Let me relate how i sourced for Christmas gifts last year. My wife teaches piano, and she does give out Christmas gifts to her students every year. The gifts were typically stationery, sourced from one of those books and stationery fair. Last year, we came across 3D puzzles in a Metro departmental store, and i thought these would be excellent gifts for her students, for Christmas or otherwise. With these 3D puzzles, you construct a 3D structure out of cardboard pieces. They seem fun, for boys and girls alike. The price was a problem, however. At $10 each, they are definitely not within the reasonable price range of gifts for the students.
I reminded myself i had to do a check on Taobao to see for how much these 3D puzzles were sold in China. Afterall, it had a Chinese brand name, so it had to be cheaper on Taobao. Guess what? they were 7 to 13 Yuan (S$1.55 – S$2.85). We ordered them on Taobao without hesitation.
Besides Metro departmental store, i have seen these 3D puzzles being sold at other shops. I suspect many of these shops found their suppliers from Taobao. I always wondered, for how long more can these shops survive, if eventually, i presume, most people will know where to find them cheaper? Well, I think they can survive for some time, because it will still be many years before people are willing to learn about Taobao and other online shopping options. People generally still do freak out at having to complete an online purchase, let alone doing so on a platform in a language they’re not comfortable with. I hope to dispel these fears with some guide on how to buy from Taobao and other online sites.
Singapore is especially suited for online shopping business because of its compactness – goods delivery is cost effective. Also, rising labour and rental costs in Singapore makes retail sale in a brick-and-mortar shop more and more risky. At the same time, international shipping of goods direct to consumers have become a lot easier. All these spell disaster for traders and retailers. Anyway, that’s how a free economy should work. The labour force should be directed to where they are most needed. Meanwhile, for the rest of us, save serious money!
Leave a Reply