Lately Iāve seen a few tourists, from various EU/non EU European countries come to Taiwan, and set up a stall (presumably without permission, on the down low) to sell various handcraft and arts.
My question is, did they get a special visa to allow them to do so, as the few I spoken to say they travel all over the world to do it.
It sounds like something Iād like to do. I doubt it will be guitars, but maybe Iāll think of something.
Youāve kind of answered your own question there, no?
Iāve never heard of any country offering a street vendor visa. If youāre sure they were tourists, they were probably just doing it illegally as you said (and if they were ātouristsā, it would be illegal pretty much by definition).
I believe some people can get busking licenses in Taipei, which are tied to specific locations, for example spots in Ximending and the 101 Takeshimaya plaza. Iām not sure who can apply.
Presumably tourists canāt apply for those though, right?
https://english.culture.gov.taipei/cp.aspx?n=EC7B174A966CF7AE
See also Section 5 here:
Iād be surprised if ābuskingā/āstreet performingā includes selling handmade stuff on the street, tooā¦
Jesus H. Christ
Yes itās next to the drug dealing visa in the website.
Yeah. I saw one gent. in Tamsui couple of weeks ago. Was surprised.
Was it that guy making jewelry back where the cat statues are? Says his wife committed suicide and needs money to start some kind of counseling center?
So you got that information from him, but not the information about his visa status? Next time, why donāt you ask him, ādo you have a visa that allows you to sell things in the streets?ā
And why are you interested in that anyway? Arenāt you a resident or citizen of Taiwan?
His booth has that information, that heās selling jewelry to fund a counseling center.
I just ask him if he has a visa and he says yes. I donāt feel the need to ask anymore, thatās a bit too prying.
Iām interested because I thought it was cool, maybe a way to fund a travel/vacation but it sometimes reeks of begpacking (but at least this guy is contributing by making trinkets instead of just flat out asking for money).
Maybe you should try to find information about how to be able to sell things on one of those weekend markets åøé?
These guys arenāt selling there.
They just find a random spot and sell there, not paying rent and stuff. Everything they have fits in a briefcase.
I was thinking this is something that I could possibly do in another country, but Iād need nerves of steel and the ability to tell a convincing lie (both in concocting a sob story to get people to buy your wares, and also if scrutinized by immigration, that youāre just backpacking), which Iām not so good at.
Sorry, but we should not be contemplating about doing illegal things on this site.
I think for Taiwan, selling things at these weekend markets is the best option. Not sure if you have to be a citizen, though.
What āthose guysā do is clearly against the law.
Got it. No Iām not contemplating that. It really reeks of begpacking at times.
But I do think it adds to the cultural exchange of most countries, and maybe such visas could be considered.
But the amount of vetting required to sort genuine cultural contribution from begpackers wouldnāt make anyone with a genuine desire to contribute culturally want to go through with it.
I think thatās a common scam: People trying to sell supposedly āhandmadeā artwork / jewelry / paintings / postcards / ā¦ while giving a sob story that they are either mute / disabled / grieving ā¦ and thus need money.
Mostly, the stuff will be purchased from Aliexpress - and their condition is just made up.
Had that happen to me in Europe more than onceā¦
In Taiwan, I once had a foreigner approaching me on the street trying to sell me their āhomemade tiramisuā (probably from Costco) to fund their studiesā¦
And thatās why it is, and should be, illegal. Not much of a cultural exchange.
Yeah, but itās not like scammers care about the illegality of their doingsā¦
The sad thing is that many people seem to fall for their sob stories and think they help by actually buying something - which will just encourage the scammers to keep doing their shady businessā¦
I saw the guy make the jewelry, he sells them anywhere from 320 all the way up to 1200.
But he basically wraps strings very tightly around the stone to make pendants, or string beads on braided rope made from the same string. It looks quite labor intensive.
But on the other hand, those stones he has is sold at the Taipei underground mall for literally 100nt for a bag of 20. String is probably 50nt a spool if even that.
But the way he strings then up, it probably takes about half an hour at least to do. He braids the rope in ways that looks time consuming. Or it could all be an act and itās made by an army of children in Xinjiang and sold on taobao for 20 rmb.
He also claims to be from Belarus, which is basically on most countryās shitlist because of Russia, so Iām surprised he managed to get a visa. Unless heās from another eu country.
Yea, looks oddly familiar.
On another topic, I saw a guy from leipzig sell painting he made of very strong coffee in ximen. It was pretty unique looking.
Donāt tell me they sell those on AliExpress too
