Rebirth is fine, but I get eight hundred dollars right from the start?

That year, the combination of e-sports videos and Taobao stores hit the cusp of budding and explosive growth.

It can be said that it has three powerful backers standing behind it;

The rise of League of Legends, the explosive growth of UGC video traffic, and the booming e-commerce boom on Taobao—these three waves collided, propelling countless grassroots streamers to rise with the tide and quietly make a fortune.

Esports peripherals, gaming merchandise, and snacks and general merchandise are the three monetization methods that Lin Shu has summarized as the most effective and least likely to backfire, starting with esports traffic.

Why is this path not only viable, but also the most suitable track for grassroots players to enter the game?

The answer has already been revealed by our past life experiences.

The first reason is the explosive growth of the e-sports industry.

There's no need to elaborate on how popular League of Legends is, right?

The explosive popularity of games led to a crazy increase in the number of users. Coupled with the continuous improvement of internet speed and the continuous reduction of broadband speed, the penetration rate of computers in ordinary households has risen rapidly.

As more people play, demand naturally arises—but in terms of content supply, it's basically still a wasteland; whoever steps in first can claim their territory.

It's no exaggeration to say that if you accumulate a few hundred thousand followers, you can achieve financial freedom in just a few years.

If the above were just paving the way, then the arrival of Taobao's e-commerce boom was like handing over a key to open a treasure chest.

What was Taobao like in 2012?

The number of active buyers throughout the year was approximately 130 million, and the GMV approached 200 billion.

Most importantly, the cost of opening a store for a sole proprietorship is ridiculously low, and the cost of traffic has not yet been driven up by bidding rankings.

In other words, as long as you have some ability to generate traffic, Taobao is a ready-made monetization pool, and it even provides you with the necessary tools.

Having covered the general background, let's zoom in a bit and take a closer look at the consumption habits of young people.

Alipay began to gain widespread adoption among young people aged 15 to 25, and their online shopping habits gradually developed.

However, in contrast, in this era, there are basically no official direct-sale stores for e-sports peripherals, snacks, and game-related products that young people like, let alone any established brands.

When players wanted to buy a keyboard and mouse, or a shirt with a hero's image printed on it, the sources of information were scarce, unlike in later times when information was everywhere and there was no sign of "GG" (game over).

Therefore, "commentary shops" and "live streamer shops" became the preferred choices.

The logic is simple and straightforward: "I trust this explanation, and I trust the products he recommends; everyone else buys from his store, so it must be good."

Trust endorsement, herd effect, and information scarcity—these three elements combine to create a natural outcome!

……

Back in his rented room with the business license in hand, Lin Shu didn't rush to get to work.

He placed the A4-sized license on the table, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and took two gulps, then plopped back down in front of the computer and pressed the power button.

When the screen lit up, he casually opened his browser, typed in a few keywords, and started searching online for the distribution prices of various products from different manufacturers, as well as the easiest way to source goods.

Knowing that the market is booming is one thing.

How exactly to do it is another matter entirely.

Since I'm all alone, before I have enough funds, I'll definitely focus on distribution and agency in the early stages.

He was determined to make money by using esports traffic to open an online store;

The main focus is on peripherals, accessories, snacks, and general merchandise; this general direction is already set.

But while the direction is important, the details—what to put on the shelves, where to source the goods, and what price to set—cannot be taken lightly.

Fortunately, I have the experience from my previous life to back me up.

He saw and remembered all the products that failed miserably and the operations that backfired.

In addition, he has even longer-term plans for this life. After the live stream, Lin Shu plans to carefully compare different options before making a decision on what to sell in the online store.

The reason is very simple.

Take keyboards for example. Both are 104-key mechanical keyboards, but Razer and A4Tech can have prices that differ by several times. Their build quality, feel, and switch quality are also completely different.

So which path should I take?

They rely on low prices to drive volume and small profits to make fans buy blindly without feeling bad, regardless of quality.

Or should we stick to quality, establish a foothold in the mid-to-high-end market, sell as much as we can, and build up our reputation?

These are all issues that need to be considered clearly from the beginning.

"Holy crap, the price difference is that big?"

Lin Shu stared at the two rows of numbers on the screen, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets, and blurted out a simple and blunt phrase, a national treasure.

The problem came and went quickly—with his "Holy crap!", the options that were still agonizing in his mind were kicked away.

Low prices for high volume? High prices to guarantee quality?

Pshaw, that's a choice only children make.

Adults, of course, want it all.

"I can only say that... the jokes about some Taobao shops 'making you nine yuan and eight jiao out of ten yuan' from my past life are actually true."

Lin Shu leaned back in his chair, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed, his tone carrying a complex and indescribable feeling.

Do not check, I don’t know, I’m scared.

After truly realizing that this path could make money, and after seriously digging deeper, Lin Shu discovered that—those so-called branded products, as long as you can achieve a certain scale, don't actually have very high wholesale prices.

Take, for example, some of the more common products sold in online stores at present.

Let's start with snacks.

The most popular meat floss pastries on the market generally retail for around 1.2 yuan per pack, or for over ten yuan per kilogram when sold by weight.

But in reality, the wholesale price offered by Youchen factory was only six or seven cents per piece.

The gross profit margin is directly reduced to 50% to 70%.

Let's talk about esports peripherals.

The most popular mouse of 2012 – the Wrangler – should be familiar to everyone.

Priced at 159, that sounds reasonable, right?

Hey, the wholesale price is only eighty.

For every item sold, the store makes a net profit of half of your money.

If you buy in large quantities, the manufacturer will give you rebates, which means the more you sell, the more you earn.

As for those cheap T-shirts that sell for a few dozen yuan and have League of Legends hero images printed on them, that's considered part of the product range.

Lin Shu thought that a boss who sold something for a dozen yuan was being unscrupulous.

Unexpectedly, by cooperating with manufacturers in coastal areas, the purchase price was only a few yuan.

Yes, a few pieces...

Keep in mind that this is the price from a manufacturer with proper quality control and brand endorsement.

As for those even more unscrupulous streamers who directly sell substandard products... just think about how outrageous their profits are.

What is meant by the dividends of the times?

What does it mean to be in the right place at the right time, where even a pig can fly?

This is the hurricane blown by the dividends of the times!

However, Lin Shu certainly couldn't do that.

If he just wanted to make a quick buck, he could easily make a fortune by simply selling a tutorial video for ten or twenty yuan on a certain Ximen livestream platform.

It's possible, but unnecessary.

He's waiting to accumulate enough esports fans to turn their attention into leverage for future e-commerce and internet growth.