Chapter 254 The Soap Business is Settled
While playing with plum blossoms.
This is the largest private room in Yunshui Inn, with dried plum blossom branches and lifelike embroidered plum blossoms, which is very elegant.
There were twenty-eight people in the private room, each with a cup of tea in front of them, but no one could remain calm because there were too many competitors in front of them.
Soap is something that you can tell is of the highest quality just by listening to it.
Not to mention, this product has already gained widespread recognition, and now almost everyone knows that soap is stronger and better than bath beans.
As long as there is a supply of goods, they will definitely sell out quickly in the store, which is a sure-fire way to make money.
But if there are too many people selling soap, it might not be profitable...
No one bothered with pleasantries or tea; their eyes were fixed on the doorway.
Amidst the anticipation of everyone, the person in charge finally appeared.
Cheng Wanwan went to a ready-made clothing store to buy a nice outfit, put it on, and wore a jade hairpin in her hair before walking in gracefully.
Everyone who came here knew that the person in charge was a woman, about thirty years old. This matched what they had heard, so everyone stood up and greeted her with clasped hands.
“My husband’s surname is Zhao, so you can all just call me Sister-in-law Zhao.” Cheng Wanwan smiled and sat down. “Please don’t be so polite, everyone, please sit down.”
As soon as she opened her mouth, Manager Zhai of Zhuomuzhai was suddenly stunned. This woman seemed to look somewhat familiar!
Standing behind him, Ershuanzi whispered, "Shopkeeper, she... she's the woman who came to the shop yesterday to buy toothbrushes and tooth powder, but left because she couldn't afford them..."
Manager Zhai vaguely remembered that yesterday the woman seemed to want to talk to him privately about something... No, it couldn't be about soap, could it...? If that's the case, then wouldn't he be...?
Manager Zhai couldn't help but swallow hard, and said with difficulty, "So it's Sister Zhao. I was really too busy yesterday and neglected you. Please forgive me... Sister Zhao, how about we talk about what you wanted to discuss yesterday today?"
The people in the room looked surprised and doubtful.
If this unassuming shopkeeper actually knows this woman, then will these people still have a chance to buy soap?
Cheng Wanwan smiled faintly: "I came here to talk to everyone about this matter."
Manager Zhai's smile faded; it turned out that yesterday's business deal really was about soap.
He actually turned away a highly profitable business that he could have monopolized!
He's such an idiot!
"I suppose everyone has gathered here because they've heard about the soap," Cheng Wanwan said with a gentle smile. "Dear owners and shopkeepers, please take a look at the goods."
Zhao Ergou placed three kinds of soap on the table.
"This is an unscented soap, with no additives, suitable for washing clothes, and it costs two hundred coins," she explained. "This one is milky and honey scented. With these expensive ingredients added, it's perfect for bathing and cleansing, and it also has nourishing effects, hence the higher price of eight hundred coins."
There were still three or four bars of each soap left, and everyone took turns looking at them.
Zhao Dawang thoughtfully prepared water, and some meticulous people rolled up their sleeves and washed their hands with soap.
Only after using it yourself will you know how extraordinary this soap is.
It's not much inferior to bath sponges, but it's more durable and cheaper, which is enough to make it appealing.
Before Cheng Wanwan even started promoting her products, everyone present was already captivated by the soap.
“The price is fine. I need a thousand dollars for each of these three items,” a slightly older man said first. “I can settle the payment on the spot.”
The others quickly spoke up, afraid that if they were too late, the opportunity would be lost.
"I want three hundred dollars each!"
"I run a small business, so I'll take 100 yuan from each of you first!"
"Everyone, please be quiet." Cheng Wanwan raised her hand to quiet everyone down. "This product takes some time to produce. The few remaining in the warehouse have just been sold out. There is no stock available at the moment; we are only accepting pre-orders. Furthermore, each of you will need to arrange for someone to pick it up yourself. The journey is quite far from Nanyang; it will take about a day and a night by water. If you can accept this, you can stay. If you cannot, you can leave now."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.
Not having stock means you have to wait, and in business, if you have to wait, things can easily fall apart.
No one present spoke.
Cheng Wanwan took a sip of tea, her face composed: "Please make your decisions as soon as possible. Those who leave can continue to cooperate in the future, while those who stay will have to follow my rules for the time being."
Her words sounded domineering, but she had a warm smile on her face, which made her seem approachable.
Some shop owners with smaller premises who are unable to pick up their goods remotely have no choice but to withdraw from the business.
In the end, seventeen people remained.
Cheng Wanwan then spoke up: "A 5% deposit is required for reservation. Goods will be picked up in the order of the deposit payment. The pick-up time will be written on the pick-up slip. The shortest pick-up time is three days, and the longest... may be a month."
The people present exchanged glances.
Generally, the deposit is 15% or 20% of the total amount. The purpose is to prevent the customer from backing out and leaving the goods unsold.
Cheng Wanwan was clearly not afraid of losing money, only accepting a 5% deposit, which showed considerable sincerity.
But they were still a little worried. This woman was not from Nanyang City. What if she ran away with the money?
Although 5% of the payment is not much, it's still embarrassing to be cheated out of money because of my own negligence.
"My travel permit, household registration, and other documents will be registered with the Nanyang government. If I run away with the money, everyone can report it to the authorities," she said with a smile. "Those who wish to make a reservation, please line up here."
After she finished speaking, she placed her pass and household registration certificate on the table for everyone to inspect.
Her open and honest attitude, coupled with her calm and composed demeanor, naturally earned her the trust of most people.
The first man to place an order came to line up: "Three kinds of soap, one thousand each."
Zhao Ergou was responsible for recording the pre-ordered quantity and issuing the pickup slip. This slip needed to be stamped with the four characters "Dahe Zhao Shi" carved by Old Man Zhao, and it also had a unique anti-counterfeiting mesh design that was almost invisible unless you looked closely: "May I ask your surname?"
The man said, "My surname is Bai, Bai Qi, from the Bai Family Trading Company in Wancheng."
He brought all the silver he could to Nanyang City in search of business opportunities, but after half a month he had no clue what to do until today, when he heard about soap.
A voice inside him told him he had to seize this opportunity! This was definitely his chance! He trusted his intuition and his judgment!
Zhao Dawang was in charge of the accounting. He would carefully calculate how much deposit had been received and how much was still owed: "The total is 1,800 taels of silver, and the deposit is 90 taels of silver."
Bai Qi took out a 100-tael silver note and handed it over, and Zhao Dawang gave him 10 taels of silver in change.
Zhao Ergou handed over the receipt: "Sign here."
Bai Qi picked up a brush and wrote his name.
Finally, Zhao Ergou stamped the receipt, making it complete. It contained the specific address of Dahe Village, and on the back were two routes to Dahe Village, both by water and by land. At the bottom was the deadline. If the goods were not picked up by the deadline, the receipt would be invalid and the deposit would not be refunded.
This one person ordered 3,000 bars of soap, and at the current pace of the workshop, it will take at least a month to produce them.
However, Cheng Wanwan plans to expand the workshop, hire more workers, and increase daily output to one thousand, otherwise the orders will be booked until next year.
After all the reservations were completed, Zhao Ergou did the math: unscented soap cost 10,000 yuan, honey-scented soap cost 5,000 yuan, and milk-scented soap cost 5,000 yuan.
The total cost of the goods was 10,000 taels of silver, with the deposit alone amounting to 500 taels of silver.
Zhao Ergou and Zhao Dawang were both dumbfounded.
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