Section 113: Different Marketing Philosophies

Upon hearing the word "also" when Ocean Girl mentioned clothing production, Li Zhan immediately became alert and asked, "What? Do they produce clothing where you are, too?"

The tribal chief of Qu'a County looked at Ocean Girl with confusion as well.

Qu'a and Danyang were two of the three counties under the jurisdiction of Moling. Due to a business model featuring fixed retail prices and aggressive market expansion, the clothing from Yanhuang Village had already penetrated the Qu'a County market half a month ago. Several player merchants and NPC merchants had begun using the novelty of Yanhuang Village's new-style clothing to attract buyers in rented market stalls. By now, most players and NPCs in Qu'a County knew about the new-style clothing produced by Yanhuang Village in Danyang County, and many took pride in being able to wear such garments.

Ocean Girl walked over to the dyeing shed, picked up a finished yellow villager's tunic from the table, examined it carefully, and replied, "Yes, there is, but compared to your clothing, it is inferior in both style and color. That tribe is from Runan. I heard they operate in partnership with a brother tribe; one tribe focuses on growing cotton, while the other handles production, and they split the profits proportionally. By the way, how much do you sell one of your garments for?"

Li Zhan replied, "The retail price is three gold pieces. Wholesale is discounted."

Ocean Girl shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I want to know the highest price you've ever sold a piece for."

Li Zhan shrugged. "It is fixed at three gold pieces per unit. Not only is the price fixed when the village sells them directly, but merchants selling Yanhuang Village clothing must also adhere to this fixed standard. They are not allowed to arbitrarily raise prices or engage in bidding wars; otherwise, their purchasing rights are revoked."

Upon hearing this, Ocean Girl exclaimed in surprise, "Why do you do that? New-style cotton clothing is in high demand right now. Why don't you take the opportunity to earn more? The tribe from Runan I mentioned sells their clothing through bidding. The highest price one of their garments reached was fifteen gold pieces, which made everyone's eyes turn green with envy."

Li Zhan smiled and shook his head, thinking to himself that this tribe clearly lacked a sense of long-term competition and was only focused on immediate profits. Their philosophy was entirely different from his own expansionist strategy. He wondered what their current production capacity was.

With a smile, Li Zhan asked, "What is the name of that tribe? How many garments can they produce in a day?"

Ocean Girl thought for a moment and said, "I think it's called the Dry Wood Tribe. I can't recall the name of the other one that grows the cotton. Their production is quite small, reportedly around twenty or thirty pieces a day. And they have no such thing as wholesale; they let players or NPCs bid on them, and the highest bidder wins."

Li Zhan nodded.

Before implementing private ownership, Yanhuang Village produced about 150 garments a day. After the upgrade, the efficiency of the production staff had greatly improved, bringing daily output to over 180 pieces. Furthermore, the garments produced each day were sold out by the end of the day. Every day, before lunch and dinner, long queues would form in front of the item shop in the village market, as these were the times when the village put the morning and afternoon production runs on sale.

Because the Dry Wood Tribe's production was small and they sold via bidding, their market reach could not possibly be as extensive as Yanhuang Village's. Moreover, they were far away and did not pose a genuine threat yet. Even so, he should not be complacent. He decided he would soon gather all the honorary merchants to discuss the current situation and prepare for competition.

At this point, Ocean Girl examined a few more colors of clothing, smiled with satisfaction, and said to Li Zhan, "Hey, what is your wholesale price per piece? I'd like to hear it. If the price feels right, I might open a specialty shop in Hefei County and earn some pocket money using your clothes."

Li Zhan did not answer her directly. A thought had suddenly occurred to him: Hefei was relatively close to Runan. If his clothing could penetrate the Hefei market, it would undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to the Dry Wood Tribe. Furthermore, since the Dry Wood Tribe relied on bidding, the sudden appearance of his low-priced clothing would force them to lower their prices to compete. Without him needing to stir up trouble, players would inevitably form a negative impression of the Dry Wood Tribe’s profit-driven business model, and his own brand would naturally win the favor and recognition of the players.

After some mental calculation, Li Zhan decided to let Ocean Girl be his vanguard in opening the Hefei market. The first step was to make her an honorary merchant of Yanhuang Village.

