Chapter 166: Profiteer
Looking at the electronic watch he bought for ten yuan, Song Yuanchao wanted to cry. Ten yuan! You have to know that his monthly salary was just over thirty-six yuan, which was nearly a quarter of his monthly salary. If he spent this money in a restaurant, he could treat several people to a good meal with delicious fish and meat and good wine.
But now, the watch has become a naked thing before it has even warmed up. How can Song Yuanchao wear it outside? Afterwards, Song Yuanchao went to find the vendor who sold his watch, but where could he find it? These vendors move from place to place, and they must know that the quality of this kind of watch is not good. How wait for Song Yuanchao to come to them at the old place?
Just like that, the electronic watch that Song Yuanchao had worn for only half an hour ended its mission and was thrown into a drawer by Song Yuanchao and never worn again.
Later, as time passed, no one knew where the watch went, but the deep memory of it remained in Song Yuanchao's mind.
The electronic watches that Qin Zhengguo took out later were of this type. They looked good and cheap, but the quality was extremely poor. The ones he gave to Song Yuanchao and Ying Caixia were different. They were genuine good watches. Not to mention the Casio ones, even the two watches from Hong Kong brands were of acceptable quality. At least they would not have any problems if they were worn for a few years.
"Will anyone buy such a crappy watch?" Ying Caixia didn't expect that the watch she thought was beautiful would be of such poor quality, and she couldn't help asking.
"Of course there isn't any. The key is that it's cheap. Besides, what nonsense are you talking about? I don't know who was saying that this broken watch looks beautiful?" Qin Zhengguo laughed. Ying Caixia raised her eyebrows and glared at him. This guy really talked about things that were not relevant.
Qin Zhengguo smiled and then explained that this kind of watch is not completely unusable. If you are lucky, there will be no problem if you wear it for a year or two. Although it has a plastic core, it is an industrial product after all, so there is a basic guarantee.
The key is that the assembly quality of this kind of watch is not good, and the boss in Hong Kong cuts corners, which leads to many problems of core and case separation. So if you buy this kind of watch, the first thing to do is to take apart the case first, then get some super glue and glue it again yourself, and make sure it is firmly glued and will not fall off before wearing it. This way there will be no problem.
Song Yuanchao was clear about this, but he didn't know where he had lost the watch case, so there was nothing to glue it to even if he wanted to.
"What's the lowest price if I buy this kind of watch in large quantities?" Song Yuanchao asked, picking up the electronic watch with the case and plastic core separated.
"Yuan Chao, you are not planning to do business with this watch, are you? The quality of this watch is not good." Qin Zhengguo said in surprise.
"Didn't you tell me that this watch can be worn for at least a year or so? The key is that the case needs to be re-glued, right?" Song Yuanchao asked.
"That's true, but we always ask people to glue the stuff together themselves before we sell it..." At this point, Qin Zhengguo suddenly came to his senses and asked, "Yuan Chao, do you mean that we should glue the stuff together ourselves after we get it to ensure that it won't fall off before we ship it out?"
"Haha, you're quick-witted, that's what I thought." Song Yuanchao nodded with a smile.
He held the plastic core with the characters still jumping in his hand and gestured on his wrist: "Although the quality of this watch is poor, to be honest, the shape is still good. If the problem of the shell falling off can be solved, it should sell well. Of course, I know that this watch is definitely not as good as the ones you gave us, but the problem is that it is cheaper. Apart from other things, look, this watch can be compared with this watch..."
As he said this, Song Yuanchao put his bare-chested electronic watch aside and compared it with a cheap watch from Hong Kong: "One watch is worth seven or eight. If it is a Casio watch, it can be worth more than ten. Even if this watch can last for a year, it is still profitable. What do you think?"
Qin Zhengguo seemed to be thinking about something. Ying Caixia, who was standing beside him, also seemed to have thought of something. She picked up the watches that Song Yuanchao had placed on the table and looked at them over and over again.
With the beginning of reform and opening up, people's living standards have gradually improved, but this improvement is a long-term, step-by-step process.
In this process, the pursuit of beautiful things is what everyone expects, but at the same time, in addition to pursuing emerging products, one also needs to act within one's means.
In later generations, why is the Yiwu small commodity market so prosperous, while many products produced by those manufacturers, although of far inferior quality to those of big brands, are still exported overseas and in short supply?
In fact, the reason is very simple. Because of the different product and market positioning, many products of Yiwu Small Commodity Market are exported to third world countries, mostly small and poor countries. People in these countries generally have low incomes and weak spending power, but they have the same pursuit of emerging products and best-selling products, so they have formed a consumption model similar to that of China's early reform and opening up.
For example, a pair of stockings is sold to southern Africa. Although good quality stockings can be worn for many days, their sales are far less than those of inferior stockings due to their high price.
