How did the costermongers obtain their merchandise and what were the circumstances for borrowing?

Mayhew estimated that 75 percent of costermongers did not own their merchandise. Instead, they borrowed stock or the money to buy it, often at the incredibly high interest rate of 20 percent per week, or 1040 percent per year. A desperate street vendor would often pay 50 percent interest for a loan on Saturday morning, to be repaid that evening. A few merchants would loan stock at no interest to street vendors selling nearby, usually to female costers.