At best over an entire day....if a vendor was lucky....he make turn seven hundred Euro in sales, and generate maybe 100 Euro in profit.
How much of the stuff is made in Greece or surrounding countries? Maybe twenty percent. The bulk, I suspect, is Chinese-made. I'd even question the statues sold (something every tourist wants to pick up for some gift).....on where they were made.
The vendors all want cash transactions.....easier to hide profits from the government (my take).
The quality? It goes from one side to the other. Some of the hats are one-star marginal items. The t-shirts might last one summer season and twenty washes before falling apart.
If you asked me if there are simply too many tourist shops.....I'd agree. They are trampling over each other and I can't see anyone clearing much of a profit, and they are clearly forced into 70 man-hours a week to make this work. Most shops are open by 8AM, and I noticed a number of shops still open at 10PM for evening hours.
Associations using political power? You start to notice various neighborhoods where the associations got political power involved and had the government pay for better streets and lighting. Weak associations get little done.....so the district political figure is someone that matters if he can yield infrastructure funding.
Finally, as odd as it might sound.....this little shop industry has some influence over the revenue generated by the country itself. What they sell.....attracts tourists, and tourists spend money. Someone will buy the stupid Einstein t-shirts, the fake Socrates statues made in China, and the lousy two-star ice cream sold on hot days.
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