Fantastic renovation, can celebrities still earn money without spending money? Summer Part time "Trap" College Students | Orders | Traps
Entering the summer, many college students are starting to try part-time jobs. E-commerce platforms "move" to earn price differences, ticket agents, "buyer shows" to send photos... Some seemingly easy to make money jobs hide many risks. Several college students shared their stories with reporters.
Trap 1
Accepting an order is a trap, and the membership fee is wasted
"99+bills every day, making money and making money, it's a good deal. sisters, send models to shoot." When she saw similar posts on the social media platform again, Yang Lin, as a victim, couldn't help but complain loudly: "It's all a pit because we can't get orders."
In July of this year, Yang Lin, a junior student who had just started summer vacation, saw a video posted by a blogger on a short video platform, with pictures of various clothes given by sellers.
The so-called "sending photos" refers to the business sending products to models. After the models shoot a "buyer show" using the relevant products and receive positive reviews on e-commerce platforms, the business will pay labor fees and give the products sent to the models free of charge, without the need for returns or exchanges.
Can you earn pocket money by taking some beautiful photos? Yang Lin, who loves beauty and selfies on weekdays, is tempted. After she contacted the blogger via private message and sent a simple personal message, the other party immediately said: pay a membership fee of 299 yuan, and you can immediately accept the order. "They couldn't even get this spot because you had good conditions, so they kept it for you and reduced your membership fee by 30 yuan." Under a wave of "sugar coated bullets" attack, Yang Lin was ruthless and paid this 269 yuan "membership fee".
That night, Yang Lin was pulled into a "model training group", and the group leader sent a few simple text messages in the group, even if the training was completed. The next day, she was pulled into several order taking groups, ranging from a few hundred people to over a thousand people.
"Afterwards, you can take orders." In the next few days, Yang Lin posted a secret code "1" in the group every day, indicating that she was available to take orders when she was free, as well as a "model card" containing multiple photos and introductions of herself, hoping that any orders sent for photos would come to her doorstep. However, after waiting for a whole week, she didn't receive a single order.
"Previously, it was said that there would be a list of various categories such as clothing and beauty, but now there is not even a list of phone cases, which is outrageous." Some students like Yang Lin who have paid membership fees asked in the group if there were any lists, but no one answered. Not only that, this photo organization also requires part-time college students to use their commonly used and reputable Taobao accounts to place orders. When accepting orders, the model needs to advance the cost of the product, and the payment will be refunded after the order is completed.
"I didn't make a penny, but the money I had to pay was one after another." When Yang Lin realized that this was a scam that used free product delivery as an excuse to lure students into brushing orders, she contacted the original introducer to request a refund. As a result, the other party unexpectedly added Yang Lin to a new group called "Promotion Group", stating that if she could attract 10 new members within a month, she could refund 269 yuan in membership fees.
"I have been deceived myself, how can I deceive others again?" After multiple unsuccessful demands, Yang Lin could only give up.
Trap 2
Celebrities act as guises, while scalpers act as agents
Does it sound beautiful to have a part-time job where you can meet your favorite idol without spending money, and even earn some extra income? College student Huang Qi not only didn't earn a penny, but also almost lost nearly 10000 yuan.
Huang Qi is a loyal fan of a certain celebrity and has always hoped to meet her idol. One day, she contacted a "ticketing agent" and was originally trying to inquire about any channels, but was persuaded to "join". "Our agents all have first-hand information about celebrity itineraries, and we can also watch rehearsals and performances for free." The other party poked her in one sentence, and as long as they pay a "information fee" of 399 yuan to become agents, they can enjoy the benefits of seeing celebrities for free. Huang Qi paid 399 yuan without hesitation.
After obtaining the so-called "agent" identity, things changed.
For several consecutive weeks, Huang Qi worked very hard to promote to her classmates and friends around her. During this process, the other party only urged her to sell tickets as soon as possible, but did not mention the promised free rehearsal and performance opportunities. After several twists and turns, Huang Qi finally found a potential buyer willing to spend 9000 yuan to buy tickets for a well-known variety show. The "ticketing agent" informed her that the revenue generated from ticket sales must be directly transferred to the general agent's account, and the tickets can only be obtained a few days before the performance. Therefore, before receiving the tickets, she can only advance the payment of 9000 yuan for the tickets.
