Mooncake scalpers in the "grey area":

To fry Maotai moon cakes to more than 700 yuan to get the goods "rely on the relationship between robbing and taking away"

　　■ Under the "Mooncake Slimming Order", this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, it is difficult to find mooncake gift boxes that cost more than 500 yuan per box on major e-commerce platforms.

However, the Red Star Capital Bureau searched for a certain Internet celebrity mooncake, clicked on the product to purchase, and found that a set of high-priced mooncakes of about 1,000 yuan still wandered in the "gray area", but it was not the clear price, but by taking ten copies, paying a deposit and remaining sold in various ways.

　　■ It is understood that most of the sellers in these "gray areas" are mooncake scalpers. They obtained hard-to-buy and popular mooncake gift boxes through snap-buying, internal channels, etc., and sold them at an increased price or even doubled.

For example, the original price of 380 yuan a box of Maotai moon cakes has been sold to 680 yuan or even 780 yuan by them, and "the price is still rising".

　　■ Some mooncake scalpers posted in a circle of friends that on September 3, the number of orders exceeded 200.

It is said that during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, he earned more than 100,000 yuan by selling moon cakes, and he said in another circle of friends, "If there is a warehouse this year, one NUDAKE moon cake will be enough to earn more than 100,000 yuan."

Some scalpers say that the order volume exceeds 200 a day

He revealed that he earned more than 100,000 yuan during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year

　　At 20:43 on September 3, Mr. Zhang posted a long article in the circle of friends.

He sighed: "If all the moon cake gift boxes are not sold out today, it indicates that this Mid-Autumn Festival will be lost... Fortunately, wait. Today (accurately, from midnight to the present), all brands A total of more than 200 mooncakes have been shipped (on this day)."

　　Mr. Zhang is a professional Internet celebrity food purchasing agent, also known as a scalper.

Two months ago, he started shouting mooncakes in his circle of friends.

　　On August 31, the Red Star Capital Bureau asked Mr. Zhang about the price of Moutai egg yolk mooncakes, which are already hard to see on the market. The price given was 680 yuan for a box.

Compared with the scalpers on the market, whose price is 780 yuan, Mr. Zhang's price is still cheap, but compared to the original price of 380 yuan per box, the gross profit can also reach 300 yuan.

　　During the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, Mr. Zhang "calculated" his success in purchasing moon cakes on behalf of others. He wrote in his Moments: "It took two months, including online stores, mini-programs, WeChat ordering and other channels, to earn more than 100,000 yuan in total."

　　In another circle of friends, he also said: "If there is a warehouse this year, one NUDAKE mooncake will be enough to earn hundreds of thousands."

Not all scalpers can sell popular mooncakes

To get the goods, it is necessary to "rely on the relationship between robbing and walking"

　　Mr. Zhao, who claimed to be a distributor of Moutai liquor, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the Moutai Liuxin mooncakes he was selling were ordered by the company.

As for what company, Mr. Zhao did not say clearly, but only said that he was a first-hand product.

　　At noon on September 4, Mr. Zhao said that a box of Moutai egg yolk moon cakes was 789 yuan; at 17:00, Mr. Zhao told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the price had risen, and the specific price would be reported after determining the inventory.

As of press time, Mr. Zhao has not given the latest offer.

　　But not all mooncake scalpers are "professional" enough, that is, they have the ability to continue to get goods.

Not only one Maotai Liuxin mooncake scalper told the Red Star Capital Bureau on August 31 that it was "sold out", and some also added that "it is out of stock, and it will not be restocked."

　　As for those scalpers with sufficient supply, they have their own set of ways to get goods.

Some scalpers claim that they were robbed, while others claim that they were obtained through internal channels or even through relationships.

　　According to a report by the Red Star Capital Bureau on August 26, a seller who sold Maotai moon cakes claimed to be family members of employees of the Maotai International Hotel.

The seller also said that in previous years, the moon cakes of Moutai International Hotel were sold to employees, and employees could get a commission of more than ten yuan when they sold it.

　　Mr. Zhang said that to get the supply of popular moon cakes such as Maotai, NUDAKE, Lady M, etc., both methods have been used.

　　He told the Red Star Capital Bureau that some Maotai Liuxin mooncakes were grabbed from the fresh food platform at 0:00.

At 10:37 a.m. on August 31, he posted on a circle of friends: "In the early morning, I robbed all the stores in Beijing."

　　As for the Xinrongji freshly baked mooncake gift box, Mr. Zhang said, "Beijing is out of stock, and the headquarters helped him deliver it."

　　However, some luxury mooncake brands that Mr. Zhang bought last year, such as Hermes and Fendi, have not appeared again this year.

There are merchants in e-commerce

Platform evades new regulations on price caps

Buy expensive mooncakes

Take ten copies or pay a deposit

　　Regarding the phenomenon that the number of luxury brand mooncake gift boxes purchased on behalf of others has decreased, Mr. Zhang put a picture to explain the reason.

In the picture is the platform's new regulations for moon cake merchants. The first one is "the release price of moon cakes on sale shall not exceed 500 yuan (inclusive)."

　　It is understood that the No. 1 revision of the national standard "Restriction of Excessive Packaging Requirements for Food and Cosmetics" was officially implemented on August 15, mainly making stricter regulations on the packaging of moon cakes and rice dumplings.

Earlier, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued a document stating that it will implement key supervision on boxed mooncakes with a unit price of more than 500 yuan.

　　Red Star Capital Bureau called Hermes, and Hermes customer service said that there was no way to buy the mooncake gift box this year. As for whether it was sold last year, the customer service said it was unclear.

Louis Vuitton (LV) also told the Red Star Capital Bureau on September 4 that the moon cake gift box will not be sold this year, and do not trust unofficial channels.

　　The new regulations have affected the sales of luxury brand mooncake gift boxes, as well as the way scalpers sell high-priced mooncakes on e-commerce platforms.

　　Searching for mooncake gift boxes on Taobao, there are no mooncake gift boxes priced at more than 500 yuan.

But high-priced mooncakes are still traded privately at one of the platform's stores.

In Mr. Zhang's store, the Lady M mooncake gift box is priced at 98 yuan, but once you click to buy, consumers need to take ten copies, totaling 980 yuan per set.

　　In another store, the Lady M mooncake gift box has an external price of 499 yuan. Click to buy, and there will be a down payment of 499 yuan and a difference of 499 yuan for the final payment, totaling 998 yuan per set.

　　Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Yu Yao and Zhang Luxi