NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Episode 287 – For Sale. Merchandise. Perfect for Fans (1)
The headquarters of the goods specialty shopping platform '#Fandom' was busy preparing to welcome guests.
“Are you done setting up the tea?”
“Yes. We have prepared three types of drinks: coffee, black tea, and water.”
“Okay. Make sure to control the other team members. Don’t let anyone come just to see Purple’s face.”
“Yes! I’ll pass it on again!”
“Do you know Purple Nim? If you enter the store, you are a VIP without exception! Everyone, wake up!”
The employees moved busily under the instructions of the product planning and MD team leader. Thanks to the employees sweating so hard from early in the morning, they were able to finish preparing.
“Team Leader, Purple has arrived.”
The team leader nodded at the words of the employee who answered the phone at the information desk on the first floor.
He and the other employees quickly lined up in front of the elevator.
The door opened with a ding sound.
"and."
“Hey…”
The team leader and all the employees let out exclamations without realizing it. It was because of the appearance of Lee Kyung-bok who came in through the open doors on both sides.
“Oh, hello.”
"hello."
When the two people belatedly greeted each other, the team leader and employees came to their senses and were shocked.
“Ah! Welcome! Thank you for visiting.”
“No, is there anything to be thankful for?”
When Lee Kyung-bok answered with a smile, the team leader responded with an even more extreme attitude.
“I’m not sure if you had any trouble getting here. Actually, the CEO was going to meet you in person, but he had a prior engagement.”
“Oh, it’s okay.”
“Thank you for your understanding. Please come this way.”
The two entered the conference room under the guidance of the team leader. After taking their seats and formally greeting each other, the full-scale discussion began.
“First, let me briefly explain our platform’s revenue structure.”
The team leader moved his hand to launch the presentation. A clear diagram was projected onto the wall.
“As you know, our shop fandom has optimized the process related to the production of goods for the convenience of influencers. Let me briefly explain it using the example you are seeing now, the T-shirt.”
He continued speaking softly, as if he was used to such things.
“The price of goods is composed of two parts. First is the price of the product itself. In this case, we have divided the tiers according to quality. In the case of T-shirts, there is a difference in the fabric. You can set this tier when you register the item.”
“Is this the concept of cost?”
When Park Joo-ho asked again, the team leader quickly nodded his head.
“Yes, that’s right. In addition, if the influencer sets a margin for the design price, the two prices will be added together to determine the final price of the goods.”
Thanks to the friendly explanation and diagram, Lee Kyung-bok was able to understand the structure right away.
“Since the production cost is fixed and cannot be adjusted, the price of the goods is basically determined by me?”
“Yes, but it is not completely fixed. The cost is not something that can be decided through negotiation, but it is subject to change.”
“Volatility?”
The team leader cleared his throat with a cough and answered.
“Basically, each product has a MOQ, or minimum order quantity. For example, for T-shirts, even if we have a principle of order production, we cannot produce only one T-shirt. The cost involved is too high.”
“Oh, I guess so.”
“Yes, so the unit price is determined by the production of 100 T-shirts, and this standard is called MOQ. However, there is another important part.”
The team leader paused for a moment and moved on to the next presentation. This time, numbers and tables were projected.
It was a unit price list based on production volume.
“Oh, the more you sell, the lower the unit price?”
“Even though they are goods, they are not much different from other products. As production volume increases, the unit price decreases, and ‘economies of scale’ are applied.”
“Additional sales revenue?”
“That is our strength.”
The team leader smiled confidently and pointed to the table.
“If the unit price is lowered, the profit will naturally increase. It is not right for us to collect this. Therefore, whenever a certain sales volume is exceeded, we take the reduced unit price as additional profit and settle it with the sellers who have entered the store.”
“To be exact, isn’t it a structure where only the seller benefits? I understand that the sales commission is generated from the profits.”
Park Joo-ho looked back at the team leader with sharp eyes. At first glance, it seemed like only the sellers benefited, but the platform also had a structure that made sure to reap the profits.
“Haha, that’s a sharp observation. I was planning on explaining it in the next chapter so there would be no misunderstanding.”
The team leader, unfazed, moved on to the next presentation. The circular graph was broken into pieces.
“This is the profit settlement ratio after the finished goods we provide are sold. The platform receives 70%, and sellers receive 30%.”
“30%?”
