Reborn in 08, a heretical cultivator starting a business

Chapter 138 The BAT E-commerce Battle: Paipai.com's Life-or-Death Gamble!

"Huh? Paipai.com takes a commission?"

Shen Huaijin was completely stunned: "How is this possible? Has Xu Tiannian gone mad?"

"How dare he risk the collective protests of so many merchants and forcibly take a cut?"

Wang Junshan smiled faintly: "He's not crazy, it's just a radical decision made during a special period."

"However, it was precisely this radical decision that ruined Paipai.com's future!"

As Wang Junshan spoke, he swore: "Idiot, why are you running!"

"Open it up, open it up!"

"Isn't it just two against three?"

"Fuck him!"

Shen Huaijin's expression became quite interesting: "!!!"

But he saw his teammates run away. Wang Junshan fought 1v3 and killed two of them, but still sacrificed himself.

"Idiot, if you don't run, the two of us can easily wipe out all three of them!"

Wang Junshan was utterly speechless.

"Uh, who is this? Why did he desert? That's so disloyal."

Just as Shen Huaijin finished speaking, a familiar voice came from the YY voice chat: "Sorry, boss, I thought two against three was no chance..."

"President Tang! I..." Shen Huaijin's expression was priceless, so embarrassed he was practically digging his toes into the ground:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Tang, I..."

I had just complained about how disloyal the other party was, but I never expected it to be Tang Jinghe!

Just like in her previous life, Tang Jinghe got hooked after playing it twice.

Good food and fun-loving.

"Cough cough, it's alright, Huaijin, you're right to scold me, it was my fault for letting my teammate down."

"It's out of the way."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Shen Huaijin said again.

"It's nothing," Tang Jinghe said, then changed the subject: "Boss, what do you think Paipai.com will stick to its guns?"

Wang Junshan laughed and said, "Now that things have come to this point, with the media exposing the matter and the public paying attention, Xu Tiannian has no way out."

Tang Jinghe nodded: "That's right. If Xu Tiannian backs down now, he'll not only lose face for himself, but also for the entire Paipai.com!"

"If we can compromise once, then when merchants seek redress, Paipai.com will have to compromise a second time, and a third time, and then it will be ruined."

“That’s right, of course, the most important thing is that Paipai.com, or rather all C2C e-commerce platforms, want to take a commission!” Wang Junshan said.
"There's no such thing as a free lunch. Whether it's Taobao, Paipai, Alibaba, or Tencent, they're not philanthropists; they all need to make money. Taking a commission is only natural."

"They just haven't made up their minds yet, or they're afraid to take the plunge."

"Paipai.com is in the worst situation and has to act impulsively!"

"If it succeeds, Paipai.com will have a bright future. If it fails, it will be doomed!"

"I see."

Tang Jinghe and Shen Huaijin both understood.

Both Taobao and Paipai.com want to take a cut of all commissions.

Taobao just doesn't dare to push it directly.

Wang Junshan wasn't curious about these actions at all.

In its past life, Paipai.com operated on commission-based practices, which crippled the company.

Later, Taobao also tried to take a commission, but gave up after seeing too much opposition from merchants.

As Wang Junshan predicted, Xu Tiannian had no intention of stopping his commission collection; on the contrary, he remained defiant!
"President Xu, the online public opinion is in an uproar. It's not too late to back down now!"

Huo Siying spoke earnestly, expressing her deep concern for the future of Paipai.com.

Xu Tiannian took a deep breath; it would be a lie to say he wasn't worried.

But things have developed to this point, and he has no way out!
If he were to step down, it would be a rejection of his position as president of Paipai.com, as well as a rejection of the resolutions passed by Tencent's board of directors.

The issue of taking a commission was proposed by him, but it was only implemented after a board resolution.

There's no way to stop now!

"Mr. Huo, the arrow is on the bowstring and must be released. Moreover, only by taking a commission can Paipai.com make a profit."

Huo Siying frowned slightly: "But the sellers are reacting very strongly now. If they all close their shops, our Paipai.com will suffer heavy losses."

Xu Tiannian sighed: "Reform always comes at a price. Paipai.com is no exception."

"Taking a cut of commission will only cause temporary pain. Once you get through it, the road ahead will be smooth sailing."

"Without commissions, you can't make a profit, but you'll be in perpetual pain!"

"If we don't take a commission, Paipai.com will continue to lose money and won't be able to develop. How many more years can the board of directors tolerate Paipai.com continuing to lose money?"

"This..." Huo Siying fell silent.

Yes, the board of directors needs to make money.

Even if the management's goal is to strategically contain Alibaba, they can accept Paipai.com's annual losses.

But what about the board of directors?

How many years can they accept this?
Xu Tiannian lit a cigarette, his voice tinged with weariness:
"Paipai.com was launched in September 2005, and it has been more than three years since then. It has suffered losses for three consecutive years, and the losses have increased year by year. The board of directors has long been unhappy about it."

