Booming market sales in Savai’i

By Vatapuia Maiava 08 October 2016, 12:00AM

According to Tipesa Iakopo from the village of Salelologa, Savaii, the market sales in Savaii are booming and profits are great.

Aged 34, Tipesa spends much of her time at the Salologa market earning enough money to take care of her family. “This market block helps the family so much,” she told the Village Voice.

“The vegetables and fruits we sell is what earns money to take care of the family. We make about $300 a day from sales and that’s what we use for everything needed within the family.” Tipesa says that having a market block helps her family in more ways than one.

“I can’t stress enough on how helpful this market stall is for the family,” she said. “It doesn’t just help with the unexpected fa’alavelave but we also have enough left over to do the daily shopping.

“The vegetables sell very fast and everything flows. As we leave the produce in the stall to sell, we have more coming in to quickly replace the ones that were sold. “We don’t get these from the plantation, this is from other peoples’ plantations but we buy it from them then sell it for a profit.” Tipesa finds that this system of business works well for her. “As mentioned before, we buy and sell the produce for a profit,” Tipesa said.

“Take for example the pumpkins, we buy them for about $2 then sell them again for $3 or $4 so we get a little bit of profit.

“We have been doing this for over 20 years now and it’s a very good way of making money, that’s why we are still doing it till this day.

“But it does have its moments. Sometimes sales are very slow and other times its booming. The best months for sales  are the months with special events.

“Like Christmas, White Sunday, Mothers day and so on.”

While there is so much to do in the life of a Samoan, Tipesa says that if it’s all done with honesty, then you will have great blessings. “We have a lot to do within the church and village,” she said. “When someone in the church passes away then we all have to contribute along with our normal church obligations.

“We are a people who love to serve there for we have to do our daily obligations. I also believe that the more you give, then the more you will receive.”

By Vatapuia Maiava 08 October 2016, 12:00AM
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