"9000 yuan, this is my living expenses for several months! What should I do if the performance location is not ideal and the buyer requests a refund?" Huang Qi became alert in her heart.
"This is not a legitimate ticketing agent at all, it may not be legal." A law major told her that this "ticketing agent" sells admission tickets, many of which are priced much higher than the official price, and some are not allowed to be sold by the official. "Ticketing agents" are actually what people call "scalpers".
Article 52, Paragraph 3 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law stipulates that those who forge, alter, or resell train tickets, ship tickets, air tickets, cultural performance tickets, sports competition admission tickets, or other valuable tickets or vouchers. Detention for not less than ten days but not more than fifteen days, and a fine of not more than one thousand yuan may be imposed; Those with minor circumstances shall be detained for not less than five days but not more than ten days, and may also be fined not more than 500 yuan.
"If I continue to work, I will also be suspected of breaking the law." Huang Qi decided to give up, and the 399 yuan "information fee" was also wasted.
Trap 3
Selling costs are high, making it difficult to harvest "wool"
A shoe priced at 249 yuan on platform A, priced at 159 yuan under platform B's "billion yuan subsidy" mechanism, with a price difference of up to 90 yuan for the same product between platforms. If you wholesale 10 pairs of these shoes on platform B and sell them on platform A, you can earn a profit of nearly 900 yuan from them.
"You don't even need to receive or ship goods yourself, you just need to buy good goods that are cheap enough." By simply "moving" between platforms with your fingers, you can easily grab "wool". This summer, the part-time job of "moving" on e-commerce platforms has attracted many young people to try it out.
Just graduated Xiaogu is a seasoned brick mover. Since 2019, while still studying, he has been buying shoes, luxury bags, and other products at low prices through channels such as overseas shopping and discount e-commerce platforms in his spare time, and then selling them on a trendy online shopping community. The net profit from selling a product ranges from three to four hundred yuan to one or two thousand yuan. "Almost every day, goods are sold." Xiaogu, who started with a capital of 10000 yuan, quickly earned his first bucket of gold.
However, such an experienced bricklayer has recently started to lose money instead of making a profit. Xiaogu told reporters that various price reduction benefits and live streaming subsidies have become public information, which can be found on various social media platforms. There are also bloggers who provide tutorials on how to buy low-priced products. "There is no possibility of making money through information asymmetry anymore," Xiao Gu admitted, having recently suffered several consecutive losses.
The reason why it is becoming increasingly difficult to make money is that 5% of the technical service fee, 1% of the transfer transaction fee, operation service fee, and consumer postage subsidy are also due to the fact that e-commerce "moving" still requires paying various fees to the sales platform, and the transaction fee is getting higher, often accounting for more than half of the profit. For example, selling a shoe worth 2589 yuan requires paying various miscellaneous fees to the platform, which can amount to over 200 yuan.
In addition, due to the increasing scrutiny of individual sellers and products by platforms, it is becoming increasingly difficult for some products such as shoes and bags to pass the review. A pair of shoes recently purchased by Xiaogu had a slight gray mark on the bottom, but they were returned due to a minor flaw that did not pass the review. "The platform only accepts SF Express and JD Express, and the shipping fee costs several tens of yuan each time. If you don't want to return the package, you will have to sell it at a significant price, and some may even end up in your hands." Xiao Gu advised younger students not to try this industry easily.
give counsel
Part time jobs require signing agreements with formal organizations
Chen Yinjiang, Deputy Secretary General of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society, suggests that college students must sign relevant agreements with formal institutions when working part-time, and not easily obtain part-time opportunities through unfamiliar individuals.
Chu Chaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, suggests that when college students encounter similar part-time traps, they can mobilize their interpersonal networks to search for classmates with similar experiences and people with certain legal knowledge backgrounds. They can search for relevant personnel to legally protect their rights on a group basis, which is more likely to succeed than individual college students fighting alone to protect their rights. "College students should not keep themselves confined to campus for a long time. They should communicate more with the outside world, get to know society early, and broaden their horizons in order to avoid falling into similar part-time traps," said Chu Chaohui.
