After writing technical blogs for a while, I, not being a tech guru, inevitably feel a bit of monotony. With the New Year upon us, I thought I’d share an interesting story from the holidays. It’s about time, opportunity, and perception
I. The Opportunity of Twenty Years Ago
Visiting relatives during the New Year is a tradition here. We bring fruits and snacks, chat, and give red envelopes to the children. It’s a joyous time. One of my relatives is an appliance wholesaler. About thirty years ago, he became the distributor for a local collective appliance brand, distributing its products in the Pearl River Delta, along with some products from smaller factories.
You could say he fully reaped the demographic dividend of that era. For twenty years, China’s real estate market was booming, and home appliances, as a “standard” item, were a hot commodity nationwide. I still remember, not long after I graduated, his younger brother kindly took me to his warehouse and office, hoping to help me find a path. His idea was simple: I would take my relative’s goods and sell them abroad to make some money for myself.
That was the dawn of e-commerce in China. Never mind selling abroad; even just opening a store on Alibaba meant you would have business. I heard that someone had already opened a Tmall store on Taobao, sourcing goods from this relative, and was doing quite well. His warehouse was huge, filled with goods. His brother was even more direct: “Go ahead and take his goods to sell. You don’t need to pay in cash. You can use your father’s good name to delay payment for a long time.”
However, faced with this seemingly golden opportunity, I hesitated. I had studied economics and was in B2B foreign trade, unfamiliar with C2C operations. More importantly, his products were bulky items, making the logistics costs and risks of single C2C shipments abroad extremely high. I learned that the “overseas warehouse” model was just emerging, which was the perfect model for his products, but building it from scratch was a daunting task. After-sales service was another huge obstacle. Most importantly, I could feel that my visit was a surprise to him; there was not much joy in his expression. Perhaps, in his eyes, I was just another junior trying to get some benefits by “using my father’s face.” For a variety of reasons, I ultimately did not choose this path. Instead, I dutifully returned to the factory and continued my B2B sales career. Although my life was not as prosperous as his, it was stable.
II. The “Obsession” of Twenty Years Later
Time flies. In the last two or three years, the real estate market has hit the brakes hard, and related industries have felt the chill, with the appliance industry bearing the brunt. With no one buying houses, no one is buying appliances. I heard that my relative’s business has been struggling this year.
He still came to visit this year. At the dinner table, I overheard that he was still asking about me, wondering if I could still carry out the idea from all those years ago—to sell his products abroad.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard this. I realized that our understanding of business was no longer on the same timeline.
Time waits for no one.
E-commerce was the trend twenty years ago. Having missed the first twenty years, and then the next ten, in 2026, you want me to sell an unknown appliance brand from a distributor to a foreign country? The difficulty is no less than asking the offline retail giant Suning to travel back to its golden age a decade ago.
The essence of business has never been about forcing what you have onto customers, but about making money by solving their problems in some way. Times have changed, customers’ problems have changed, and the solutions must naturally evolve.
III. Economic Downturn? Or a Shift in Perception?
Many people are saying, “The economy is down, it’s hard to make money.” My understanding is a bit different: it’s not that it’s harder to make money, but that the economy grew so fast in the past that we all got used to the feeling of flying on a high-speed train. Now that the train has slowed down, many people feel a strong sense of discomfort.
More importantly, some of the lucky ones who got on the first train, their wealth and their perception are not fully aligned. When the tide of the times recedes, this mismatch is exposed. And this is precisely the beginning of new opportunities—the money-making opportunities that the “old guards” can’t see or imagine.
For example, the recent online trend of “shared vegetable gardens.” It divides its services into three tiers based on customer participation:
1.The “Farmer” Customer: Lives nearby and has time to manage the plot themselves. The price is the lowest, and they enjoy the pleasure of farming.
2.The “Managed” Customer: Only has time on weekends. The plot is managed by the garden staff on weekdays, at a slightly higher price.
3.The “Cloud” Customer: Has no time at all and just wants to “watch their plot online.” The price is the highest, with the garden staff taking full responsibility and shipping the harvest to the customer.
You see, the same piece of land, by providing different services and experiences, meets the spiritual needs of different groups of people. In today’s era of material abundance, spiritual consumption and experiential consumption are the future mainstream.
I also want to give my relative a piece of advice: the appliance wholesale business will likely continue to decline, with the final form being direct sales from manufacturers and customization. If you can’t find a completely new path, it’s better to invest your money in sound financial management rather than fantasizing about reviving a sunset industry. After all, none of us are superheroes who can turn back time.
At Fill-Package, this is our philosophy too. We don’t just sell steel and belts; we sell efficiency logic tailored to your specific needs—whether it’s a 1-ton load of corrugated cardboard or a sticky pile of seaweed. In this “breaking era,” insight is more valuable than sheer hard work.