Minding your own business

A boy holds folding stools outside the Expo Garden. Yong Kai / China Daily

If you think doing business at the Expo 2010 Shanghai is the exclusive realm of big entrepreneurs who are eager to tap into the global market, think again. Ordinary folks with a little business savvy are also getting their fair share of the action at this mega event - thanks to their unique and ingenious ways of exploring and cashing in on potential needs of visitors.

Although the recent crackdown by Expo authorities on the sale of fake and cheap souvenirs, such as Haibao mascots, has forced many street vendors out of business, there are still numerous other ways for those who are business conscious to grab for a slice of the huge market pie.

From the ever-popular stamped Expo passports and other big-selling items, like those nifty folding stools, to home-stay for Expo visitors and recycling enterprises, originality can be found everywhere as people are quick to spot a market demand beyond the licensed products.

A woman sells Expo souvenirs at one of the Expo entrances. Gao Erqiang / China Daily

As one of the most popular souvenirs in the Expo Garden, the 49-page Expo passport brings big profits to not only manufacturers but also to people who sell the passports already stamped with pavilion motifs.

The notoriously long queues outside some popular pavilions have stopped many stamp collectors from getting all the stamps they want. But those who enter the Expo Garden frequently are providing stamping services to collectors.

Expo passports that carry seals of all the national pavilions are being sold for about 260 yuan each at Taobao.com, the largest e-commerce site in China.

One online passport vendor, identified as willen121, who has been providing stamping services since the beginning of Expo, has sold more than 200 stamped passports, making him the top online seller of the product.

"I started the business once I learnt there are Expo passports on sale in the Expo Garden," said Willen121, who does not want his real name to be revealed. He said his job allows him to enter the Expo Garden on a regular basis.

Willen121 also said he has formed a group of four other collectors and each one is responsible for collecting stamps from designated pavilions. He said they usually enter the Expo Garden at 9 am and finish the work by the end of the day. The group can make about 150 passports stamped in a week.

He said he takes about 20 passports into the Expo Garden each time he visits and has to go to the same pavilion several times a day to get them all stamped.

"It is not proper to bring try and have many passports at one time," said Willen121. "I do not want people standing in the line to get annoyed with me."