Sorry everyone, this is my first-ever post and I’m super confused and stressed. Sorry if I ramble or write weirdly. I’m 32, I run a tiny online shop selling home stuff and handmade things from Udon Thani.

Okay story time. I’ve been selling for almost three years. At first I packed everything at home, but about six months ago I decided to rent a small corner in a community space near the fresh market because I thought it would be neater for storage and maybe I’d have shop-owner friends to split electricity and internet with, and at least have someone to chat with on good days.

The space is a small shop, the owner is a middle-aged woman who seemed nice at first. She helped give tips on arranging a photo corner, even handed me her red marker and blue tape when I had to ship something urgently. But around the third month problems started popping up and it’s gotten really uncomfortable.

Problem one: she said, “You have to close by 8pm tonight, I have a personal thing,” even though I’d told her that morning I had a live stream until 9pm. She told me to go pack at my bedroom at home instead and expected me to move my table myself. She asked like, should I move everything at nine pm? It was so pressuring and then she went quiet.

Problem two: she keeps interfering with my stuff, like opening boxes to check inventory without asking, and saying, “If you do it this way customers might not like it,” in this judging tone with no explanation. Sometimes she moves my things without telling me — I had to look for a sheet of stickers for like 10 minutes because my table had been moved. I was so confused.

One time I needed to deliver urgently, customer asked for it before noon. I told them I was out delivering and would be back after noon. When I got back my spot had a café’s plastic bags on it and I couldn’t find my items. Lost about 20–30 minutes. Customer messaged asking if I’d refund. I was so stressed, felt like my time and my business didn’t matter.

I tried talking politely once, saying please tell me before moving my stuff or if you need to close, give a morning heads-up so I can plan. She replied, “This place is mine, I do what I want,” with no listening. The next day when I was a little late she snapped at me in front of the other vendors about discipline in business. I was so embarrassed, felt judged over and over.

I get that she invested and has costs, but I want a space where people respect each other. Is it too much to just get a heads-up? Even small courtesy would help. If there were clear rules from the start—like how to use shared spaces and who asks permission when—that would be fine. Lately I feel like my voice is being silenced or like I’m the one making a fuss.

Some nights I lie awake thinking about it until 1:30am, can’t sleep, several nights a week. Sigh. Should I move? Costs will go up, and moving means packing alone at home again. I’m worried my shop will slow down, customers will get annoyed, I’ll lose credibility. If I speak up directly I’m afraid it’ll escalate with the other vendors. Sigh.

What should I do? Has anyone faced this? Any tips on talking to someone who acts like the boss of the space—how to be polite but firm? Should I move immediately and say I can’t accept it, or try drafting a short table of rules for all vendors to sign as a settlement? I’m really not sure, please help T_T

P.S. Thanks for reading this far. OP is super confused, really confused lol 5555