For example, in the eyes of southern Africans, a pair of low-quality stockings with bright colors and good styles only costs one yuan, while a pair of good stockings with good quality and similar appearance costs ten yuan. Between the two choices, southern Africans will never choose the latter, but the former.
Because in their opinion, it is better to spend ten yuan to buy ten or even twelve pairs of low-quality stockings than to spend ten yuan to buy a pair of good quality stockings.
Anyway, stockings look the same when worn on the feet, but you can buy low-quality stockings in many colors and styles, and you can change a pair every day. You can wear a new pair every day, and even if the taken-out stockings can't be worn, you can use them as rags. Isn't this much more cost-effective than spending the same amount of money to buy more expensive ones?
This is a simple manifestation of economic reality. When the Chinese made fun of the strange consumption concepts of people in other countries in the new century, they just forgot that they also went through the same thing in the past, but as time went by, they forgot the distant memory.
When Song Yuanchao gave this example, Qin Zhengguo's eyes suddenly lit up and he felt that this was a promising idea.
"I need to go back and ask someone about this. Actually, these watches were given to me by others when I was getting other goods. They didn't ask me for money." Qin Zhengguo pointed at the watches on the table and said, "But I know the market price outside. The normal purchase price is about two yuan. I estimate that the price can be reduced to about one yuan and eighty cents for large quantities. As for how much lower it can be, I don't know. We can only know after a specific discussion."
"RMB?"
"Yes! RMB!"
"Okay, if you can get the goods for about 1.8 yuan, you can try a batch when you go back. As for the quantity..." Song Yuanchao thought for a moment and said, "Let's get 10,000 pieces first. After you get the goods, check them carefully yourself, and then find someone to re-glue them. After making sure there are no problems, send them to me as soon as possible."
"Okay, I'll arrange this when I get back." Qin Zhengguo nodded and agreed. At this time, Ying Caixia asked curiously, "Yuan Chao, you took so much? Even if it's 1.8 yuan per piece, 10,000 pieces will cost 18,000 yuan. We have to find someone to glue them again. What if we can't sell them?"
"Hahaha, no, they will definitely sell. Besides, ten thousand are nothing. If they sell well, we will have to buy a lot more. This kind of thing is a rare commodity in both Shanghai and Beijing, and the market is huge."
"Are you really so sure?" Although Ying Caixia's ancestors were big businessmen, she had never been exposed to these things. Moreover, in her opinion, this amount of money was not a small amount. What if she lost it?
"Caixia, since Yuanchao said so, we just need to do it. When it comes to doing business, I will never obey other people, but I will obey Yuanchao. You just started to get involved in these things and don't know many things. I will tell you slowly later." Seeing that Ying Caixia seemed to want to persuade her, Qin Zhengguo interrupted. Ying Caixia looked at him puzzledly. When she saw Qin Zhengguo nodded to her seriously, although she was still confused in her heart, she stopped asking this question.
"By the way, if we want to sell the North Korea to Shanghai or Yanjing, how much do you think it would cost?"
"You should know better than me how much it sells for in the market in Yangcheng. It's thousands of miles from Yangcheng to Shanghai and Beijing. What do you think?" Song Yuanchao asked back.
Qin Zhengguo lit up a cigarette and thought about it. After a while, he said, "It depends on how you sell it. If you sell it wholesale, I suggest selling it for around 6 to 7 yuan, and no more than 8 yuan. If you sell it retail, you should sell it for 10 yuan. What do you think of this price?"
What Qin Zhengguo said was similar to Song Yuanchao's idea, and he immediately nodded in agreement.
At this time, Ying Caixia on the side was a little stunned. She heard everything they said just now. The two of them chatted and finalized a big deal worth tens of thousands of yuan, and they also discussed the purchase price and sales price openly.
Before coming to Shanghai, Ying Caixia only worked in a street factory. Her daily job was to paste paper boxes. She did not earn a penny from each box, and only a few cents after a busy day. Her monthly salary was more than 20 yuan.
But Song Yuanchao and Qin Zhengguo didn't take the transaction worth tens of thousands of yuan seriously at all, as if it was as easy as buying a pack of cigarettes.
What shocked Ying Caixia even more was the price Qin Zhengguo had just mentioned. She heard it clearly. The purchase price was 1.8 yuan, but the wholesale price was around 7 yuan. The retail price was as high as 10 yuan? This was simply too outrageous!
Even if it is sold at the minimum wholesale price of six yuan, the profit of a watch is as high as 333%. Every watch sold makes a profit of four yuan and forty cents. Ten thousand watches would make forty-four thousand yuan, right?
Ying Caixia is very good at mental arithmetic. She came up with the answer after just going through it in her mind. There is no way this number is wrong. Oh my God!
