, every morning. From further north to further south. They need to quiet the f**k down, is what they need to do. Stop yelling in my goddamn ear. Stop being louder than my ipod, for goodness sake. None of this Have Mercy On The Poor shit. Sell your stuff quietly, at the level that everyone else is told they must confirm to, and go along your merry way.

Continue to screech in my atmosphere and I refuse to have any pity for you.

Nuff said.

[CentralCali]

sineface: Here's something you might want to try when the pirated CD salesperson cranks up the boom box. Reach over and turn the thing off. If they turn it back on, reach over and turn it off again.

[milspecs]

street vendors are making 10millieWon a month? is there any actual proof of this? if so im opening up a ddokbokhi stand asap

[mindmetoo]

They're irritating but I look at it they could be on welfare. Oh wait. There is no welfare in Korea. Higher income taxes could solve that.