Chapter 423
“Comrade, how many stamps are you planning to buy? These stamps were collected by my grandfather, but he passed away last year. None of my family members are interested in them, but if I don’t sell them now, I’m afraid they won’t be worth anything in the future. So, we’re hoping to sell all of them.”
The worker quickly added, seemingly worried that Su Xiaoxiao might try to bargain too much, “But you know, these were my grandfather’s beloved collection. I can’t sell them too cheaply, or my family won’t approve it.”
Su Xiaoxiao wasn’t interested in listening to these details. She only cared about the final price. “How many stamps do you have, and how much are you asking for them?”
“My grandfather collected a total of three hundred and sixty-four stamps over the years. All the series are complete. Apart from the rare ones, the misprints, and the ones that were recalled, he even managed to collect the ones specially issued for the military. The face values are mostly eight cents, with just a few of twenty cents. But if I’m going to sell them, I’m asking for three yuan each,” the worker immediately quoted a price.
“One fifty per stamp, and I’ll take them all,” Su Xiaoxiao countered.
“That’s not possible! The cheapest I can offer for the entire set is one thousand yuan,” the worker shook his head firmly.
“That’s too expensive! I can’t even verify the condition of your stamps, and I probably already have a lot of them. A thousand yuan is enough to buy a fifty-square-meter apartment in Shanghai, or to marry three or four wives!” Su Xiaoxiao continued to haggle.
She could tell the worker thought she was an easy target and was trying to overcharge her. But in the future, he would regret this.
“One fifty per stamp is definitely too low. Can you add a little more?” The worker rubbed his hands anxiously.
He was eager for money because someone at the post office was selling a job, and he wanted to buy a position for his wife. It would make things easier if both of them were working to support the family.
But the job was priced at six hundred yuan, and he couldn’t go any lower.
The stamp album had been passed down to him from his grandfather, but he had always thought of it as just a bunch of paper that wouldn’t fetch much. To his surprise, he’d found someone who was actually interested in buying it.
Su Xiaoxiao pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying, “Alright, how about this—bring your grandfather’s stamp album to me and let me take a look. If I find something I really like, I can increase the price a little.”
The worker’s face lit up with hope. He nodded eagerly, “Okay, I’ll go get it right now. It’ll only take me about fifteen minutes.”
“Go ahead, I’ll wait for you here,” Su Xiaoxiao said.
The worker didn’t waste a second. He quickly turned around and ran off.
Less than two minutes later, Jiang Yexun came out, carrying two large packages.
“Xiaoxiao, was that postal worker just now your friend?” He glanced around but didn’t see the worker following her, so he asked with some curiosity.
“No, he’s not a friend. I just wanted to buy some stamps, and he happens to have some that his grandfather collected,” Su Xiaoxiao casually explained, then looked curiously at the two big packages Jiang Yexun was carrying. “Who sent those packages to you?”
“Zong Xiaoping,” Jiang Yexun replied as he pulled a letter from his pocket. “He called and said that we haven’t been able to supply Moisture Pills and Whitening Pills for the past couple of months. He was practically crying on the phone.”
Su Xiaoxiao took the letter and skimmed through it quickly. The tone was full of desperation, as if his business would collapse if they didn’t hurry and restock the Whitening Pills and Moisture Pills.
“Actually, this could work out well for us. It’s a form of hunger marketing,” Su Xiaoxiao said with a mischievous smile, her eyes narrowing.
“Hunger marketing?” Jiang Yexun raised an eyebrow, intrigued by this term he had just heard.
It was the strategy of manipulating supply and demand, creating a false scarcity to maintain a product’s image, keep prices high, and maximize profits.
But before they could discuss it further, the postal worker appeared again, rushing back with a thick album in his hands.
When he saw Su Xiaoxiao still waiting in place, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Comrade, here it is—this is the stamp album my grandfather left behind.”
Su Xiaoxiao took the album from him, and her eyes flickered slightly. However, she controlled her reaction, trying her best to remain calm as she slowly began flipping through the pages.