people's republic of desire
Niuniu and her friends Lulu and Beibei have been talking about starting a business: it's now fashionable to hold down a full-time job and a sideline at the same time.
They discuss the possibility of opening a coffee shop, a used books store, even a sushi bar. But the ideas are quickly discarded because they require huge start-up capital. The friends need to begin on a smaller, more manageable scale.
Then, Niuniu hits on the idea of an online store. 'We won't have many overheads, or need a storefront, or have to deal with corrupt local police and tax people,' she says.
Her friends like her suggestion, so the next day they register accounts at ebay.com, eachnet.com and paypal.com. Now that they've set up a way to receive payments from buyers, there's just one more thing to decide: what to sell?
They sit in Niuniu's courtyard house, brainstorming. 'What about used English books? We could get them cheaply from overseas,' Niuniu says.
'Books are heavy,' says Lulu. 'Shipping is expensive. Plus, Chinese books are cheap. Plus, most people here don't read English. What about golf clubs? People are into golfing. We can make money out of the rich.'
'But we aren't expert golfers,' Niuniu says.
'We're all women,' says Beibei. 'We're all fashionable women. Our speciality should be fashion and stuff women want.'
'Yes,' says Niuniu. 'We can sell any extra perfume or cosmetics we have, to start with. If those move, we can start an import business.'
Lulu sighs. 'I'm not as rich as Beibei and Niuniu,' she thinks. 'I don't have expensive stuff to sell.'
When she gets home, Lulu goes through her belongings and discovers a small collection of Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Prada handbags in a closet. They were gifts from her ex-boyfriend, Ximu, who secretly married another woman. When Lulu found out, she wanted to throw away the bags to get rid of any reminders of him. But her practical nature prevailed, and she kept them because they were expensive. Now, she realises, they're just the items to sell online.
She uses her digital camera to take pictures of each item and sends them to Niuniu, saying: 'We can give a huge discount on the list price, even reduce the original price by 80 per cent to attract customers. If they get a good deal this time, they're more likely to come back.'
Niuniu uploads the pictures, and adds descriptions. Within a few hours, they've received bids from all over the world. But the highest bid comes from a local man, who wants to buy them for his wife. He's willing to pay cash and even collect the bags himself.
Niuniu calls Lulu to tell her. 'I've got you a good customer,' she says, and gives her friend the buyer's phone number, so they can arrange a time and place for exchange.
'Wait a minute!' Lulu says. 'The number is Ximu's. He's buying them back.'
'We'll send somebody else to finish the transaction, then,' Niuniu says.
Because after all, business is business.