Lee Kyung-bok was momentarily surprised, but soon looked at the graph again and understood.
“Oh, well, from our side, all we have to do is decide on the design.”
Production, inspection, delivery, customer management, etc.
The platform, which took up 70% of the graph, had several sub-items, while the seller graph had only one item, 'Design'.
Considering the amount of product being brought into the platform, 70% was not an excessive percentage.
“30% is quite high compared to other industries. Other platforms are in the 10% to 20% range.”
Park Joo-ho whispered to Lee Kyung-bok. It wasn't for nothing that Genome recommended this platform.
“Thank you so much for your understanding. In fact, some people only looked at the ratio and thought we were scammers. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone with business sense.”
The team leader expressed his sincere gratitude to both of them for their agreement.
“Ahem, I got off topic for a moment. I heard that Purple-sama wants to sell figures as self-produced goods.”
“Yes, unfortunately the figure was not included in the items.”
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“Ahaha, this is because the quality varies depending on the design. This is not a product line we provide, so separate consultation is required.”
The team leader said that and moved on to the next part of the presentation.
“That doesn’t mean we have no precedent. We have guidelines. If you look, the sales ratio for goods prepared by sellers is different.”
“15%? That’s completely different?”
“Yes, in this case we are not involved in production at all. We only receive a 15% settlement fee for shipping and customer service.”
As the team leader spoke, he manipulated the smart link. The projected holograms shrank and were divided in front of each person.
“I will conclude my explanation here. As for the figure, we will talk about it later once the production process is decided.”
“That’s why I prepared it.”
"yes?"
While the team leader's eyes widened, Park Joo-ho handed over the contract he had prepared.
'It's not common for people to prepare this much, but successful people are different.'
He quickly scanned the contract, inwardly admiring it. Then he swallowed deeply.
“Ten thousand, ten thousand figures?”
The quantity written on the contract was quite shocking. I have sold countless goods while working in the MD team, but this has never been done before.
'No, this is your first time selling goods, right? And you can handle 10,000 of them?'
Park Joo-ho nodded to the surprised team leader.
“Yes. We will sell 10,000 units in the first round, and depending on the sales trend, we are considering selling them in the second round.”
“Oh, and there’s one thing I’d like to confirm again.”
Lee Kyung-bok, who was standing next to him, smiled and continued speaking.
“As sales increase, the unit price decreases, and the reduced cost is returned to the seller. Is this the platform’s policy?”
“Yes? Oh, yes. That’s right. We don’t take unfair advantage.”
In the case of self-produced goods, the platform didn't matter even if the production cost was lower. The team leader answered, although he was puzzled by it.
“But in the case of figures, the only costs that the platform bears are shipping and customer service, right? Then how about something like this?”
Lee Gyeong-bok also knew that fact.
“Can you adjust my fee if the number of customer interactions is below the standard?”
“Fee adjustment?”
“Yes. The fewer responses there are, the lower the cost for the platform, right?”
“That’s true, but…”
The team leader rolled his eyes and shut his mouth with a puzzled look on his face.
But the worries were short-lived.
“Um, I’m sorry, but this suggestion is beyond my authority… Can I make a quick phone call?”
“Oh, of course.”
“Yes, thank you for your understanding!”
The team leader hurried out of the conference room. Lee Kyung-bok and Park Joo-ho quenched their thirst with drinks.
Surprisingly, the team leader came back quickly.
“I received a reply from the representative.”
"thank god."
Lee Kyung-bok answered with a smile, but the team leader opened his mouth in a more cautious tone.
“The CEO judged that Purple’s opinion was valid. However, he responded that in business, there must be a return on risk.”
“If it’s risk, it’ll be a fee reduction, but if it’s return, it’ll be an increase in fees.”
The team leader's eyes widened at Park Joo-ho's reasoning.
“Yes. He asked me to make a special contract with the condition that the commission would be increased by 20% if the number of customer responses exceeds the standard.”
“Well, not bad.”
Lee Kyung-bok answered immediately.
It was a condition that did not have any particularly ominous feeling.
A special provision was added to the contract dividing the fee range into three sections based on the number of customer interactions.
Only after the stamping was completed did the MD team leader smile in relief.
“I’ve done countless contracts, but this is the first time someone has made me an offer like this.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s hard to take care of self-made goods in many ways. So the number of CS and customer service calls is not small, right? But Purple seems to be different.”
