Chapter 112: 80% Commission Knockoff Phones, Overseas Logistics Hub Idea (Request Monthly Votes)

March 7, 10:00 a.m.

FoxTao’s online telecom mall launched a smartphone flash sale, with prices inflated but still matching last year’s or the year before’s launch prices; however, the commission rates were extremely generous, making the final price far below market value.

Within one hour of launch, sales reached 1.09 million yuan!

Four hours after launch, five high-inventory flash-sale items sold out.

On the first day, cumulative sales hit 4.76 million yuan!

The next day was a spring women’s apparel special, and exposure for the smartphone sale dropped sharply; yet over the three-day campaign, total sales still surpassed 6 million yuan.

Chen Yansen assumed that, based on the success of the digital category, he would attract attention from Huawei, ZTE, or Coolpad, and even if not, HTC, Sony, or LG would do.

Who knew the partnership calls he received were all from NewMan, Da Kelo, and Da Bolo—brands like these.

These phones had outdated operating systems, outdated specs, and were struggling to sell as Apple and Huawei dominated the market.

Take Gaoxinqi phones in Shencheng: even with a singing god as spokesperson, they couldn’t stop the decline of knockoff phones in the domestic market.

Warehouses were piled high with 2010, 2008, even 2007-model flashing-light phones—utterly unsellable in today’s smartphone era.

Perhaps selling through small Tier-18 cities might clear inventory, but costs far outweighed returns—not worth it.

“Boss Chen, should we take this brand?” Zhang Yifeng asked, sitting beside Chen Yansen with a laptop in his lap.

“Gaoxinqi H66, launched November 2007, retail price 1,080 yuan, commission rate 60%, 128MB RAM, supports 2GB expansion...”

Chen Yansen glanced at the product—the commission rate was high, but the final price to users would be around 500 yuan, and the specs were worse than the phone telecom gave away for 300 yuan in phone credit.

“No way. Three years ago, maybe we could’ve partnered.”

Chen Yansen shook his head firmly.

“What if the commission rose to 80%?” Zhang Yifeng pressed.

“Then we could give it a try. Some users still need extreme value—200-some yuan, fine as an MP4 or radio.”

Chen Yansen chuckled.

In 2011, China’s mobile market was transitioning from feature phones to smartphones; knockoffs were fading, soon to vanish entirely—once Xiaomi launched, their golden days were over.

Those who saw the trend and shifted to OEM manufacturing survived; those who didn’t, flailing blindly, mostly met bad ends.

“I’ll give it a shot. These junk phones just sit in the warehouse gathering dust—I don’t believe they’re not desperate.” Zhang Yifeng grinned.

Electronics depreciate fast and update faster.

Gaoxinqi needed to revive cash flow—clearing these stuck inventories was essential.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, signaling Zhang Yifeng to negotiate boldly.

These knockoff makers wanted FoxTao to be their warehouse dump—but they’d have to pay a price matching the trash.

After the women’s apparel festival ended, came Meituan’s group-buying special.

Since hiring operations staff, FoxTao held a category day or brand-specific event every three to five days, in addition to its daily Super Rebate.

It boosted user retention and increased site revenue.

After all, FoxTao’s revenue, besides commission margins, came largely from advertising—high-exposure themed events could sell premium ad slots at higher prices.

IDG Venture Capital introduced Chen Yansen to four overseas sourcing channels in Q1: eBay, Newegg, Macy’s, and Walmart—plus Amazon International—so FoxTao wasn’t short on cross-border B2C resources.

But Chen Yansen, reviewing the data reports, noticed one issue: traffic was decent, but conversion rates were low.

“Zhuang Rui, come here!”

Chen Yansen paused, then called out to Zhuang Rui.

“Boss Chen, what’s up?” Zhuang Rui stood and hurried over.

“Have your product team researched overseas shopping? Why is there such a gap between clicks and conversion?”

Chen Yansen asked softly.

“Our customer service did phone follow-ups—users’ main issues were language barriers, product specification differences, payment methods, and logistics. For example, a size 42 sports shoe varies by brand, returns are a hassle, so conversion stays low.”

Zhuang Rui spoke slowly—he knew the problem, but had no effective solution.

Chen Yansen frowned, mentally recalling future successful models: browser translation plugins, overseas logistics hubs, platform proxy purchasing with re-shipping to users.

In the future, 55SeaBuy and Yangmaotou would target this exact market.

But after 2014, Alibaba, JD, and NetEase all entered cross-border e-commerce, crushing many small platforms.

“Got it,” Chen Yansen replied.

Zhuang Rui opened his mouth to speak, then stopped—he had no good solutions, at best suggesting a translation plugin before users redirected, nothing more.

Chen Yansen thought, picked up his phone, and called Liao Wei at Yunsu Express.

“Overseas logistics hub? Build a warehouse in Lighthouse Country? Boss Chen, that’s not easy.”

Liao Wei frowned after hearing Chen Yansen out.

“Difficulty means high barriers—that’s where the money is. If you don’t want it, I’ll find another courier.”

