Chapter 410: US Dollars for Pearls
Smith looked at Xia Juanjuan very confidently, thinking that Xia Juanjuan would agree immediately.
After all, the general salary in this country is not high now. Twenty yuan is half a month's salary. This money is equivalent to the purchasing power of hundreds or thousands of US dollars abroad!
If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have thought of coming here to buy pearls.
It’s a pity that Xia Juanjuan is not from this era. She knows the market conditions abroad.
In particular, in the 1970s and 1980s, pearl cultivation technology was not yet developed. If the foreign prices were converted to the price level before she traveled through time, it would probably be much more expensive.
What's more, her pearls were all nucleus-free pearls, which are more precious than the artificial nucleus-containing ones of later generations.
Xia Juanjuan shook her head and said, "Twenty is too low. I can't accept it."
Smith looked at her, pretending to be indifferent to her purchase, and said with a half-smile, "Twenty is not a low price. I think you can consider it."
Xia Juanjuan smiled and asked the shopkeeper to help her find a hammer.
She picked out a larger pearl and smashed it with a hammer.
Smith looked at her in some surprise.
Xia Juanjuan showed the broken pearl fragments to Smith and said with a smile:
"Mr. Smith, you can see for yourself that my pearls are all without nuclei. In our country, pearl powder can be used for beauty and can also be used as medicine. My pearls are of a quality that can be used directly as medicine.
Moreover, it takes at least six years to grow a pearl this big.
Your company deals in luxury goods, so your customers are naturally rich and powerful. I believe they would like these clothes and bags decorated with pearls from the mysterious oriental country that can be used as medicine. However, if they knew that your company bought these pearls for 20 or 15 yuan each, they would probably feel that their status has dropped, right? "
Smith was at a loss for words.
In the luxury goods industry, what is pursued is mainly expensiveness and scarcity.
Not only are the products expensive, but the raw materials are also expensive. And the more mysterious and wonderful the origins are, the more likely they are to attract the attention of noble ladies.
Smith had to admit that the oriental woman in front of him understood luxury goods.
He couldn't help but look at the woman in front of him. He saw that she was wearing the same clothes that ordinary women in this country wore. Apart from being particularly beautiful, there was nothing special about her.
But at this moment...Smith looked at her with admiration.
"Miss Xia, you are very eloquent! How about this, big pearls like this, thirty bucks each, and small ones, twenty bucks each, how about that?"
Xia Juanjuan still shook her head and said, "The big pearls are eighty each, and the small ones are fifty. If you agree, we can discuss further. If not, then forget it."
The exchange rate in 1978 was around 1.58, which means that one foreign dollar required one and a half yuan to exchange.
But this is the stated price, and there is basically no way to redeem it.
On the contrary, in the black market, the exchange rate can be as low as 10:1, which means that one foreign dollar can be exchanged for ten dollars.
Xia Juanjuan's price was eighty yuan per piece, which was about eight yuan. It was not cheap, but compared with luxury goods that could cost hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of yuan, it was not much.
Smith looked embarrassed as he looked at the dazzling pearls in front of him. Each one was round and beautiful. If they were used to embellish clothes and bags, or even used alone to make necklaces, earrings and other accessories, it would definitely set off a pearl craze in the foreign fashion world!
As long as they can get good quality raw materials, their company can be the first and even monopolize the market!
Smith said, "It's too expensive. How about one for fifty and the smaller one for forty?"
Xia Juanjuan still insisted on her offer: "No. How about this, the big pearl remains at 80, and the small one, I am willing to pay 45. Let's both compromise, how about that?"
Smith frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Well... okay. This time, I'm willing to take a step back and just call Miss Xia your friend!"
Smith wanted one hundred large pearls and one hundred and fifty small pearls, for a total of fourteen thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars.
Smith said with some embarrassment: "But... I don't have so much money from your country..."
Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Mr. Smith, you don't have to exchange it. You can pay me with your country's money. However, the exchange rate cannot be 1:10 as in the black market. It should be 1:8."
Smith was stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion: "But what do you want to do with so much of our country's money? You can't spend it, right?"
Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "I have my own way of dealing with this. Mr. Smith doesn't have to worry."
After hearing this, Smith did not ask any more questions and immediately gave Xia Juanjuan about 1,800 foreign currencies at the exchange rate of 1:8.
Xia Juanjuan also handed all the pearls to Smith.
Smith gave Xia Juanjuan a business card and said with a smile, "Miss Xia, I hope we can establish a long-term cooperation. Do you have any intention in this regard?"
Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "We'll see what happens in the future."
Just selling pearls can bring considerable profits, considering the domestic situation.
But Xia Juanjuan does not intend to stop there.
In the future, she wants to create her own brand and turn pearls into finished products to sell domestically and abroad.
By then, high-quality raw materials will be her highlight that will make her superior to other companies and brands.
Naturally, she would not be willing to sell this highlight to other companies easily.
Smith also saw the intelligence and ambition in Xia Juanjuan's eyes, and smiled and said, "Miss Xia, I can feel that you may be a strong opponent of our company in the future. However, I think that you haven't started yet. If you cooperate with us for the time being, it will be a win-win situation for us. You can consider it."
Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Of course. I also hope to have the opportunity to work with Mr. Smith again next time."
Short-term cooperation is still very attractive.
After saying goodbye to Smith, Xia Juanjuan came back directly through space.
Another day passed, and it was time to meet Chen Rongsheng.
Xia Juanjuan still went to Guangzhou through the space, and made an appointment with Chen Rongsheng to meet at the teahouse where they had had breakfast before.
Chen Rongsheng said, "Electrical appliances are fine, but the prices are not cheap, and the other party wants to settle in Hong Kong dollars or foreign currencies. If they don't have them, they want gold or jade or something like that. These... can you exchange them on the black market?"
Xia Juanjuan had more or less guessed this would be the case.
In the current situation, domestic money is more or less not trusted when it is outside the country.
She smiled and said, "Then I'll pay with U.S. dollars."