I am a master in India

Chapter 24 A small profit

Seeing what was on the table, Vikrant quickly half-closed the open door.

This is to tell people outside that business is being conducted here and no one is allowed to disturb.

"Now, let me take a look at these little cuties."

Vikram reached out one of his chubby hands and grabbed one of the cameras, while with the other he switched on a flashlight.

Such a quick and rough action made Mary and the others frown. They couldn't help but doubt each other's professionalism in their hearts. Ron was not like that just now.

Vikrant moved very quickly, mainly looking at some shots and the like.

After returning everything to its place, he tapped the table with his thick fingers and asked in Marathi, "Are you coming? Or are they coming on their own?"

"I'm just a middleman, but since they are my clients, I'll be gentle with them."

After saying that, Ron took a step back and gave the place to Mary and the others.

"Wait, is that all?" The two girls looked at him warily and confusedly.

"I'll take you to where you can sell the items, and I'll take 5% of the commission. This is the industry standard.

But if you hire me to help you bargain, the commission will become 10%. Which one do you choose?"

Mary and Lena looked at each other. Are there so many steps to take when ordering something?
"Well, what's the difference between the two? Will you give us a better price?"

"It's a big difference," Ron said, looking at them meaningfully. "It's enough to make you feel that your money is well spent."

Mary's eyes moved around him, and then she said decisively, "10%! The rest of the negotiation is up to you."

"So sure?"

"I'm willing to take a chance if I can refuse a pretty girl's advances."

Ron smiled, but Vikrant grimaced.

"Dude, you shouldn't be so blunt."

"You heard it too. I've already rejected such a beautiful girl once. I can't refuse her a second time."

Mary and the others had no say in the subsequent bargaining.

The two spoke a lot of Marathi in a rapid-fire manner, which even local Indians might not be able to understand.

Just when Mary wondered if they were going to fight, there was a sudden silence.

"OK, done." Ron gestured to them, and Vikrant got up and went to the inner room.

"What's done? How much did he pay for these things?"

"You'll know soon." Ron smiled mysteriously.

If the items hadn't been still on the counter, Mary and Lena would have almost suspected it was a scam.

Just when their patience was about to wear out, Vikram came back with a whole bundle of rupees.

“4部相机6万卢布，3部随身听1万5千卢比。那个游戏机不好卖，作价2500卢比。”

"Oh, God!" Mary and Lena were so excited that they were incoherent.

They couldn't believe what they saw; it was beyond their expectations.

"Don't get too excited yet, count the money."

"God, we made a killing."

"What the hell is going on? How did he do it?"

Amidst all the flattery, Ron finally took the job that paid some money. There was no way the two foreign girls could tell the difference between real rupees.

After confirming that everything was correct, Ron flicked his finger, and a dozen rupees popped out from the neatly stacked banknotes.

"This is my reward, 7750 rupees, and it's a pleasure to work with you."

He took the money between his fingers and quickly put it into his pocket, his movements as quick and smooth as a squid's tentacles grabbing its prey and putting it into its mouth.

Mary and the others, beaming with happiness, hurriedly stuffed the rupees into their backpacks without even checking the exact amount. After saying hello to Vikrant, Ron led them back the way they had come.

Along the way, the two of them had so many questions they wanted to confirm with him, but they couldn't wait to speak until they returned to the hotel.

"Ron, what's going on? This price."

"That's too high, isn't it? Almost the same price as those new electronics?"

"Yes, that's right. This is very unusual."

"Don't be surprised, anything can happen in India."

As mentioned earlier, India just liberalized its economic policies last year. Before that, in order to protect its domestic manufacturing industry, India had been imposing high import tariffs on electronic products.

From small electronic watches to large household appliances, the lowest tariff threshold is 30%, and the highest is 100%.

This means that normal electronic products, if sold in India, are generally much more expensive than internationally.

If a $500 camera is sold for less than $1200 in India, the dealer will not make any profit.

Such high prices put most people off buying them, but market demand persisted, and so a black market emerged.

Local vendors often offer $600 for a $500 camera from a tourist.

When the tourists heard this, they thought, wow! My second-hand items are more expensive than new ones, this business is not a loss.

The two parties hit it off and the deal was done.

The same goes for the things in Mary's hands. Ron sells them directly at the new price.

After Vikram took it away, he resold it and made another 30% profit easily.

This is because the Indian government has just relaxed import and export taxes, otherwise Ron's price would be even higher.

Unfortunately, in a few years, when the tax rates gradually return to normal, this good thing will no longer exist.

Four cameras, three Walkmans, and a handheld game console, with a total value of US$3100.

The exchange rate of the rupee has been a bit weird recently. It was 1:18 last month, but it has fallen to 1:25 this month, a big dive!

3100 US dollars can now be exchanged for 77500 rupees, well, that's according to the official exchange rate.

In fact, Vikram made much more than the 30% difference, but he and Ron were partners, so the latter turned a blind eye.

But Mary and the others didn't know these details, so they were naturally surprised by such an outrageous "high price".

Ron explained the general reasons to them without going into any details.

Again, everything is explained clearly, how can he make money as a middleman?

"You really don't consider staying and having some fun?"

"I still have to go back and run the company. You know, making money is exciting."

In fact, Ron had already realized that these two beautiful girls had no such intentions at all from the beginning.

Perhaps they did this because of some kind of test.

After all, the things the two people carried were very valuable. If the middleman they found was greedy and could not control his desires, it would be very dangerous.

Ron also didn't want to explore their identities. From their clean and efficient methods, he knew they were not ordinary tourists.

But this is not important. The first rule of the black market is: don’t be curious about the identities of the two parties in the transaction.

Ron made an easy profit of more than 7 rupees and was in a good mood the whole morning.

Oh, after touching the big thunder, why does the weather feel like it’s getting hotter and hotter?

Ron couldn't help but think of little Nia at home. Tsk, she's a little too young.

Forget it, I'll go back and take a look at her accounts for the past week to see if she has figured it out.

(End of this chapter)