Mr Suriyah said that around eight years ago, he paid between S$8,000 to S$10,000 for a stall space. Today, he is forking out close to S$18,000 for a similar lot.
Despite that, he has five stalls at the bazaar and has increased his prices by 10 cents, in hopes of still turning around a profit.
ATTRACTING VENDORS
The bazaar’s organisers have attributed the low take-up rate to stiff competition from at least ten other Ramadan bazaars across Singapore.
Many vendors have also pivoted to home-based businesses after the pandemic to sell their products and items, they said.
To fill the remaining units at the bazaar, the organisers are letting businesses who cannot afford to pay the rent in cash upfront, give a percentage of their sales to the organisers after the event has ended.
Event organiser Mustaffa Shah said: “For example, for every $10, we take $2 or $3, depending on the value of the shop space.”
The costs of setting up the bazaar came up to nearly S$2.5 million this year, he said.