Chapter 165: Dragon Mountain - (2)
"Is the advance payment 50,000 won? Will you make a reservation?"
"Got it."
"No matter where you go, it's all the same. Even the items are barely a few, as a service for customers. Frankly, we have nothing left either."
Ugh, how much of this nonsense do I have to take as bait? If I convert 9,200 yen to Korean won, it's around 73,000 won. But asking for 180,000 won, claiming they have nothing left after charging 2.5 times the price? Does that make sense?
Glaring at the Super Family price list hanging in front of the store, I muttered, "The price of a single game is equivalent to that of a whole console?"
"Oh, this was released officially in Korea by Mintendo, so it's cheaper. Just last year, it was 380,000 won."
Boasting about it, this guy.
I grumbled inwardly and started walking. Soon, Soyeon followed closely beside me.
"Are game stores usually this unfriendly?"
"That's just the tip of the iceberg."
Next, I stepped into a considerably large store within the tunnel shopping area.
A middle-aged man with a pleasant appearance, busy inside the store, slowly straightened up as he noticed us.
"Welcome. Oh, my, a couple coming to buy games, that's quite rare here. Miss, do you like games?"
"Oh, yes. I do."
The shopkeeper chuckled at Soyeon's reply, fluttering the fan he held in his hand.
It was a common tactic to lower one's guard through mundane conversation; a method often used by those with substantial sales experience.
Then, he turned to me and asked, "What are you looking for, young man? It's faster to ask. Go ahead."
"I came to buy Laon."
"Looking for a new one or a used one?"
"How much for a new one, and how much for a used one?"
"Have you checked the price range?"
"."
These people, really...
Though I felt a pang of frustration, I responded with a calm expression, "There's a price tag outside the store saying 190,000 won. Isn't that so?"
"Right, 190,000 won."
The owner rummaged through the cramped counter space, bringing out a Laon's package box and placing it on the shelf. At that moment, I lost my words again.
The box in front of me was visibly scratched and dented due to improper storage.
"I specifically asked for a new one."
"That's a new one. Open it to check."
Sweating profusely within the confined counter space, the owner continued fanning.
Ultimately, before opening the package box, I inspected the seal. As expected, it was tampered with.
I almost tore off the seal in haste; I could have ended up with a useless piece if I hadn't been careful.
Though I didn't cut it with a knife, I found traces of careful sticker removal. When I glanced at the owner, he stumbled over his words with a bewildered expression.
"Upon receiving the product, we need to ensure the contents are intact. It's our policy to check it before selling. If a customer claims the content is missing after purchase, we have no way to handle it."
A person in business doubting the customer before the quality of the productincreasingly astonishing.
Then, as if to make matters worse, Soyeon interrogated the owner straightforwardly, "Then, why not open it in front of the customer during the sale to confirm?"
"Oh~ Miss, you might be too young to understand. At that moment, the product becomes used. If the customer changes their mind, we can't sell it anymore."
Seems like reasoning with this guy, armed with a typical old-fashioned mindset, won't work. So, I decided to use his own words.
"So, what you're saying is that once the product is opened by you, it's already considered used?"
"Exactly. We need to check for any defects in the contents."
"I don't need the product you've checked. Opening a new product makes it no different from a used one at that moment."
"Oh... Seems like young people don't understand words well."
I'm not sure who's telling whom what. Doesn't this guy understand the difference between new and used?
Then, with an unpleasant expression, the owner bent down again and brought out another Laon from beneath the shelf. This time, a considerably intact item emerged.
"It's 220,000 won."
"What? Earlier, the new one was priced at 190,000 won..."
"This one just came in the day before yesterday. A completely sealed new item without any damage is 220,000 won."
What difference does it make in the store's stock period when it's essentially the same device? As I kept mixing words with this man, I felt thoroughly confused.
After inquiring about game software with similarly nonsensical reasons for selling slightly higher than the original price, I finally gave up on the purchase and stepped out of the store. Yet, clearly, the owner's voice was audible, almost as if it was meant for us to overhear.
"It's hot today, and these crazy customers keep bothering me. Ah, irritating."
After wandering a few more stores but finding similar prices, I returned to the entrance of the tunnel shopping area, navigating through the sweltering heat until I found a fast-food joint far away.
"Let's just stop by there for a moment to quench our thirst."
"Yes..."
