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NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 12 Late-night vegetables and end-of-season woollens — THINK ABOUT IT

Book page 254 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Vegetables are sold cheaper late at night at the weekly market compared to during the day. Why do you think this is so?
Answer

Because by late night the seller's choice is no longer “sell cheap or sell dear” — it is “sell cheap or lose everything”.

Vegetables are perishable — spinach and tomatoes will not survive the night on a cart
+ the weekly market closes; there is no shop to store them in
+ carrying unsold stock home costs money and it will be worth even less tomorrow
→ any price above zero is better than throwing them away
→ the seller cuts the price

Two more things push in the same direction:

  • Fewer buyers are left. Demand falls as the crowd thins, and the remaining sellers compete hard for the few customers still walking around.
  • The stock is no longer the best. The freshest bunches were picked by the morning buyers; what is left is limp, and worth less.
Why it happens: this is supply and demand at their sharpest. Late at night the supply on the cart cannot be stored and the demand has shrunk. When supply cannot wait and demand has gone, price is the only thing that can move.
Tip: notice that the buyer pays for the discount too — in freshness. A cheap late-night purchase must be cooked the same night.
Q2.
Garment stores offer heavy discounts on woollen clothing at the end of the winter season. Why does this happen?
Answer

Same logic, stretched over a season instead of a night.

  • Demand disappears with the cold. Once March arrives nobody wants a sweater, so the number of buyers falls close to zero.
  • Storing the stock is expensive. Unsold woollens must be packed, protected from moths and damp, and kept for eight or nine months — and shelf space is needed for the summer collection that is already arriving.
  • Fashions and sizes change. Next winter's designs will be different, so this year's stock will be harder to sell even then.
  • Money is locked up. A shopkeeper who has paid the wholesaler for 500 sweaters needs that money back to buy summer stock. Cash today is worth more than a full godown.
Cost price of a sweater: ₹800 · Normal selling price: ₹1,500
End-of-season price at 40% off: ₹1,500 − ₹600 = ₹900
Profit if sold now: ₹900 − ₹800 = ₹100
Profit if stored for nine months and then sold cheap: close to nothing, plus storage cost
Why it happens: the discount is not generosity. A smaller profit taken today beats a larger profit that may never arrive — and it frees both money and shelf space for goods that will sell.
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