Economic Wisdom to Apply in Your Twenties

Chapter 26

Chapter 3 Section 7 Let's buy a group, stop "fighting alone"

As early as 2003, a member of the Harbin Horse Racing Club initiated an invitation to group buyers in the forum. As a result, more than 30 people signed up. They collectively discussed group buying with Hafei Motors, and finally got each car at a price lower than the market price. The benefits of 5000 yuan.

After that, more and more netizens began to use the Internet to recruit group buyers, and websites such as 51888 group buying.com and Wuyou group buying.com sprang up.Each group-buying network has also spontaneously organized many group-buying activities by virtue of its membership advantages.

Now, under the call of "saving money is the last word" on group buying websites and group buying posts, the price ranges from small commodities such as books, software, toys, home appliances, digital, mobile phones and computers to large ones such as home furnishing, building materials and real estate. For very transparent products, consumers gather in groups to buy because of the Internet.Not only that, online group buying has also expanded to health checkups, insurance, tourism, education and training, as well as various beauty, fitness, leisure and other service fields.

"Have you bought a group purchase today?" has become an Internet buzzword that young people are familiar with.With the continuous development and maturity of the Internet age, group buying has become a new way of consumption and is welcomed by more and more netizens.

Group buying is the abbreviation of group purchasing, also known as collective purchasing, which usually refers to the purchasing behavior that some groups purchase products or services at a lower than market price by purchasing from suppliers in large quantities.

The earliest group buying in China was that the company gathered all its subsidiaries to purchase in order to reduce costs.The development to the "personal level" is attributed to the Internet, which is convened by influential individuals in the industry or professional group-buying service companies (group-buying websites) to organize consumers who intend to buy the same product, and send a large number of consumers to manufacturers or general agents. Make purchases, so as to obtain ultra-low product prices and service guarantees under the condition of ensuring quality; of course, more and more group buying organizations organized by consumers themselves have emerged on the Internet, and the spontaneous group buying product information is published on the website.Online group buying has become popular in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and other large cities, and has gradually developed into a new consumption pattern.

According to the survey, most of the citizens who participate in group buying are middle-aged and young people who often surf the Internet.These people like to learn information online and often shop online.The benefits of group buying are mainly manifested in two aspects: first, the price of group buying is lower than the lowest retail price in the product market, and second, the quality and service of products can be effectively guaranteed.

There are two main reasons for the above benefits:

First, group buying can effectively reduce transaction costs.Through online group buying, passive scattered purchases can be turned into active bulk purchases, so you can enjoy lower prices and better services for products of the same quality.

Second, group buying can completely change the disadvantaged position of consumers caused by market opacity and information asymmetry in traditional consumer behavior.Through group buying, you can learn more about product specifications, performance, and reasonable price range, and refer to other people's evaluations of products in group buying, take the initiative in the process of purchasing and service, and really buy products with good quality, good service, and reasonable prices. Products to achieve the purpose of saving time, worry, labor and money.

As Professor Li Dong, a marketing expert from Harbin Institute of Technology, said, group buying means that consumers are waking up and using their collective strength to compete with merchants.The emergence of online group buying has changed the disadvantaged position of consumers in the traditional business model of lack of experience, lack of bargaining power, and limited ability to grasp information, making transactions more transparent.
However, what we cannot ignore is that online group buying is a new consumption method, and there are no relevant laws and regulations to regulate it.Group-buying frauds are common occurrences. In addition, online group-buying is only a loose group temporarily organized for a specific purpose. After the transaction is successful, it is dispersed. Once a dispute arises after the sale, it is difficult to reorganize. This will bring difficulties to rights protection actions in the future. .Therefore, some people have raised the question of whether group buying is "beneficiary to the group" or "slaughtered by the group".

Young people in their twenties enjoy all the benefits of fashionable and convenient online group buying, but they must also be cautious in transactions.Especially when buying some big-ticket items, choose a professional and reputable platform to initiate or participate in group buying, sign a group buying agreement to avoid various risks, and consult a lawyer or other relevant people if necessary.

Wisdom Pieces: Goods for group buying

1. High brand awareness.

2. Occupy a larger market share.

3. Generally, they have won various awards for many times.

4. Belonging to the industry leader or industry leader.

5. Perfect service system and good after-sales service.

6. The product quality is stable and can stand the test of time.

7. Can provide complete enterprise and product information, including license, production permit, qualification certificate, inspection report, award certificate, etc.

(End of this chapter)