Merchant concocted dreams in sun (9)
I believe the answer is:
tradesman
'merchant' is the definition.
(tradesman is a kind of merchant)
'concocted dreams in sun' is the wordplay.
'concocted' is an anagram indicator.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'sun' becomes 'tan' (both can mean to get a sun tan).
'dreams' with letters rearranged gives 'radesm'.
'radesm' going within 'tan' is 'TRADESMAN'.
(Other definitions for tradesman that I've seen before include "One buying and selling" , "Small businessman" , "Retailer - artisan" , "Skilled hand" , "Skilled worker; shopkeeper" .)