Chapter 194: Slaughtering the Scalpers

On the 11th of February, at Xing Hai Technologies, in the Marketing and After-sales departments, the staff were urgently preparing themselves for the test that awaited them.

In the office, Vice President Liang Ying, Marketing Manager Li Yuan Liang, and After-sales Manager Liang Bin, were talking amongst themselves. Li Yuan Liang twisted his neck and rubbed his fist, saying, “We should be able to get rid of all the scalpers in one fell swoop. Those wicked scalpers; they’ve been a thorn in our side for a long time. According to our insider information, all the scalper groups in the country, big and small, are targeting our Bang Bang robot. They’ve mobilized billions of funds, rented a large number of servers, and opened a few hundred accounts. They really plan to go all in this time around!”

Liang Bin shook his and pressed his lips together. “Those scalpers are looking for a quick get-rich scheme. They are betting on this with all that they have. All of them must be crazy.”

Liang Ying nodded and smiled chillingly. “But, this time, they have miscalculated! If they continue in their wrong-doings and persist in preying on the hard-earned money of the ordinary consumers, then they have to prepare for a trap. Not only will they make no profits, but they could also even suffer a loss. All the stocks that they have accumulated will be useless in their hands!”

The stocks that Xing Hai Technologies had prepared were far greater in reality than what they had officially announced. The production lines in Ling Feng Jing Mi OEM factory had already started mass-production three months ago. A large number of units were stockpiled in the warehouse, ready for sale. There were 1.5 million units of Bang Bang robot friendly edition and one million units of the deluxe edition. The quantity of ready stock was three to four time more than the 600,000 units that were officially announced.

Xing Hai Technologies had employed an underhanded trick by using a smokescreen to conceal the real numbers. Their purpose was to dig a big grave for the scalpers and get rid of them in one fell swoop!

Li Yuan Liang analyzed, “We cannot be complacent in our anticipation of the enemy. Let’s suppose that the scalpers have unimaginably deep pockets. They would buy all 1.5 million units of the friendly edition via lump sum cash payments; that would be equivalent to 30 billion dollars! We have to assume that they have funds of this magnitude and they buy all of the friendly edition. After which, we will release the deluxe edition on the 12th of February. That’s another one million units. Will the scalpers still have the ammo of 50 billion dollars to buy up all of the deluxe edition? Ok, let’s assume again that they are so powerful as a group that they manage to buy up all 2.5 million units; showcasing their impressive financial capabilities. We will announce our last killing move on the 13th February, the first of the new year. Can they still laugh? Haha, Xing Hai Technologies will teach you scalpers a lesson that will be carved into your soul. We might even destroy scalping as a profession in its entirety!”

…

At 12 pm sharp, the Bang Bang robot was fully open for orders on Xing Hai Technologies’ official Taobao shop, their Jingxi Mall shop, and other online platforms.

Countless voices rang out across the country.

“Grab it!”

“Please, please, please!”

“Koi, please give me luck!”

The order page lagged for several minutes. Some got their wishes and managed to buy a Bang Bang robot friendly edition. But many more did not. The order page on their phones skipped to an “order unsuccessful” or “server error” page as they missed their chance to buy a Bang Bang robot by a hair’s breadth.

…

Inside a certain room that was noisy, saturated with cigarette smoke, and littered with wires, a wave of cheering rang out.

“Hahaha, 124, I got 124 units! I’ve spent all my ammo and gained huge rewards!”

“I’ve spent all my money too; I got 81 units.”

“This is too easy! I got 173 units. I should’ve borrowed more money from relatives and friends. The money that I have is too little!”

One scalper said excitedly as he looked towards his future, “I’ve mortgaged my house and my car. I bought 196 units. I’ll be able to buy another house and car when I sell off these robots!”

Zhao Tiezhu, who had bought 212 units, rejoiced for a few moments, but he was quickly frowning. He asked the scalpers around him, “Anyone buy the deluxe edition? Did everyone get the friendly edition?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t even get my hands on one deluxe unit.”

“Me too.”

“Eh, Xing Hai Technologies made an announcement on their official site. They’re saying that they’ll only release the friendly edition today out of considerations for the server load capacity. They’ll start selling the deluxe edition at 12 pm tomorrow. Kindly wait… We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get the deluxe edition.”

“But I don’t have much money left on me.”

“I’ve spent all of my money on the friendly edition, there’s no ammo left.”

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“I only have a bit of money left for daily expenses. I can’t buy a deluxe edition.”

Zhao Tiezhu waved his hands. “Don’t worry, Xing Hai Technologies did not prepare many units for sale. There are only 100,000 units of the deluxe edition. This is utterly inadequate; it can’t satisfy the needs of the majority. There’ll be consumers who want to possess the robot urgently. They’ll come to us to buy the friendly edition because we are the only ones with the stock.”

“Leader Zhao is correct.” All of the scalpers nodded in agreement. But Zhao Tiezhu was still left with an ominous feeling. He thought that these scalpers managed to grab more of the friendly edition than he had expected. Based on his experience, the scalpers that were present could get an average of 30 units per person on a good day. How could all of the scalpers get more than a hundred units?

At 12 pm the next day, the Bang Bang robot deluxe edition was fully open for sale. However, Zhao Tiezhu and his gang of scalpers were not really involved in the rush to buy the deluxe edition. They only managed to buy 10 units as a group as they had no leftover money to buy more units.

