dognovel Chapter 38 Forum Teaching
Chapter 38 Forum Teaching
Lin Mu returned to the staff dormitory and saw a delivery box at the door. He picked it up and saw that the recipient was indeed him.
The package information said that it contained a bottle of perfume.
He was completely baffled; he hadn't spent any money on perfume at all.
Lin Mu took out his phone from his pocket, about to ask the deliveryman, when he noticed a few text messages he had missed.
Lin Mu opened the text message and saw that the first message read: "Want to see pictures of beautiful women? Reply '1' if you want to see them, and press 'R' to unsubscribe."
Lin Mu neither replied to the message nor unsubscribed. He simply deleted the message and thought to himself: "It's 2008 already, and the wave of scam SMS messages from SPs hasn't subsided yet?"
He clicked on the second message, which was a proper text message from Lin Wan: "Cousin, I got paid and bought you a Chanel men's fragrance. I wish you happiness every day."
Lin Mu's heart softened. He took out his key, went inside, and accepted the gift with peace of mind. It seemed his cousin was adapting well; the tragedy of his past life shouldn't repeat itself.
Back in his rented room, Lin Mu took a shower first, then turned on his Acer 4980 laptop and browsed the internet for a while to relax.
These days, 3G technology has just become widespread. You have to manually dial up to access the internet, you can't use data recklessly, and video playback isn't smooth.
Back then, the most popular forms of entertainment were reading novels and listening to music. As for the currently popular games, Lin Mu, having lived through that era, had long since looked down on them.
Speaking of videos, Youku and Tudou are currently the top two video platforms, followed by Ku6 and 6rooms. Pirated resources are rampant online, making it easy to find movies to watch. However, Lin Mu's tastes have long been spoiled by the 4K ultra-high definition of his previous life, and he simply can't stand the current 360P quality.
Lin Mu pondered, Bilibili seemed to have just been founded in 2008. If he could find Uncle Chen now and get an angel investment, his livelihood for the rest of his life would be secured.
He shook his head; this was far too unambitious. If he wanted to invest, he had plenty of opportunities. For one thing, Bitcoin had just emerged; he could bypass the Great Firewall, download a Bitcoin wallet, and even without buying any, he could use his home computer as a mining rig to mine and accumulate a few thousand or tens of thousands of Bitcoins. Cashing out billions later might be difficult, but cashing out hundreds of millions and becoming a wealthy man wouldn't be a problem at all.
But he had a bigger use for the money. Lin Mu estimated that by the end of this year, he would receive several million yuan in dividends. When he left Taobao a few years later to create Pinduoduo, having tens of millions of yuan on hand shouldn't be a problem. In this way, he could launch his own angel round, retaining enough capital; and with his own substantial investment, it would be easier to attract investment later.
In the end, Lin Mu still chose to read novels on Qidian.com.
After a while, having calmed down enough, he closed the webpage, opened the Taobao seller forum, logged into his Taobao account, and began editing the post.
Title: The Ultimate Guide to Slimming Down Cardboard Boxes: Follow the Leading Employees' Focus on Details and Squeeze Out Over 1000 Yuan in Net Profit Per Month
Posted by: Dayan
Target audience: Brothers and sisters who ship more than 20 orders a day and feel overwhelmed by packaging and shipping costs.
Core value: Money isn't earned, it's saved.
Hello fellow Taobao sellers! I'm Dayan, a Taobao employee who's only been with the company for six months.
Lately, I've seen a lot of complaints on the forum about expensive traffic, low profit margins, and not knowing how to select products.
Today I won't teach you how to generate traffic or select products. I'll just talk about something you might not have noticed, but which is a black hole that eats up hundreds of dollars of your profits every month—express delivery packaging.
Especially cardboard boxes. Have any of you ever bought cardboard boxes for 5 yuan each at a courier station? Did you find the shipping cost much higher than expected? That's because you're right. After six months of observation, combined with the "blood and tears" of various Taobao sellers, wholesale companies, and courier companies, I've summarized a set of money-saving and cost-effective packaging tips, which I'll share with you next.
