Reborn in 1999: Starting as a black marketeer

Looking at the address again, it's the Alpha Hotel?

Isn't this right next to the Izmailov metro station? It doesn't even take ten minutes to drive there from the market!

Since it was nearby and the market didn't have any goods that satisfied him, Ivan decided to drive over and take a look. If the quality was good, he could buy a batch and try selling them. He just didn't know if the price would be too high...

When Anna returned to the company with Vera, Ivan was carefully examining the samples, with Sofia explaining them to him.

"Sir, you should be able to tell that the quality of our jeans far surpasses those low-end products in the market. They are exactly the same as the genuine Levi's jeans in the official stores because they are produced in the same factory..."

To be honest, Ivan had never really researched the authentic Levi's products sold in stores, but he could tell that the jeans here were definitely much better than the Turkish ones he had sold before!

Although he was already tempted, Ivan maintained a nonchalant demeanor, frowning and nitpicking, "Why are there only a few samples? Isn't this selection a bit too limited?"

Anna had just returned and, upon hearing Ivan's question, immediately smiled and replied, "You don't need too many styles of jeans. These are the classic styles that are best-selling and most popular with consumers at Levi's stores."

Ivan's eyes lit up when he saw Anna. He thought to himself, "This company may not be big, and it only has a few employees, but they are all great beauties."

After asking a few more questions, Ivan finally asked the one he was most concerned about: "What's the minimum order quantity, and what's the price?"

Anna invited him to sit in the reception area, then had Vera bring him hot coffee and Sophia bring product posters and brochures before saying, "Our company aims to build long-term partnerships with distributors, unlike large markets where anyone can come and buy. Therefore, when choosing partners, we consider their financial strength, and there are minimum order quantities. For the first order, the minimum is one hundred items..."

At this point, Anna observed Ivan's expression. If he was startled by the thought of getting a hundred pairs of jeans, then this customer's financial situation was probably not that great, and it was better to get rid of such a customer.

Ivan remained calm. A hundred pairs of jeans might be a bit much, but it wasn't a big problem. As long as the price was reasonable, given the quality and style of the products here, he could sell them all in a month at most.

Seeing that Ivan's expression was normal, Anna continued, "Our products have a uniform retail price of one thousand rubles, and all distributors purchase them at 60% of the retail price, which is six hundred rubles per bag."

"So expensive?! I bought Turkish jeans wholesale at the market for just over 300 rubles a pair before, and yours is double that!" Ivan exclaimed.

Anna smiled slightly and said calmly, "A pair of Levi's jeans sells for more than three thousand rubles at a Levi's store, but the same product here only sells for 600 rubles."

"That's not the same. Levi's counters are all in high-end shopping malls, and they sell genuine products. As for your goods... we all know what's going on. The price is indeed too high." Ivan shook his head repeatedly.

"It's unrealistic to expect these products to be priced the same as the inferior goods in the big market just because they lack a brand authorization certificate. Besides, this isn't a big market; the prices here are set by the company after repeated evaluations, and every customer pays the same price." Anna didn't budge an inch, insisting that the price was non-negotiable.

Seeing that the price couldn't be negotiated, Ivan stood up as if to leave, and said regretfully, "Then I'll go back and think about it. To be honest, I really appreciate the quality and style of your products, and I'd like to buy some wholesale to resell, but the price is just too high."

This was a little trick for bargaining, and it always worked for him at the big market. Unfortunately, Anna didn't buy it at all, even though Ivan was the first customer to come to the store.

With a professional smile, she said, "Yes, we also hope that our clients have carefully considered their options before choosing to cooperate with us. We are also a new company, and we will introduce more high-quality products in the future, so we hope that our clients are also forward-looking and willing to cooperate for the long term and develop together."

Anna saw Ivan off at the company gate, waved goodbye, and watched him enter the elevator before turning back to the company.

Wang Feiyang had just finished smoking and returned. Anna told him about the situation and said somewhat nervously, "Now that we've set the price, we can't change it. We can't lower the price just because a customer comes along and tries to negotiate. That wouldn't be good for our long-term business."

She was worried that Wang Feiyang was too eager for quick results and would blame her for not being able to retain customers even though they came to her door, so she emphasized her thoughts again.

Wang Feiyang didn't seem to care at all, waving his hand and laughing, "That's normal. I think you did the right thing. It's impossible for every customer who comes to us for consultation to cooperate with us. It's not just the customers who choose us, we also have to choose our customers. Those customers who only think about selling goods with low prices are not a good choice."

With Wang Feiyang's affirmation and support, Anna finally breathed a sigh of relief, her large blue eyes curving slightly.

…………

On the other hand, after Ivan came out, he didn't rush to leave. Instead, he took a walk around the Alpha Hotel. Although he often passed by this area, this was the first time he had ever been inside.

The upscale hotel lived up to its reputation; its magnificent decorations dazzled Ivan.

The company that had offices here must be quite powerful...

After wandering around for a while, he drove back to the New Sun Market and went to the wholesale area where Turkish goods were concentrated, which he used to frequent. However, he was not satisfied with what he saw. Perhaps it was because he had just seen the counterfeit Levi's and had a comparison.

I used to think these Turkish jeans were pretty good quality, but now they're just awful...

I couldn't find a satisfactory source of goods no matter how many times I looked around, and all I could think about were the few pairs of jeans samples I had seen at the company.

Finally, Ivan gritted his teeth and said, "Six hundred rubles a piece, six hundred rubles it is!"

Anyway, jeans of that quality definitely won't be sold cheaply at their own counter. They should be able to sell for 900 or 1,000 rubles, since those Turkish jeans used to retail for 600 or 700 rubles.

Actually, when you calculate it this way, the profit from selling a Levi's and a pair of Turkish jeans is about the same.

More importantly, those Levi's jeans are of much better quality and have absolutely no competitors, while Turkish jeans aren't just sold by themselves...