“To the North?” The employee named A’Ze murmured softly, then took an abacus from his bag. The crisp sound of beads clicking filled the air.
A moment later, he looked up and shook his head. “Boss, my assessment is that it’s not as good as the first option. First, transporting this batch of clothes to the North for sale – what method would we use? No matter which transportation method we choose, the costs will increase significantly.
Secondly, the purchasing power in the Northern regions is low. If we price them too high, no one will buy them. If we price them too low, factoring in the costs and transportation, we’ll most likely operate at a loss.”
He spoke very sincerely.
But Wen Ci curled her lips into a confident smile. “I’ll take 200,000 yuan worth of goods first to test the waters. If it works, you can follow my method too.”
“Uh…” A’Ze looked at the highly confident Wen Ci, hesitated to speak, but ultimately didn’t voice words that would dampen her spirits, especially since he didn’t have a better solution himself.
“Then let’s give it a try.”
Anyway, the factory’s sales team was currently idle. If the method proved feasible, they could all be sent on business trips to sell off the factory’s inventory quickly. That batch of clothes was taking up warehouse space.
They couldn’t produce too many Hong Kong-style clothes either, as there wouldn’t be room to store them.
Wen Ci spoke up, “Can I go into the factory warehouse to look at those clothes?”
Xu Jinghe raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”
The warehouse was located in the back courtyard of the factory. As the group passed through the garment production area, Wen Ci looked at the equipment and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Are there still state-owned factories in Shencheng?”
Xu Jinghe replied, “Yes, there are. Although private entrepreneurship is encouraged now, the state-owned factories in Shencheng are still quite profitable. There’s one state-owned garment factory that also plans to produce Hong Kong-style clothes.
But the trouble with state-owned factories is the bureaucratic procedures. We need to establish a foothold in the market before they do. Otherwise, people still prefer to buy goods produced by state-owned factories.”
The warehouse keys were kept by a specific person. Wen Ci waited a few minutes before the key custodian came running over, out of breath.
“Boss.”
Xu Jinghe said gently, “Why run in such a hurry?”
After the warehouse door was unlocked, Wen Ci and the others walked in. Rows of shelves came into view, filled with sacks of clothes.
In the middle were bolts of fabric sealed tightly, and the bottom layer was also filled with sacks of clothes. Each sack was labeled with the clothing style.
Summer short styles, winter long styles.
Wen Ci asked, “For 200,000 yuan worth of goods, roughly how many items would that be?”
“Close to forty thousand pieces.”
Wen Ci continued, “Is the quality all the same as the sample you showed us earlier?”
“Guaranteed to be the same.”
Wen Ci couldn’t help rubbing her hands together. Among the winter long styles were cotton-padded clothes. The cost price was five yuan; with transport costs, it would be at most seven yuan. She could sell them for nine yuan per jin (catty).
A cotton-padded jacket weighed more than one jin – a sure profit.
As for the summer short-style clothes, she could sell them for fifteen yuan.
Fifteen yuan sounded like a lot, but a short-sleeved shirt didn’t weigh a whole jin. It sounded expensive, but it was actually similar in price to those on the market.
Selling goods needed a hook.
Whether good or bad, attracting customers in the first place was a success.
Wen Ci said with a smile, “If they sell well, I’ll want more.”
Xu Jinghe: “No problem.”
A’Ze offered his wishes: “I hope you won’t operate at a loss…”
“Definitely not,” Wen Ci replied.
Shencheng was a coastal city; people earned more here, so their purchasing power was high. But they underestimated the purchasing power of Northerners. Good quality, new styles, and cheaper than department store prices?
Only a fool wouldn’t buy them!
A’Ze immediately called workers to allocate goods for Wen Ci. “Should we select more summer short-style clothes for you? It’s summer right now, short styles sell more easily.”
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