###Part 1: Intercepting at the Source: Underground Intelligence on Cardboard Box Procurement
Core channels: 1688 and local cardboard box factories
1. 1688採购：在1688搜「纸箱定製」，找浙江、义乌的厂家。通用规格（比如30×20×15厘米），价格通常在3毛到8毛之间，比快递站点、邮局便宜不止10倍。首次可小批量购买，稳定后再大批量订货。
2. Factory Direct Order: Call your local cardboard box factory directly and ask if they have any defective boxes (boxes with printing flaws that do not affect their use). These boxes can be as low as 1 to 2 cents each, offering unbeatable value (check with several factories).
Advanced approach: Joint procurement + standardization of specifications
1.拉群拼单：在本地卖家群或论坛里喊一声，找3~5家日发货量相近的兄弟联合採购，一次订3000~5000个，能把价格压到4毛以下。
2. Zero-cost acquisition: For small sellers, there's an even cheaper way—go to your local convenience store or supermarket and negotiate with the owner to have them dispose of their cardboard boxes for free. Especially beverage and milk boxes, which are of good quality and can be easily modified at home, making it almost cost-free.
Chapter Two: Spatial Magic, Cracking the Invisible Killer of Volumetric Weight
Shipping costs aren't calculated based on actual weight, but rather the greater of volumetric weight and actual weight, using the formula "length × width × height ÷ volumetric weight ratio". A large, lightweight box can have shockingly high shipping costs. Therefore, we need to "squeeze out the air".
Wild geese teach you three amazing slimming techniques:
1. Vacuum compression method (suitable for clothing and textiles): Buy a manual vacuum pump and sealing bags, vacuum the clothes and quilts before packing them in a box. The volume can be reduced by more than 60%, instantly turning a large box into a small box and reducing the shipping cost (inspired by scalpers in the 90s).
2. Cardboard box modification trick: What if the box is too tall? Simply cut off a section from the middle, reinforce the inside with wide tape, and the sturdiness will not be reduced, but the size and shipping cost will be lower.
3. Precise matching, avoid "carrying air": Customize or choose cardboard boxes that are only 1-2 cm larger than the overall size of the product, fill the gaps inside the box with lightweight filler, and never use boxes that are too large.
Chapter 3: Material Revolution – Lightweighting is King
Remember this golden rule: use thin materials instead of thick ones, soft materials instead of hard ones, and light materials instead of heavy ones.
1. Cardboard box selection: For ordinary goods, use three-layer extra-hard cardboard boxes instead of five-layer ordinary boxes, which reduces costs by 40% and provides sufficient strength.
2. Packaging of small and lightweight items: such as stockings and jewelry, can be packaged directly in bubble wrap, costing only 1 to 2 cents per bag, eliminating the need for cardboard boxes and excessive packaging.
3. Priority of filler selection: air bag > bubble wrap > foam > waste newspaper.
Chapter 4: Process Optimization – Your Packaging Station is Your Production Line
I bet many Taobao sellers often find themselves in a chaotic rush during the packing process, sending to the wrong address, packing the wrong size, or even injuring themselves while packing, right? Here, I'll teach you how to achieve large-scale, streamlined packing.
1. Pre-classification: Divide the products into four categories according to size: S, M, L, and XL.
2. Packaging station layout:
Right side: Place S to XL size cardboard boxes and bubble wrap in order;
Middle: Place the product and its corresponding filling;
Left side: tape, electronic scale, label printer.
3. Sealing techniques: Use 3 cm wide tape and adopt the most secure and cost-effective I-shaped sealing method (one horizontal strip at the bottom, one vertical strip in the middle, and one horizontal strip at the top), which can save a lot on tape costs.
My final, heartfelt piece of advice: In business competition, winning lies in the details. Every penny saved on packaging is pure profit with no cost. This method isn't just theory; it's my practical experience. I hope everyone can earn their first pot of gold from this invisible battlefield of packaging!