"In the past three years, with Chairman Ma's support, the board of directors would give him face and barely tolerate it."

"After three years of patience, Paipai.com is still not profitable. On the contrary, the number of merchants has increased, and the losses have increased even more."

"How much longer do you think the board can tolerate this?"

"Sigh!" Huo Siying sighed deeply.

This is Paipai.com's biggest problem.

Many major shareholders were particularly angry, especially seeing that other businesses were making money while Paipai.com was burning through cash.

If Paipai.com grows rapidly and can strategically restrain Alibaba, that would be fine.

The problem is that they lost money, but Paipai.com grew slowly and couldn't hold Alibaba back at all.

The board of directors gradually lost patience, so there was no point in Chairman Ma continuing to support them.

In this situation, Xu Tiannian's reforms, including a full commission system to increase profits and revenue, seemed to be the only way out.

However, there is another way.

"Mr. Xu, I understand your difficulties, but a one-size-fits-all approach is always too risky."

"Have you ever thought about following Alibaba's path, not taking a commission on Paipai.com, but instead creating a separate Paipai Mall, similar to Taobao Mall, raising the entry requirements and service support, and taking a full commission?"

"Learn from Taobao Mall and create a Paipai Mall?" Xu Tiannian laughed:
"Mr. Huo, you're the deputy director of the e-commerce investment department. Don't you know what the market is like now that the financial crisis has broken out?"

“Our Paipai.com is losing hundreds of millions of yuan every year, and the board of directors can no longer accept it.”

"You don't think they can come up with a few hundred million more to help us incubate another Paipai Mall besides Paipai.com, do you?"

"This..." Huo Siying was speechless for a moment.

Yes, if it weren't for the economic crisis, this matter would still be negotiable.

With the current global financial crisis, Tencent's entire investment department has tightened its belt.

The board of directors doesn't have a positive outlook on Paipai.com either, so how could they possibly put in several hundred million more to develop Paipai Mall?
If it's just a vertical e-commerce platform with few product categories, small scale, and few brands, it won't cost much.

Paipai.com is a comprehensive e-commerce platform with a large scale, many merchants, a large number of orders, and a lot of money to burn!
That makes things difficult.

"Then I can only wish you the best!" Huo Siying said with deep emotion.

"Thank you." Xu Tiannian quickly finished his cigarette and lit another one.

He has no choice.

The future is also uncertain.

Success! Paipai.com has achieved a leap forward, and Xu Tiannian will also become a business legend, further enhancing his status within Tencent.

If he fails, Paipai.com's development will be hindered, and Xu Tiannian will become a laughing stock in the industry, ruining his future within Tencent!
You can only take a gamble.

Until the early hours of the morning, Paipai.com still had not issued a statement announcing that it would give up taking a cut of the commission.

Everything is settled!
"Xu Tiannian, well done!" Taobao President Ning Fengze smiled.
"Now it depends on the sellers' reaction. If the boycott is not strong enough to last, Taobao can also follow suit and take a commission!"

Baidu Youa President Xu Shun was in high spirits:

"Great! Pass the word down and get ready. Baidu Youa is about to launch."

Many sellers on Paipai.com were sleepless with shock and anger.

One after another, WeChat and QQ groups dedicated to protecting rights are filled with heated discussions and heated arguments.

That night, the entire e-commerce industry was in turmoil.

Taobao is waiting for Paipai.com to figure things out before it tries to figure them out itself.

Baidu Youa is waiting for Paipai.com to forcibly deduct fees, which is completely self-destructive, and will take over the sellers on Paipai.com!
Paipai.com, on the other hand, is waiting to take a hard line, pay a price, and then successfully transform and achieve profitability!
Only Wang Junshan didn't care at all and was already fast asleep.

On the contrary, Shen Huaijin next door couldn't fall asleep no matter what:

"With BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) all involved, this high-level competition is so exciting! I really don't know who will ultimately prevail in this battle!"

"Go ask the boss!"

"But it's so late, isn't it a bit inappropriate?"

"But with something this big, the boss probably won't be able to sleep either."

"The last time San Niu experienced a thunderstorm, it was just like that."

"He even gave me a bottle of yogurt, which was very thoughtful!"

As Shen Huaijin thought this, he felt a warm glow in his heart.

After checking that there was no movement in the courtyard, he tiptoed toward Wang Junshan's house, only to find it completely dark.

"Looks like the boss went to bed early. He's really carefree."

Shen Huaijin was somewhat disappointed and returned to his room dejectedly.

The bodyguards on guard in the side room had a slight smile on their lips, thoroughly enjoying watching the drama unfold.

The four bodyguards were all retired special forces soldiers carefully selected by Tang Jinghe, two men and two women.

Its advantage is that it's suitable for all occasions.

Those two female bodyguards, for example, are fluent in multiple languages ​​and often appear as "translators" or "secretaries."

