system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: The hawker/street vendor system in popular tourist areas

I'm living in Italy for a semester, and I've noticed some weird things about the street vendors and hawkers that sell the selfie sticks, useless goo balls, etc. I may be making up a conspiracy theory, but it seems like a sort of pyramid scheme that these guys are trapped in.  

1. They all have the same merchandise, from city to city, and they're quick to adapt to the weather (selfie sticks turn into umbrellas and ponchos as soon as a drop of water starts)

2. They all know each other and chat for a bit before going their separate ways

3. This applies to the trinket shops and newspaper stands, and maybe even the fake leather purse shops. Can you 'move up the ranks' and go from selfie stick vendor to high end fake leather vendor?

Basically, I'm wondering how money is distributed around the individual hawkers. No one ever buys the useless goo balls, how is it viable for them to stand out there all day and throw them on the ground? Are they all connected under a massive warehouse and a top-level administration, or are they their own individual business that buy a few things of merchandise at a time to resell?
gpt
They are likely all buying the same products from China which is not uncommon because everyone sells the same thing. Browse alibaba for a specific product like "umbrella" and you will likely find the exact umbrella they sell.

They also probably know each other because they stand there all day next to each other and chit chat when theres no customers.