In their WeChat group, they could only read with envy of the battle reports posted by various scalper groups across the country. The group chat was littered with updates such as, “so and so grabbed 50 units of the deluxe edition” or “someone bought 48 units of the deluxe edition.” Many deluxe units had been bought up by the scalper groups that prioritized this edition over the friendly one.

Nevertheless, a bombshell in the form of an analytical essay was dropped in the scalper community in the deep of the night by a veteran “King of Scalpers.” Hysteria spread.

“We’ve fallen into their trap, quickly retreat! Xing Hai Technologies has more than 600,000 units ready for sale!” Based on his many years of buying experience, the “King of Scalpers” estimated that Xing Hai Technologies had prepared 1.5 million units of the friendly edition and one million units of the deluxe edition for sale. Those were ample stock numbers. “They rounded up all the scalpers in the country by enticing them to sink all their capital into the trap! We need to stop buying, and sell off our stocks ASAP!”

Zhao Tiezhu was astonished. “2.5 million units of ready stock? Didn’t Xing Hai Technologies say that there were only 600,000 units available? F**k!” Beating his fists against the table, he raged, “Xing Hai Technologies, you’re f**king messing with us!” Although he was furious, Zhao Tiezhu was still not panicking. After all, the product was excellent, there was no fear that they could not be sold. It was just that it would be difficult to sell them at a high price with so many competitors. The selling price they had agreed upon would have to be drastically reduced.

On the 13th of February, the first day of the Lunar New Year, two announcements were made on Xing Hai Technologies’ official website, their Taobao shop, Weibo account, and other channels that caused countless scalpers like Zhao Tiezhu to break out in a cold sweat. They trembled and fell into deep despair.

Announcement one: “Production of the Bang Bang robot friendly edition has stopped. We will only provide ‘high value for money’ products to the consumers.” The gist of the announcement was that production of the friendly edition stopped at 1.5 million units. As it was less value for money, the company had decided to stop production and drop the line for the friendly edition.

A storm of protest rose within the netizens as they expressed their discontent.

“What about the poor peasants like us?”

“So they can neglect the poor all because of profits?”

“We can’t afford a deluxe edition that cost $50,000!”

“It’s not an ethical company, it’s just a vile corporation!”

This was instantly followed by the second announcement that eliminated the netizens’ discontent and pushed countless scalpers into a bottomless abyss.

Announcement two: “From today onwards, buyers of the deluxe edition can choose to pay in installments after a downpayment of 40%.” The announcement was as follows, “We have revised our payment scheme out of consideration for the financial circumstances of consumers, and the majority who really could not afford $50,000. Consumers can bring home a deluxe edition with just $20,000. The installation payment period will begin at the same time that they start using the product. With a service of 15 years, the buyer will only have to pay $168 per month as a ‘service fee.’ There is almost no interest included in the installation payments. If the buyer continues to delay service payments for three months, we will cut off the medical service until all payments to date have been fully made. If the Bang Bang robot continues its service in your household for more than 15 years, the buyer still has to pay $168 per month for the ‘medical service fee.’ This is equivalent to paying an additional ‘interest rate’ that has been excluded in the 15 years of installment payments. Of course, if you made a single payment for your purchase, there will be no need to pay an additional ‘service fee’ no matter how long you have been using your robot.”

Netizens expressed their approval of the purchase plan detailed in the announcement.

“The announcements are clear. Fork out $20,000, which is what you pay for the friendly edition, and you can bring home the deluxe edition with additional payments of $168 in service fees every month.”

“It’s still cutting our flesh with its ‘soft’ tactics. But $168 per month… Really isn’t a significant amount of money.”

“For a hundred dollars every month, you can ensure the health of your entire family. This can be considered cheap!”

“This is entirely within tolerable limits. And we are even able to use the deluxe edition, which is more value for money… Why are you hesitating?”

“I have to pay $16,000 for my monthly mortgage payment. This is only 1% of my mortgage; it’s just pennies.”

“Xing Hai Technologies will likely make a loss with this installation payment mode. The currency will surely depreciate considerably after 15 years. Yet, they don’t even really collect interest in the 15 years of the service period. It’s rare for such an ethical company to exist.”

…

Immediately, the state of the scalping industry in Z country was plunged into a cold winter filled with despair. Zhao Tiezhu and others in the scalper groups realized that the friendly edition could not compete against the deluxe edition in the market. It was less value for money and nobody was willing to go to the hospital for health check-ups year after year. The “value for money” deluxe edition was also useless in their hands. The majority of consumers were unable to make a one-off payment of $50,000. Most of the consumers would rather wait for Xing Hai Technologies to release about ten thousand units every day and purchase it via the installation payment mode than go to the scalpers and pay extra.

So… they were done for. Most of the scalpers were trapped, and it would be very difficult to extricate themselves from it. Scalpers who borrowed more than they could afford to pay back were in dire straits. However, they were not worthy of pity. They deserved the trouble they asked for! They would surely remember this lesson for the rest of their lives, some might even stop working as a scalper for good and become rich by their own efforts in a proper job.

This disaster had a deep and lasting impact on the scalping industry. Some scalpers who barely survived were traumatized. This fatal blow was termed the ‘Slaughter of the Scalpers.’ They were left with a deeply rooted fear towards Xing Hai Technologies and unconsciously stayed far, far away from anything to do with this company.