For example, during negotiations abroad, it's perfectly normal for bodyguards to remain outside in certain venues, but for a female translator to accompany them, and it wouldn't attract much attention.

But it can come in handy when a crisis actually occurs.

Even the next morning, the various rights protection groups were still filled with cursing and swearing.

"Today is the 13th. That bastard Xu Tiannian, is he really going to forcibly deduct the fee?"

"It's very likely. If Paipai.com didn't take a commission, they would have made a statement long ago. There's no need for them to put up with such great pressure and fight to the end."

"Yes, commission is inevitable. And we have no way to fight it. They just deduct the deposit and commission directly from Tenpay. What can we do?"

"Yes, our money is all in the merchant's Tenpay account, so there's no way to deduct it directly."

"This is insane, absolutely insane! This is outrageous, it's robbery!"

"What robbery? They issued a statement a month ago, and now they're deducting money and taking a commission. It's not illegal. It's just incredibly immoral."

"Don't worry, with so many sellers protesting together, how could Paipai.com dare to take a commission?"

"I estimate that Paipai.com will soon issue a statement announcing that it will give up taking a cut. Then they will put forward a minor character as a scapegoat to appease us."

"It's possible; these things are common. Xu Tiannian wouldn't dare to really provoke public anger. Paipai.com had five million sellers who joined together in a protest, and even Paipai.com couldn't withstand it."

"That's right, we'll definitely win in the end! Let's all stick together until the very end!"

"Win my ass! I've already received the deduction notice. Based on the product category, they deducted 1000 from my deposit and 4% commission!"

"What? You've been used? Really?"

"Of course it's true. After deducting all costs, the profit is only 7%, a direct cut of 4%. That's outrageous! We can't operate like this anymore!"

"Has Paipai.com gone mad? They're actually doing it for real!"

"He's really crazy. I was also charged, just now."

"Me too! They deducted my 1000 deposit, fine, but they took 10,000 in commission! Damn it, my profits are reduced by at least half!"

"I also had over 3500 yuan deducted, plus a 1000 yuan deposit! It was only by operating on a no-commission, low-profit, high-volume model that I achieved a sales volume of 7 yuan, with a profit of only 7000 yuan. He took half of that! I worked hard from dawn till dusk for a month, investing tens of thousands of yuan, and in the end, I only had 2500 yuan left. I couldn't continue!"

"This is unbearable! How can we dare to take a 5% commission?!"

"Paipai.com has gone mad. It's one thing for big stores like yours to get their commissions taken, but I'm just a small store with a monthly sales volume of only 6000 and a profit of only 600. I still got 500 deducted from my deposit and 210 deducted from my commission. I worked for nothing all month and even lost 110. I can't keep doing this anymore. I'm closing down my store."

"Yes, we'll all close down; it's simply impossible to continue!"

"Doesn't Paipai.com take a cut? Take down all listings that can take a commission and shut them down!"

"That's right, Paipai.com is closing down, so people are opening stores on Taobao, where Taobao doesn't take a commission."

"Me too, Paipai.com is closing down, everyone's closing down, it's really impossible to do business like this!"

……

At 8:00 AM on the 13th, Paipai.com started charging commissions and deducting fees, and soon after, a large number of Paipai.com sellers began to close their stores.

Those stores that didn't close down frantically removed high-commission, unprofitable products from their listings and resold them on Taobao.

Many of these businesses have shops on both sides, depending on which side they can make more money on.

Seeing this, Paipai.com's e-commerce division couldn't sit still.

However, Xu Tiannian remained calm and composed.

In this situation, regardless of whether you're panicked or not, you must appear calm on the surface.

He was determined to succeed or die trying; he had no way out!
By the 14th, Paipai.com still hadn't responded, and more and more sellers were closing their shops.

Seeing this, Baidu Youa President Xu Shun was in a great mood:

"Brother Xu, well done! Baidu Youa's opportunity has arrived."

"Hold a press conference immediately and Baidu Youa will be launched with great fanfare."

That afternoon, Baidu Youa held a press conference to launch its product.

At this critical juncture, it naturally attracted widespread attention.

Of course, there's also Baidu's search promotion.

Soon, news reports broke:

Paipai.com's forced commission collection and deposit-taking have left small and medium-sized sellers with no way out.

Forcibly taking commissions is a robber's logic and a ruthless squeeze on the survival of small and medium-sized sellers!

Baidu Youa has launched, focusing on C2C, leveraging Baidu's search resources for strong promotion, zero commission, and no percentage taken. Sellers are welcome to join.

Baidu Youa solemnly promises that it will never take a commission and will provide free promotional resources to its sellers.

These news reports excited many sellers on Paipai.com, who closed their Paipai.com stores and switched to Baidu Youa.

Paipai.com, on the other hand, is experiencing a wave of store closures, with the number of merchants and products declining rapidly and shrinking dramatically.

(End of this chapter)