| The closer you look into the “business” world of motorbike service in Saigon, the more specialized things get. One guy sells entire brake assemblies with multiple parts and attachments. Another guy sells just the brake shoes. If you don’t need the entire brake shoe, you could find a guy who is just selling the brake shoe hardware, and then a guy for just the screws, and another guy for just the nuts. The brake-nut store front might only consist of a fist-sized pile of used nuts on a rag, where the “owner” is crouching without even a chair. But even he is busy sorting and cleaning and polishing and rearranging his meager inventory for presentation to the marketplace. No matter what you’re looking for, you will find sellers of new parts, but you won’t have to go too far up the block to find the same parts or supplies, only of the used variety. From there, the used varieties differ in quality and grade, from fairly decent-looking, briefly used components, to really junky-looking third or fourth generation parts (which might not be much better than the parts they are replacing). Caveat emptor would be the theme here. Five years ago in Saigon, I am told, there were very few motorbikes; people mostly rode bicycles. More motorbikes will eventually be replaced by cars as they become more affordable there. The people of Saigon will once again adapt and the niche marketers of the streets will figure out a way to earn a living one pump of air, one tire change, and one brake-nut at a time. There is absolutely no doubt about it. |
| Niche Marketing Saigon Style (continued) |
