I am selling 3 automatic pencils on Xianyu, with a price tag that is half of my initial purchase price. Because the target audience for automatic pencils is small, it is not easy to sell them, and most buyers are students who are very price-sensitive. In order to make my products more attractive, I specifically marked: "Additional gifts can be included, such as pen curtains and lead refills."
After listing, only one or two buyers inquired with me, but no transactions were made. A few days later, I forgot about this matter. On July 25th, Xianyu notified me that I had 6 unread messages, which naturally surprised me. However, when I saw the content of the messages, I felt a bit helpless.
One buyer felt that my pricing was unreasonable and argued with me using the lowest prices from e-commerce platforms. I didn't know how to reply to him. Some e-commerce platforms focus on performance, with low profits and high sales, and often have promotional activities. I am just earning some pocket money. In order to reduce such comments, I posted screenshots of the store and order details.
But the other party seemed to have no intention of stopping there. Perhaps in his eyes, this price was unreasonable, and I had to admit this and adjust the price for sale. I didn't want to argue with him because students have plenty of time and it is cheap for them to spend a lot of time searching for lower prices. I used to be like this too, bargaining for a lower price in order to buy something I liked. Even though it was already a very favorable price, I still wanted to spend less, thus sacrificing a lot of time.
In college, controlling living expenses made me understand some things:
Use when necessary, save when possible.
You cannot spend in advance and be controlled by your own desires; nor can you be stingy and unwilling to invest in yourself. The boundary between using and saving is not easy to grasp, and it requires rich personal experience and accurate judgment.
Taking these three pencils as an example, if it is just for personal interest and the frequency of use is very low after purchase, and the budget is not sufficient, then it is best not to buy. If it is because your own pencil is aging and you need to purchase new ones, and you use them frequently, then it is a necessity. If the budget is not very sufficient but it does not affect your quality of life, then it is okay to buy.
I am not a stingy person, but in daily life, I tell myself to eat less snacks and drink less beverages. However, I will never spend more time just to save 2 yuan on bus fare and walk two kilometers or even further.