Soyeon seemed quite shocked by the retail scene she experienced for the first time. And I was no exception.
If the next generation of media transitioned to CDs, Yongsan was poised to become the hub for pirated CDs. With the influx of MOD chips for device modification and unscrupulous merchants swapping lenses or components during modifications, Yongsan had transformed from Korea's premier electronics market into a haven for unethical traders. It wasn't just games; CD players, cameras, PC partseveryone was hoodwinking consumers at slightly lower prices. No wonder it was failing...
But now, it was 1992. Until the early 2000s, when online shopping gained traction, Yongsan remained the go-to place for the latest games or PC parts.
"I really can't wrap my head around this. How can the price vary based on when the product arrived? And tearing off the seal stickers at retail stores to check the contents in advanceit might be due to occasional factory defects, but this clearly violates fair trade," I said, calming a visibly enraged Soyeon.
"Most likely, the seal being broken signifies a returned product," I continued.
"A return?"
"It's either due to a customer's change of heart, a defect in the device, or, if not that, probably a display item."
"How do you know this?"
"Look at the box's creased condition. It's obvious it's been stored as an empty box for a long time. If it had contained something, it wouldn't have been crumpled like this. It's a common tactic. Display items are crucial to show consumers."
"Impossible. At Mandra, we offer display demo kits to customers..."
"They sell those too. They display a new product to customers, clean it up when it gets old, put it back in the package, and sell it at the regular price."
I recalled being duped once, buying an expensive MD player at high school from a display shelf. I sipped my soda, the sober expression on her face prompting me to ask, "Surprised?"
"Not surprised, just deeply disappointed. If this continues in retail stores, no matter how hard we try, consumers will inevitably suffer," she said.
"Exactly. Establishing a proper distribution network is crucial. And marketing to communicate that," I added.
"But we don't have that department yet at our company."
Mandra, with its 70 employees, was a company involved in various tasks. They minimized marketing efforts, relying mostly on the monthly magazine publication.
"In the early '90s, not only small but also large companies didn't focus much on product promotion..."
"It'll be created soon, and you'll have an important role in it," I mentioned, making Soyeon look puzzled. Instead of a response, I just smiled, sipping my soda on the table.
"I had some rough idea, but still, I thought there might be a few conscientious stores hidden away somewhere. How come they're all the same? Even when I was younger, it seemed like there were a few decent stores if you searched carefully in the corner..."
Wait, in the corner?
Thinking about it, why weren't they in the bustling Tunnel Market, deliberately tucked away where you wouldn't find them without searching?
Perhaps there was a reason why they ended up there?
---
After a brief respite, Soyeon and I explored remote areas, focusing less on the tunnel market, where gaming stores clustered.
Even in places grouped with shops dealing in electrical wiring, occasional gaming stores appeared, but they maintained comparatively normal prices.
"Why is there a price difference between here and the tunnel market?" I inquired of a man in his early 40s, who seemed to be the store owner.
"Usually, people coming for games tend to visit that area since all the stores are there. But there's quite a difference in foot traffic. Those seemingly separate owners in that area actually run several stores. Though they look like individual store owners, most are just paid employees."
"Ah..."
"The store owners manage them, crossing over to Japan a couple of times a month to buy games. If they clear customs, they make a fortune. The games they import initially fetch hefty prices. They offer the store owners double the original price, and these owners take a 0.5% cut for themselves."
Gee... What a distribution system, not to mention these arent thugs running a nightclub.
After hearing the explanation, it was undeniably an astonishing practice. No wonder consumer-priced Laon was falling behind, while family games were taking over.
That evening, at a restaurant in Gangnam, I sat separately with Mandra's CEO, Hanseok Kim.
"You've barely had time to breathe since arriving in Korea. Soyeon mentioned you visited Yongsan Electronic Market today. How was it?" Hanseok inquired.
"To put it simply, it was a mess."
"I can relate. I tried running a PC game retail four years ago, and it wasn't easy. It's a tough business to succeed in if you're ethical."
"Well, I've scheduled
a meeting with Ewonseung Lee, the CEO of Somnori, starting tomorrow. My main reason for coming to Korea was to have a conversation with Somnori. But if this market continues in this shape, Laon's struggle will persist," I said.
"Sigh... it's truly embarrassing."
"No, sir. It's not too late to make a difference, but it won't be easy, using the same methods to repay," I concluded.
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