Chapter 109 – Noble and Prestige
It’s time to have a decent office. There was no heating in the warehouse, and they had to rely on an electric heater for heating. When Feng Yu return from outside, he could not feel any differences at all.
The electric heater’s electrical consumption was very high. If they switch on a few electric heaters at the same time, the fuse will blow. Usually, there will only be 2 electric heaters switched on. One in Feng Yu’s office and another in the conference room.
This resulted in the staffs going back home to sleep every day and taking the public bus back to work early next morning. No one in their right mind would ride bicycles in Bing City during winter. The strong northern winds freeze you, and even if you walk on the frozen roads, you will slip and break your bones.
But today, Feng Yu called all the staffs back for a meeting. The humidifiers must be introduced to the market before the end of the year.
“Our target will be the dry areas in the Northern regions. You all have the Wind and Rain fans dealers. Contact every one of them and those that are interested, ask them to be here in 3 days’ time to sign the contract. After all the contracts are signed, I will give out the year-end bonus!”
Everyone left. Feng Yu also made a call to Brother Ki. He was not sure if the Soviet Union have consumer humidifier. If there was none, then he can increase the orders with the Motor Factory.
The Soviet Union only have industrial humidifiers. They had not started producing humidifiers for the mass market. The Soviet Union was still in the arms race with the US, and all their resources were invested in the military. They had no time to develop household appliances.
Feng Yu told Kirilenko about his humidifiers, and Kirilenko asked Feng Yu to send a few samples to him. If it were as good as what Feng Yu said, then he would order in bulks!
Feng Yu hesitated for a while. This humidifier was the same as his fans. There were no patents, and any factories can imitate it. But Feng Yu had a solution, which was to develop the ultrasonic humidifier. The Motor Factory had the ultrasonic technologies. This was something the smaller factories can imitate.
Feng Yu can forecast the sales for his fans to be lower this summer. But there should still be some profits. The Bing City’s Aviation Factory seems to have some air compressing technologies. It looks like the new electric fans will need to work with the Aviation Factory.
……
3 days later, a batch of dealers gathered at the Motor Factory’s conference room. The warehouse was not an ideal place to sign the contracts. It was too cold, and this will give the dealers an impression that Tai Hua Trading was not doing well.
Luckily Director Li was an easy-going person. Feng Yu told him that he wanted to rent the conference room, but Director Li just let Feng Yu use the room for 1 day and does not want to collect any money from him. The money will hurt their relationship.
It was a pity that Director Li did not let Feng Yu use the conference for the long term. But Feng Yu was still willing to maintain this good relationship with him.
“Everyone is here today, proved that you all had trust in Tai Hua Trading and believed in our Wind and Rain Electric appliances. Then I will announce that you all will be our long-term partners. I guarantee that you all will earn a lot of money!”
After Feng Yu finished, he waited for a few seconds. Fuck, there was no applause. His words did not excite these dealers?
“Director Feng, let’s talk about the contract. We had seen the demonstration. I am not sure about others, but I am sure to order from you. This time, there is no need for us to fill out the prices. Just tell us the wholesale prices. If the prices are right, then I will order 5,000 units!” A fatty shouted. He was the one who handled the markets of 2 provinces in the Southeast region previously, and he had earned a lot.
Feng Yu showed them the sales for Bing City. The fatty’s 2 provinces in the southeast region might not have any market for these humidifiers. The humidity in that area was higher than the north. But who said that he can’t sell to other provinces? As long as that other province does not have any authorized dealer, he can sell it in that province.
Feng Yu looked at that fatty. This fatty was smart. He thought that if he asked Feng Yu to set the prices, Feng Yu would not fix the prices too high?
“These humidifiers have 2 models based on the capacity. One model is the 2 liters model, and the other is the 4 liters model. The space area will determine which model to use. From the exterior, there are also 2 models. One type is the “Noble” model. This model is suitable for enterprises leaders, government servants. The other is called the “Prestige” model. This model is suitable for businessmen. The 2 liters Noble model’s supplier prices will be at 120 RMB per unit. The 4 liters Noble model will be at 170 RMB. The 2 liters Prestige model is at 130 RMB and the 4 liters at 180 RMB.”
These dealers had a shocked. The prices were too high. This humidifier was made of plastics. Why was it so expensive? They thought the most, it would be a few dozen RMB.
The average cost of 1 unit was about 50 plus RMB. The materials cost about 20 RMB, and Motor Factory’s assembly cost was 30 RMB. If the profit was not 2 to 3 times of the cost, then it was not worthy of Feng Yu’s “Invention”!
“Director Feng, the price is too high. 1,000 units will cost us over 100,000 RMB. All our funds will be invested in these humidifiers. We still must mark up the prices for profits. Who would buy if it is so expensive?” Someone asked.
Feng Yu glanced over at that person and that person immediately lower his head, pretending that he was not the one who said it. Director Feng of Tai Hua Trading had a bad temper. If he were not happy, he would just chase that person out!
“Our humidifier must be sold at high prices! Are televisions expensive? Are refrigerators expensive? Are there still many people who buy them? You all will be taking charge of the same province’s market as the previous time. Same rules. You all are not allowed to sell in another dealer’s market. This time, the minimum order is 1,000 units. If anyone of you wants to quit, the door is over there.””
Just because I did not get angry, you all try to climb all over me?
A few dealers from the southern regions left. The market in their region was not big. The humidity there was too high. A piece of clothing will take 3 to 5 days to dry!
The ones remaining were all from the northern regions, except for that fatty. The fatty was persuading others to quit, but he stayed.
If these people leave, then he will be able to control the whole market himself and use it against Tai Hua Trading. But not everyone wanted to quit. Especially the dealers from Beijing and Hebei. They even ordered 4,000 units each.
In the end, there were no dealers for the northwest region. The dealers for the central and northern areas all agreed to order. The Fatty still ordered 2,000 units, but he could take over the remaining provinces. This was considered a concession given to him by Feng Yu.
With a total order of 30,000 units, there was not enough stock. A few days ago, Feng Yu had already asked the Motor Factory to speed up the production. So, it was the same as last time. The dealers will receive half of their goods and the remaining one week later. In a week’s time, there will be a profit of 2 to 3 million RMB in Feng Yu’s pocket.
Goods first and pay later? Impossible!
Feng Yu knew that it was not easy to recover debts in this era. Even if they go to the courts, it was also no use. It was only possible to give our goods and collect payments later after the trust was built. Just like Feng Yu and Kirilenko. They would deliver goods to each other first and make payments later.
This humidifier was just to occupy the market first and to create the brand awareness. When Feng Yu get his hands on the technology of the ultrasonic humidifier, then he will be the market leader in the humidifier industry. That will be the time where he will get the real profits!