Professional bargainers meet debates in China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-03-23 16:25

A professional bargaining company,the first of its kind in China, has begun operation in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

A local urban newspaper, the Strait News, reported that Zou Chengzhi, from the Liaoning capital city of Shengyang, known as "China's first professional bargainer" by media reports, had been granted an operating permit by the local authority for industry and commerce on Feb. 27, after paying two yuan (24 cents) registration fees.

The permit said that Zou's company could provide services like goods price information, shopping advice and market research for clients.

So far, four other professional bargainers have joined Zou in his company, the paper said.

"An excellent bargainer needs more than eloquence, for bargaining is actually a comprehensive subject," Zou said. "One must know psychology and elocution, and learn the information and price of goods before bargaining with businessmen."

His business ranges from clothing to building materials, cars and apartments, according to the report.

Zou will charge one-third of the discounted price for each deal,but he would not charge his clients if his bargaining was not successful, the paper said.

His first deal, in which he was asked to buy a pair of jeans for a college student before setting up his company, brought him just nine yuan (1.1 US dollars) profit. While his largest deal helped a foreigner save 13,000 yuan (1571.9 US dollars) for a sofa.

Nowadays in China, most consumers have the experience of bargaining with businessmen.

"It is really an exhausting job to bargain with the sellers, who always ask an unreasonably high price for their goods," said Liu Yonghou, a teacher from the Beijing International Studies University. "But at the same time, we consumers sometimes know little about the product, especially a reasonable price."

Liu said that he welcomed the appearance of professional bargainers. "They can save me much time and after all, their charge is acceptable."

However, Zhang Jianfeng, a 26-year-old in a private company in Beijing, worried that the bargainers would collude with businessmen to cheat consumers. Zhang said that he would not choose them to buy something for him.

The China Youth Daily has carried a commentary on the professional bargainers, which attributed their appearance to the credit crisis in business circles and in the society at large.

"Credit is a prerequisite for business trade and a basic requirement of social ethics, and a sound social credit system is called for these days to help establish a well-organized and rational market order," the commentary said. By then, professionalbargainers would have no room for their existence."

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