Chen Yansen shrugged.

“Fine. I’ll go to Lighthouse Country next week—check warehouse operations and labor costs first.”

Liao Wei hesitated, then gritted his teeth and agreed.

This was a golden opportunity—Liao Wei had to take it; otherwise, he’d never get resources from Chen Yansen again.

Hearing Liao Wei agree, Chen Yansen smiled, hung up.

This huge overseas shopping pie—every e-commerce giant coveted it—he wouldn’t let it slip.

The key was removing user friction: language barriers solved by translation plugins, sizing issues by measuring actual items and relabeling clothing/shoes/bags to Chinese habits.

Payment issues handled by proxy purchasing; logistics and delivery—solved by one logistics hub.

After clarifying his plan, Chen Yansen summoned the business liaison for Amazon International and asked him to get warehouse addresses from Amazon—so Liao Wei could build the hub nearby, cutting first-mile shipping costs.

Meanwhile,

At OPPO’s headquarters in Dongguan, Wang Teng finished a meeting and was heading back to his desk when his phone rang.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Seeing an unknown number, Wang Teng instinctively hung up—but the caller redialed, so he knew it wasn’t a mistake.

“Hello, may I speak with Mr. Wang Teng?” the voice asked.

“Yeah, who’s calling?” Wang Teng replied.

“Mr. Wang, I’m from Shangde Headhunters. We’ve been commissioned to invite you to join a new company—have you considered changing jobs recently?”

The headhunter smiled, explaining.

Headhunter?

Wang Teng paused—he’d worked at OPPO for three years and had never received a headhunter call; as for switching jobs, he had no intention.

OPPO wasn’t a top-tier firm domestically, but the work environment was decent, with two salary reviews yearly—he earned 21,000 yuan monthly, still a solid income in today’s job market.

Just as he was about to decline and politely hang up, the headhunter added: “The employer offers a base salary of 30,000 yuan monthly, two salary reviews per year, a 20% base salary housing allowance, plus meal subsidies, quarterly bonuses, and holiday allowances.”

36,000?

Wang Teng did a quick calculation—over a 70% raise!

What’s the point of working? Money, of course!

Wang Teng put down his laptop, glanced around, slipped onto the balcony, and asked curiously: “Which company is it?”

“FoxTao,” the headhunter replied without hesitation.

“Wait—I thought FoxTao was a shopping guide site? Doesn’t match my background.”

Wang Teng frowned, asking directly.

He wanted a higher-paying job—but only if the project was solid.

He was a mobile industry product manager—if he switched, he’d start from scratch; what if they thought he wasn’t worth it and fired him?

“The employer plans to expand into mobile apps, so they’re hiring Android and iOS developers—and product managers like you, with rich project experience, are exactly what FoxTao needs.”

Headhunters were no different from sales—one sold people, the other sold goods.

Before arranging interviews, they naturally flattered candidates to boost their confidence.

“Alright, add me on WeChat—I’ll send you my resume.”

After careful thought, Wang Teng decided to give it a shot.

He was 24—when men need money most—for a car, for a house. OPPO was good, but he wanted to earn more.

Three days later, Xu Dan conducted Wang Teng’s first interview by phone.

Five days later, Cao Dahua brought a PhD from the Software Engineering Institute to conduct the technical second interview.

Eventually, all other applicants named Wang Teng were eliminated—only the OPPO employee remained.

Before joining, Wang Teng felt he should visit Xucheng to meet his future boss.

So he took a day off, planning to chat with Chen Yansen before deciding whether to switch careers.

After getting off the train, Wang Teng took a taxi to Xucheng College—and was stunned.

All around were farmland and villages—could a $280 million quasi-unicorn really be born here?

He pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos, planning to share them with friends.

He told the guard his purpose—the guard waved his hand: “Walk straight to the end, turn right at the library—there’s a two-story building, that’s the startup park.”

The old guard had seen many like Wang Teng come for job interviews—he knew the way by heart.

“Thanks!”

Wang Teng slung his backpack over his shoulder, followed the guard’s directions, and found the startup park easily.

He went upstairs, looked around carefully.

FoxTao had few employees—under 200—each room held six desks, plus meeting rooms and sample rooms, but no private offices.

Xu Dan spotted Wang Teng standing there and walked over smiling: “I’m Xu Dan from HR. You’re Wang Teng, right? The boss is waiting inside—come with me.”

This is troublesome.

Wang Teng replied politely.

He followed Xu Dan into a conference room, where a boy in his early twenties sat, dressed in a mature style but with a youthful air on his face.

Wang Teng knew this was Chen Yansen, founder of FoxTao, whose photos were plentiful online.

How many people are needed, and how long would the development cycle take, to create a customized system like UniqueUI?

Chen Yansen waited for Wang Teng to sit down, then posed his first question.

UniqueUI was the original system of OPPO, and the predecessor of ColorOS.

Didn’t we come here to develop a mobile app for FoxTao?

Why has it suddenly become about building a phone system?

Wang Teng listened, his face blank with confusion.

(End of Chapter)