Utilizing E-Commerce

This week has been a bit different than last as we have been learning in class about E-Commerce and the importance on online trading here in Yiwu. Not only have we been learning the history and development of this process, but also we have been very interactive with it, as part of our task/assignment has been to order a product and have it delivered to the school in which we are studying. This all starts by us getting online and searching a wholesale website (alibaba.com) for a product that we are interested in buying. From there, we had to see if the seller was online so that we could ‘chat’ with them, just like we can do on MSN or AOL instant messengers. After asking many questions and making sure that they are close enough to be able to deliver the good, we have to bargain with them so we are not stuck with 10,000 bracelets or something like that. The usual strategy for people like us is to ask for a sample of the product, which of course will cost more than a bulk order, but it is still much less in many cases than we could find back in the United States. My order consisted of earphones, something small and simple that I can easily bring back, and wouldn’t break the bank. Originally this style would be at least $20 in the U.S., but here, I was able to get a pair for $5.00! (had I ordered 100 I could have gotten a price of less than $2.00 a pair) Now all I have to do is call the owner later on, and confirm the order so they can make the delivery this afternoon.