Just got a call from my friend saying Channel 4 have a documentary on the tea trade showing just now, I'll be tuning in at 11 to catch it on +1.
If it's any good I'll post an update so those who don't check TeaChat every 15 mins can hunt for reruns.
Apr 23rd, '09, 17:44
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Proinsias
Apr 23rd, '09, 20:27
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Was pretty good, though not really what I expected.
It was a young British guy who has sold his house and is using the £25,000 profit to try and trade his way around the world. Tonight was the Far East. About the half the program was him buying two lots of tea he had no clue about to sell in Japan. The first was 40 tins of Taiwanese high mountain oolong bought on site from the farmer and the second was a small canister of aged oolong he bought from Teaparker.
The forty tins were bought for about £10 a can, I think, and 38 of them were sold for £3.75 a can to a laughing, smiling, oolong tea vendor in Japan who said he should have done his research in between laughs.
The stuff Teaparker sold him looked around a few hundred grams of 80's oolong and was sold for £750. Teaparker assured him he could sell it at 6 or 7 times that price in Japan and he would even provide the contact details for three tea collectors in Japan who would be interested. The first tea collector laughed in his face and the second said he didn't collect tea so wouldn't be interested, there were no details to be had for the third collector and after a few phonecalls to Teaparker he gave up.
UK chatters can watch one of the Teaparker clips here
It wasn't all doom, gloom and loss however. He spent £300 on a fishing boat for the day in Japan and after 18hrs work he made £0.75 net profit.
It was a young British guy who has sold his house and is using the £25,000 profit to try and trade his way around the world. Tonight was the Far East. About the half the program was him buying two lots of tea he had no clue about to sell in Japan. The first was 40 tins of Taiwanese high mountain oolong bought on site from the farmer and the second was a small canister of aged oolong he bought from Teaparker.
The forty tins were bought for about £10 a can, I think, and 38 of them were sold for £3.75 a can to a laughing, smiling, oolong tea vendor in Japan who said he should have done his research in between laughs.
The stuff Teaparker sold him looked around a few hundred grams of 80's oolong and was sold for £750. Teaparker assured him he could sell it at 6 or 7 times that price in Japan and he would even provide the contact details for three tea collectors in Japan who would be interested. The first tea collector laughed in his face and the second said he didn't collect tea so wouldn't be interested, there were no details to be had for the third collector and after a few phonecalls to Teaparker he gave up.
UK chatters can watch one of the Teaparker clips here
It wasn't all doom, gloom and loss however. He spent £300 on a fishing boat for the day in Japan and after 18hrs work he made £0.75 net profit.
Apr 23rd, '09, 21:48
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Ah, he explained all that you see. It's because he just writes books on tea and wants to keep up his reputation, I imagine that's because his reputation would suffer quite a bit if he was looking for a 700% mark up on a small pot of aged oolong.
It's also messed up my plan of buying tea from Stéphane and selling it to Japan for a sevenfold mark up. Seems like the Japanese are one step ahead of the game and know about mail order tea from Taiwan just like me.
It's also messed up my plan of buying tea from Stéphane and selling it to Japan for a sevenfold mark up. Seems like the Japanese are one step ahead of the game and know about mail order tea from Taiwan just like me.
Apr 24th, '09, 10:36
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Very interesting program idea! Is it a reality show and does he really travel all over the world?
But does it mean he constantly change trade subject without much time to do research on that subject?
Traveling abroad to do international trade and making 7 folds of profit is more like the business mode of pre-1980s. To consumers internet age is just wonderful. You can buy tea or other stuff right from where it is produced. Before the internet era, I had difficulty even buying dan cong or Taiwan oolong in north China. Now it's possible to get them from any corner of the world
But does it mean he constantly change trade subject without much time to do research on that subject?
Traveling abroad to do international trade and making 7 folds of profit is more like the business mode of pre-1980s. To consumers internet age is just wonderful. You can buy tea or other stuff right from where it is produced. Before the internet era, I had difficulty even buying dan cong or Taiwan oolong in north China. Now it's possible to get them from any corner of the world
By sitting in peace and doing nothing,
You make your one day worth two days.
You make your one day worth two days.
Apr 24th, '09, 10:44
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Thought more about it, the 7 folds for aged oolong is not a joke. Of course this young man would fail because he didn't build up any reputation or credit in tea trade. Why would collectors believe he was selling the authentic stuff.
If a no-credit seller and a reputable large store are selling the same stuff, one marked up 2 folds, and the other marked up 7 folds, who do you think most consumers will go to?
If a no-credit seller and a reputable large store are selling the same stuff, one marked up 2 folds, and the other marked up 7 folds, who do you think most consumers will go to?
By sitting in peace and doing nothing,
You make your one day worth two days.
You make your one day worth two days.
Apr 24th, '09, 12:03
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For 6x£750 a Japanese guy could fly first class to Taiwan for the weekend, stay in a luxury hotel, eat at a super fancy restaurant, tour a tea garden and spend the rest of the weekend sampling teas, buy the £750 tea and probably a £750 teapot too.Proinsias wrote: The stuff Teaparker sold him looked around a few hundred grams of 80's oolong and was sold for £750. Teaparker assured him he could sell it at 6 or 7 times that price in Japan.
I do agree with Ginko, a tea merchant could have sold the tea to a collector for that price.
茶也醉人何必酒？
Apr 24th, '09, 19:06
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Yep, he's traveling all over the world trying to double his £25,000. He has absolutely no idea about the stuff he is trading in: Coffee, wine, jade, tea, fish, horses etc. He is going on gut instinct and all of the information he gets about the trade items seem to come from the people selling him the stuff.gingko wrote:Very interesting program idea! Is it a reality show and does he really travel all over the world?
But does it mean he constantly change trade subject without much time to do research on that subject?
Fun to watch.