“Director, oh no, oh no……”
“What are you yelling for? Can’t you keep it down?” Bing City’s machinery factory director Li Mingde put down his newspaper and angrily looked at his Sales Department head, Wang Aiguo.
“Director, there is bad news!”
“What bad news? The Japanese are attacking us again?” Li Mingde replied jokingly. But Wang Aiguo did not laugh at his joke. Li Mingde picked up the teacup and slowly savor the tea. This tea leaf was given to him the Deputy Chief of the Industrial Department.
Last month, because of the Autumn harvest, the Machinery factory’s sales were the highest in history. Because of this, Li Mingde was commented by the Deputy Mayor. If he is lucky, he might be transferred to the Industrial Department to be a leader.
“No. Director Li, didn’t you instructed us to manufacture more agricultural tools and machines for the National day?”
“Yes. What’s wrong? During the meeting yesterday, it was mentioned that our production had increased further. Are you afraid that we do not have enough goods?”
“It’s not about having not enough goods. It’s about unable to sell off the goods!” Wang Aiguo replied.
“What? Unable to sell off the goods? How can this be? Every year, this period is our peak period. How can our goods be unsold?” Li Mingde was surprised. He had asked the workers to work overtime to increase production. If these machines were unsold, he might be unable to pay the production workers salaries as all the factory’s cash were used to produce these machines. He had promised the Deputy Mayor that the sales would surpass 10 million RMB as a National Day gift.
“I had contacted those dealers, and most of them do not need any more agricultural machines. Only a few of them express interest in ordering from us, but they wanted us to lower our prices.”
“They do not have a shortage of goods? Impossible! There was an increase in the number of farms this year, and every city’s government were following the provincial government’s instruction to promote the use of machinery in farming. How can they have no shortages in these machines?”
“I had asked around, and I heard that there was a batch of Soviet Union produced farming machines in the market. Those dealers had imported those machines, and those who can’t get their hands on those machines were still waiting. All these dealers refused to order from us!”
“Soviet-made machines? The prices should be much higher than us. Could it be expensive machines sells better?” Li Mingde was confused. Things should work this way.
“Director, these Soviet machines were not more expensive than our machines. They were a lot cheaper than us. Their retail prices were almost on par with our cost prices!”
“Retail prices almost on par with our cost prices? Impossible!”
“It’s real. If not, why would those dealers want us to lower our prices? Also, Soviet farming machines were imported and more durable. Now no one is buying our machines!”
“Did you find out where did these dealers got those machines from?”
“yes. It is a private company by the name of Tai Hua Trading Company. It was also this company which introduced the Wind and Rain electric fans last summer.”
“Ok. I know. You go back to work first. You must think of a way to sell off this batch of farming machines before National Day!” Li Mingde waited till Wang Aiguo left the room and called the deputy director who was in charge of the production to his office. He asked the deputy director to inform the production line to temporarily stop working, citing the workers needed a few days of rest after working so hard for one month.
After Li Mingde finished giving out his instructions, he asked his secretary to notify his driver. He needs to go to the Industrial Department and complain to the leaders there about Tai Hua Trading for disturbing the market.
……
Those dealers rushed to Tai Hua Trading after they received news of them importing a new batch of farming machines from the Soviet Union. This time, they were smart. They prepared cash as they wanted to be the first one to load their trucks.
They had set the retail prices for the last batched of machines and tools from the Soviet Union was 10% above the cost price. The quality was better, more durable and these were imported goods. The prices were also lower than Bing City’s Machinery Factory. These goods were sold out within a week!
Farmers usually stayed near to each other and had a competitive mindset. If one of them bought a cheap farming machine or tool, the news would spread fast, and the rest will follow suit as they don’t want to lose out to others.
For instance, Feng Yu’s father borrowed money to purchase a 55 Tractor after he saw someone using it!
A lot of people came after hearing the news of cheap and durable imported farming machines. But they were disappointed when they heard that the machines were sold out. The dealers were anxious too. Who doesn’t want more of these popular goods? The more they sell, the more they will profit. As such, they called up Tai Hua Trading every day asking if there were any more goods and when will the next batch arrive.
When these dealers arrived, they soon discovered that there were more people compared to the last time. They knew each other, and when they saw an unfamiliar face, they knew that Tai Hua trading had reached out to more regions.
Will there be enough goods for them?
This batch of machines and tools was not enough for these people. Everyone wanted to purchase more and were not afraid of keeping extra. They knew that these goods will be sold during next spring. Most importantly, these machines were extremely popular. These Soviet Union produced machines were selling better than the ones sold by any of the state-owned factories in Longjiang Province or any other provinces!
Feng Yu had not thought of this. He felt that the autumn harvest was coming to an end and it will be until next spring before anyone wants to buy farming machines. He did not know that these dealers were willing to stock up on these machines and were afraid that there will not be any cheap Soviet Union produced farming machines.
These people also ordered seeders, rotary tiller, sprinkler and many other machines which were not used during autumn harvest. Feng Yu had imported thresher, harvester and the spare parts for these big machinery. His thinking was too constricted. As long as the price was low, no matter what type of machine, these dealers will also want it!
What’s there to wait? Call and order more!
Kirilenko was also very surprised. He knew that the prices he gave Feng Yu were low and these machines should be popular. But he did not expect these machines were so popular.
He had underestimated the agricultural machinery demand in China.
Once again, Kirilenko forged some documents and purchased large quantities of machinery from those factories. This time, the number and varieties were more significant and worth almost 4 million Rubles.
If it wasn’t for the difficulties in transportation, Feng Yu still wanted to bring in a batch of tractors. Many dealers wished to order tractors.
These few days, Wu Zhigang and the rest were very busy. They were traveling all over the province, visiting dealers and promoting their Soviet agricultural machines.
After they had liaised with all the dealers in the province, they started to contact Lin Province. Anyway, Lin Province was located not far away, and there was not much difference for the transportation.
Feng Yu had told them that they will be surprised by their bonus this month!
If you want a horse to run, the horse must be fed well first!
Under the motivation of the upcoming bonus, these lads were working harder! The reputation of Tai Hua Trading grew with the dealers in the agricultural machinery market, and more orders were coming in.
But there was a threat waiting for them behind all these.