Li Zhan laughed, "Don't underestimate the profits from clothing. You can't just call it 'pocket money.' Our first honorary merchant, Brother Pig, earns nearly a hundred gold pieces a month just from selling clothes."

One hundred gold was a negligible sum for Yanhuang Village at this stage, as daily expenditures already exceeded that amount, but it was not the case for other tribes. Ocean Girl's Wind Whisper Tribe only earned sixty or seventy gold pieces a month from all the cotton they produced, and even that made her very happy. She had assumed that because Yanhuang Village kept the unit price so low, there was no profit for merchants. The revelation that one could earn nearly a hundred gold a month surprised her, and she couldn't help but be skeptical.

She tilted her head and looked at Li Zhan with a scrutinizing gaze. "Is the profit really that high? You war-monger, you wouldn't happen to be a big profiteer on the side, would you?"

Li Zhan replied with a wry smile, "If you don't believe me, you can ask Brother Pig. My friend list feature is currently disabled due to the war, so you can just add him directly. Or, when you return to Hefei, you can take a look at the Danyang market and see if the merchants selling Yanhuang Village clothing—whether they are players or NPCs—are doing a booming business and filling their pockets."

With that, Li Zhan gave her the user ID of "Pig is the reversed reading of 'is Pig'" and told her to ask him. He then led the other tribal chief to continue the tour.

After walking around the village, showing the chief the reclaimed farmland and the wooden houses where players lived, they returned to the dyeing shed. Ocean Girl had been waiting there. Seeing Li Zhan return, she hurried over and said, "I just asked that 'Pig' fellow. What he told me basically matches what you said. However, he told me that honorary merchants are different from regular merchants, and if I want to maximize profits, I should apply to become an honorary merchant."

Li Zhan nodded. It was better that she had asked on her own; otherwise, he would have had to introduce the idea, and given her suspicious nature, she might have become wary.

Li Zhan then explained the rights and obligations of an honorary merchant to her in detail.

After listening, Ocean Girl frowned and thought for a moment before looking up at Li Zhan. "This is practically an unequal treaty! Becoming an honorary merchant requires buying at least fifty garments a month. If I don't buy them, it's considered a breach of contract and I have to pay a penalty. That's too harsh!"

Li Zhan smiled and said, "You don't have to be an honorary merchant. You can just enjoy the regular wholesale price, and then there won't be any of these so-called 'unequal terms'."

Ocean Girl replied, "How can I do that? That Pig fellow already told me there is a huge difference between the honorary price and the regular wholesale price."

Li Zhan said with a helpless expression, "You cannot have your cake and eat it too. Opportunity and risk coexist. It all depends on your choice."

Li Zhan knew that with her personality, once she knew the honorary price, she would not be content with the regular wholesale price. Therefore, he laid it out clearly and let her choose.

Ocean Girl frowned and thought for a while, her eyes blinking as a flash of cunning appeared in them. She looked up at Li Zhan and said, "How about this: let's sign a temporary contract. The contract states that I will first buy fifty villager garments from you at the honorary price to sell in Hefei. If I can sell them within half a month, I will return within a month to sign the official honorary merchant contract with you. If I cannot sell them within half a month, I have the right to decline signing the contract."

Li Zhan thought about it. This temporary contract was essentially Ocean Girl insuring her own interests—if the clothes sold well, she would sign the contract; if they didn't, they would part ways, and she wouldn't lose much on fifty garments. After a wry smile, he couldn't help but admire her wit. His immediate priority was to develop Hefei into an outpost for his clothing to prepare for further expansion into the Central Plains. Therefore, after a moment's thought, he agreed to the temporary contract. He was confident that once his low-priced clothing appeared in the Hefei market, it would trigger a buying frenzy, and the fifty pieces would be gone in less than three days. At that point, bound by the temporary contract, she would be forced to sign the honorary merchant agreement. This could be considered a roundabout way of reaching his goal.

After signing the temporary contract, Ocean Girl began to carefully select the clothing. Because of her color preference, she had a soft spot for red and yellow garments. Out of the fifty villager garments, twenty were red, twenty-five were yellow, and five were blue.

The Qu'a tribal chief, who had been watching from the side, leaned over to Li Zhan and whispered, "Village Chief Li, I have an idea. I don't know if you would be willing to agree to it."