After repeated bargaining and much persuasion, Tan Jincheng finally ordered 9,100 pieces of clothing for 80,000 yuan, with an average price of less than 8.8 yuan per item.
Zhang Haiping had never seen such a persistent young man.
"Mr. Zhang, the formal contract will be signed with you in about two days, but before that, please have your workers rush out 40 samples."
Seeing Zhang Haiping gnashing his teeth, Tan Jincheng felt a little embarrassed; however, samples still needed to be produced, and four sets of samples would require 40 pieces of clothing.
Hearing this, Zhang Haiping stared at Tan Jincheng, speechless for a long time.
It was one thing to haggle over prices, but to be so thick-skinned was another.
"Uh, we can pay for these 40 pieces."
"Alright, it's just a few hundred yuan, I'm not that petty; but with your thick skin, it'll be hard for you not to succeed."
"Oh, no, Mr. Zhang, you're joking, we just run a small business."
"So that's settled, we'll come in two days to sign the formal contract, and then please give us the samples, Mr. Zhang."
"No problem with that, you can rest assured about the quality of our samples, our machinists are very skilled."
Immediately after, Zhang Haiping looked at Tan Jincheng again and said,
"But let's be clear first, we will only officially start production after 50% of the advance payment has been received."
"No problem, once the formal contract is signed, the advance payment will be immediately transferred to your factory's account,"
Tan Jincheng vowed.
When discussing the cooperation, Tan Jincheng would find ways to repeatedly push down the unit price of the samples, and would also argue strongly for other terms of the contract.
However, regarding the payment method requested by Zhang Haiping, Tan Jincheng did not utter a single word.
Currently, he was the weaker party, and for a first-time collaboration, it would be difficult to gain trust without a sufficient advance payment.
It was precisely Tan Jincheng's lack of objection to the payment method that made Zhang Haiping feel his genuine sincerity, which then led to some concessions on the unit price of the clothing.
Holding the initialed agreement, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng left satisfied; today had been quite fruitful.
Stepping out of the factory gate, Tan Jincheng's first act was to call the agency, using the registration address they provided to process the business license as quickly as possible.
To avoid wasting time, Tan Jincheng had already told the agency in the morning that if their provided registration address was needed, they would be informed that afternoon.
By the end of the day, most of the tasks that could be done were completed, and overall, things went quite smoothly.
The two brothers were exceptionally relaxed at this moment, especially Zhang Xupeng.
This was his first attempt at something, and the feedback was quite good, leading to an inexpressible joy within him.
Especially since this matter was related to making money.
Zhang Xupeng had already figured it out: even if not a single item from this order sold, shipping them back to the farmers' market in their hometown would still yield at least double the gross profit.
"Xiao Tan, are the ex-factory prices for these clothes really this cheap? Then why are the clothes we buy so expensive, and do manufacturers still make a profit?"
"They're mostly around this price. Mr. Zhang probably didn't make much on this order; it's more like a gesture of friendship, but there's still a profit to be made."
"As for why the clothes we buy are so expensive, besides the cost of the clothes themselves, we also have to invest in packaging and transportation costs later, so the actual cost won't be just 80,000 yuan."
Nonetheless, the profit margin was quite considerable.
In his previous life, Tan Jincheng had been involved in the foreign trade industry, just not selling clothes.
For home appliances, a regular American coffee maker could sell for around 150 to 200 yuan on Taobao, and even on Pinduoduo, it could be 99 yuan with free shipping.
But its ex-factory price would generally not exceed 20 yuan, and even at such a price, factories were profitable.
Tan Jincheng wasn't very knowledgeable about the costs in the apparel industry at this time, but since Zhang Haiping could accept his quote, then whether it resulted in a loss or profit, it was acceptable to Zhang Haiping himself.
This was not something he needed to worry about.
"So that's how it is. Then where will the money for our packaging and shipping costs come from later? What if it's not enough?"
"When we get orders, we can also collect deposits; what's there to be afraid of? We'll be receiving US dollars then, even if we only collect 10%, we won't fear running out of money."
Excluding remnants, if the cost of each piece of clothing could be controlled at $1.5, then for 9,100 pieces, at half the shipping volume, selling each item for $3 would guarantee no loss.
The rest would be profit.
For every additional 1,000 pieces shipped, they could earn over 20,000 yuan, and with tax rebates and subsidies, they could earn even more.
If sold at $3 per piece, ideally, this order could earn up to about 100,000 RMB, meaning a profit of more than double.
Of course, this was merely the most ideal scenario under Tan Jincheng's current calculations; it was also possible that they might not sell for $3, or the unit price could even be higher.
The exact gross profit for this particular order would only be known after the official transaction, but according to Tan Jincheng's calculations, the gross profit margin should be able to reach over 30%.
A gross profit of 30% would be a highly sought-after business in later generations, but in this era on the cusp of take-off, it wasn't particularly remarkable.
"Come on, let's go have a good meal. We've had several meals at the International Grand Hotel consecutively, I can't take it anymore."
"You chose the International Grand Hotel last night, and again this afternoon, I've wanted to say something for a long time!"
"Haha, wasn't it just for convenience at noon?"
Although the work on the cruise ship was hard, the food wasn't bad.
Chefs from all over the world provided meals for nearly 2,000 guests daily, offering specialty dishes from various countries.
In such an environment, how could the staff's work meals be poor?
Moreover, the time they went home coincided with a holiday, so they ate quite well.
Having to make do with several consecutive makeshift meals, it was already remarkable that Zhang Xupeng managed to hold back from mentioning it.
It was already around six in the evening when they took the bus from Xiaxi Village back to the hotel near Ningzhi Vocational College.
Although in the same city, the scenery around Ningzhi Vocational College was completely different from that of Xiaxi Village.
Nearby were universities, high schools, hospitals, various residential communities, and large shopping malls.
It was also prime time for shopping.
Students, people out shopping after work, and strolling crowds; smiles adorned everyone's faces.
In contrast, the Xiaxi Village area was mostly populated by migrant workers.
At the end of their workday, they hurried along, their faces etched with exhaustion.
"Oh, by the way; later, when you go to the factory, if you're returning in the evening, you can hitch a ride on Tianrunfa's shuttle bus. It's free, but there are time restrictions, just remember the departure times."
Tan Jincheng's sudden remark left Zhang Xupeng stunned.
(End of Chapter)
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