Lee Kyung-bok nodded at those words.
“I am confident in my ability to read people.”
* * *
Similar times.
The representative of the platform '#Fandom' smiled awkwardly after finishing the call with the MD team leader.
“There was a brief pause in the conversation. Excuse me.”
“No. I told you to talk comfortably.”
“Haha, thank you for your understanding, Mr. Jang.”
He thanked the woman in front of him. She opened her mouth again with a faint smile.
“How far did I leave the story?”
“Oh, you even mentioned the Sweeties commission issue.”
In response to that, Jang Da-ye, the CEO of Sweeties' agency, Dreaming, let out a short sigh.
“That’s right. This is the tragedy of small agencies. They treat everyone except their star players very poorly.”
The agency 'Dreaming' was small in scale. Except for the representative idol group 'Sweeties', the other artists were still in the early stages of achieving success.
“I was so angry when I heard that they were going to adjust the ratio by using our children as bait.”
As a small agency, they did not have the capacity to run their own merchandise shop. So Jang Da-ye had no choice but to get help from a platform to sell their merchandise.
When the existing platform tried to adjust the settlement ratio of Sweeties goods on the condition of having artists affiliated with Dreaming join the store, she decided to move to another platform.
“Oh, you must be really upset. Mr. Jang, you made a really good decision. We would never do something so inconsiderate. Discrimination based on popularity or size? Fans really hate that.”
He shook his head in disgust. It wasn't just words of comfort, it was heartfelt.
“That’s why. I should have joined the shop fandom a long time ago.”
“You’ve made a good decision, even now. If Dreaming Artists come this time, we’ll plan a special exhibition event to celebrate our opening.”
“I would really appreciate it if you could do that.”
The two laughed at this. After the conversation had been somewhat settled, Jang Da-ye casually asked a question.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I guess Purple is coming in too?”
“Oh, Mr. Jang, do you know Purple too?”
When he was surprised, Jang Da-ye burst out laughing.
“Is that all? I’ve been watching you with a lot of interest lately. And it’s not just me.”
“Then who else?”
“The broadcasting industry is also paying attention. Word is starting to spread through the marketing team and makeup artists from the entertainment industry.”
“What kind of story…?”
Jang Da-ye paused for a moment at the question that was carefully returned. She knew full well that information that comes easily doesn’t seem to have much value.
“Hey, Mr. Jang. You know I keep my mouth shut.”
“It’s not something to keep secret. He’s a talent that’s expected not only for his personal broadcasts but also when he advances to public broadcasting. Is that the level of evaluation he’s getting?”
“Is this your first time at Jesangjeong? Wow…”
Jang Da-ye looked at him in admiration and said.
“I think you, sir, would know what I’m saying.”
"yes?"
He rolled his eyes for a moment, then smiled brightly.
“Oh, of course. If I get the chance later, I’ll be your leg.”
“Okay. I look forward to working with you in the future.”
The conversation between the two representatives ended with laughter.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the '#Fandom' headquarters, the meeting was still continuing.
“Okay, now let’s get to the main point!”
After a short break, the MD team leader showed his enthusiasm in the conference room where they gathered again.
The figure goods contract was over, but there was still work to be done.
“Yes, this requires more insight from the MD team.”
“I would appreciate your help.”
Lee Kyung-bok and Park Joo-ho also responded and focused.
“First of all, these are prototypes of items that are selling well. If you see them in person, you’ll know that the quality is impeccable.”
The team leader proudly pointed to prototypes of ready-made goods that his employees had prepared during break time.
“Once the design is decided, we can go straight into production and sales.”
There was no reason to reject the merits that the platform offered.
What Lee Kyung-bok wanted to sell as goods wasn't just silk figures.
'It would be a shame if viewers could only buy the figures.'
There was no reason for Lee Kyung-bok to sell only figures when other influencers were selling various products.
The choice is up to the fans, but it was his job to give them the choice.
“Even if this is a product, the points need to be set differently depending on the characteristics of the influencer. Our job is to help with that.”
It wasn't for nothing that the MD team was in charge of the meeting.
“Purple, you’re a streamer, right? The core of streamer goods comes down to one thing.”
He emphasized in a confident tone.
“It’s a ‘meme’!”
Points that fans love and that fans created.
The 'meme' attached to streamer Purple soon became a product.