New Flea Market in Santiago

cobraboy said:

Yeah, was there today. They kicked the Haitians and their tarp city out of one side and are asking them to pay RD$100,000+ for a year in the new location; if they can't pay that the price goes to over RD$200,000 the next year. Or so we were told...

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Nah! They asked them to pay for the nice settings being financed by the local bank for the vitrinas, stuff, electricity, water, security, maintenance, etc... Which came all about less than RD$285 pesos a Day. Since it would be close to impossible to keep tabs on everybody to pay their portion each month of the dues, the bank agreed to finance the whole thing with a 10% annual interest via the management office.

Even if only half the buhoneros open one Day and all the next Day, the bills will not change much for the services provided.

To enable such ease of operations they are asked to sign the agreement or if they so choose to, pay a lump sum and avoid the bank interest for financing it.

That rate is only for the largest vitrinas (kioks) as the medium to smaller ones pay much less than half of that rate.

If you consider the fact that elsewhere they pay over RD$300 per Day to set a stall to carry out biz, this is not only cheaper, better and safer but the best deal they can get. The problem with the Haitians is that the banks can't finance somebody that has no papers to provide for their identity and legal matters. In their case, a lump payment is required. Since the slots were assigned to those that were there already (including the Haitians) they can't just go and grab somebody else to sign for them (this was banned to avoid people selling the spots and creating a new flea market elsewhere they went to set up next).

That's how it rolls Robert!


If the Haitian consulate was of service for something in the DR, they could provide these people their papers. But as we all know that's wishful thinking...

There are different sizes for the vitrinas which will serve as the kiosks once they get setup:



You pay according to the size of the vitrina (s) and space taken. The bigger the merchant space the larger the tab but not proportional as in double, etc... But in increments of 40%, 60% and 80% accordingly...

For those of you that know the DR, RD$300 pesos is but one trinket away to make...

The small merchants will pay much less than that and can carry out their biz in a waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better setting than what it was before...


It doesn't sound so much now, does it!

The bank behind the financing is Ademi, with more than 100 of the original 187 merchants already signed to contracts of the ones that were occupants of the old flea market space.

The problem in the DR is that there are always people that want tor have the cake and eat it at the same time!

They want everything for free and to pay nothing...

That's not how you play the game...

cobraboy said:

RD$300 a day is over RD$7200 a month. Those numbers are not far off the RD$100,000 I was told, huh?

And they were paying virtually nothing on the other side.

Yeah, it's nicer, but many of the vendors will go away and many will default on their loans.

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Robert, modernity has a price tag...

Just because you could go and build a hut in the river bank and pay nothing, doesn't mean that you'll be safe and sound in the setting let alone your family.

The change is monumental to say the least. From the street corner to a real place of sales. You have to make people move from the informal to the formal. That's how they'll be able to create credit worthiness to buy a home in the future or get a loan to invest in a new biz. It all starts somewhere!

If you think for a second this is too much for them, think that the street mafia (the ones that control who can set up their stalls and where in the streets) charges even more in many instances to these same people now complaining about the terms.


In the streets they paid daily and if not, couldn't set up shop. No security, no lights, no water, no nothing.

The ones having to pay the largest amount for the vitrinas, are the ones that were allocated their sure spot in the plaza over late comers. In simpler terms the larger the vitrina the more the income capacity for the merchant...


Believe you me, this is VERY cheap compared to what the get in the street they so call "free" to the media, but we all know how "free" it's not!


Like I said, just one trinket sold for the whole day would cover the contract 100% and leave some cash in most instances.

The whole idea is to have them move up later as they earn more money and become able to get financing to move elswhere, leaving the spots for others that are going to be in the same needs they were when they got their spot.

This is a medium to promote viable movement of the informal economy small retailer, into the formal economy we all need to develop as a country.

It's not meant for them to stay there for ages!

They just are not told that as they wouldn't understand how they're going to afford moving up in layman terms via this way...

Now think for a second:


The bank finances the contract, the next year they are required to pay their own water, etc... bills outside of the financed contract with the bank (which is what you call in the US an escrow type of account billing).

By then, they have accumulated a good credit rapport with the bank and outside financial institutions. The second phase creates fiscal accountability for expenses incurred as a biz outside of the bank's control, which mainly serves to show if the person is of caliber to carry on a biz 100%.

Once they hit the third year, their credit worthiness is at least 3 times what it was at the onset of the original contract.
By this time all doors will open to the formal markets, lenders will line up to have them as clients.


But that's something you can't tell them now or else they'll hang you up!

LOL!!