Although Shen Yuequn himself did not understand why he fabricated a Master Kaka, the countermeasure proved to be extremely effective.
Firstly, the consignment and the 10 yuan deposit ensured that customers would not pester him about shoe sizes, hindering his peaceful business operations. Furthermore, most of the shoes were marked with JN, so consignment prices generally stayed below 50 yuan, allowing for sales within the year. Customers could receive their consignment cash within three days at most, which was a profit. This completely solved the problem of incorrect shoe sizes.
At the same time, Shen Yuequn discovered that having so many shoes here for consignment and resale significantly increased the repurchase rate. Customers realized that if they happened to unbox leather shoes, not only could they wear them themselves, but they could also consign them and potentially turn them into 50 yuan cash.
Although the chance of unboxing leather shoes was only one in ten, as long as one was lucky enough, it was a definite profit!
Especially with that pair of shoes priced at 500 yuan placed in the consignment area… As time passed, and with Shen Yuequn explaining the industry behind the letters KK whenever he had the chance, customers' first action upon unboxing leather shoes was to check the soles for any markings other than JN. Unfortunately, after several days, no second pair of such leather shoes appeared.
Of course, many people also expressed doubt about Shen Yuequn's story. The tale of the Italian master seemed rather unreliable, and the style and appearance of the leather shoes seemed similar to those already sold.
By the sixth day, the situation finally changed.
On this day, Shen Yuequn was selling blind boxes at his usual spot, and quite a crowd had gathered around. However, many of these people had come specifically because they had seen friends receive new wallets. After hearing that for ten yuan, one could unbox at least one wallet, with a chance to get leather shoes, belts, and other items, they had taken the bus specifically to try their luck. After all, these were people with plenty of time on their hands.
"Why still no luck!" a young man exclaimed in frustration, tossing the blind box in his hand towards a nearby trash can.
He had bought three blind boxes in one go, and all he got were three wallets, not a single pair of leather shoes. He had come specifically for the leather shoes.
"Young man, you only bought three blind boxes and expect to get leather shoes? Don't you know that it takes about ten to twelve blind boxes to get a pair of leather shoes? It's perfectly normal that you didn't get lucky with three boxes!" It wasn't Shen Yuequn who spoke, as he was busy collecting money and didn't have time for this unlucky fellow. It was some of the regular customers who were watching from the sidelines.
Every day, besides newcomers, there were also many regular customers who gathered here.
Most of these people were unemployed or retired individuals who had nothing to do and spent their days wandering around looking for entertainment. They had discovered that this place offered considerable amusement, witnessing people's elation and frustration daily.
These individuals became their prime entertainment, and the young man before them was their new source of amusement.
"So that's how it is!" The young man felt considerably better. It turned out it took over ten boxes to get one, so his luck wasn't that bad after all.
"Young man, why don't you buy two more? Anyway, the consigned shoes can generally be sold for 50 yuan. If you unbox leather shoes from just two blind boxes, you won't lose money!" an old man said with a smile.
"That makes sense!" The young man impulsively paid another 20 yuan and bought two blind boxes. Upon opening them, he found two more wallets.
"Damn it!" The young man's expression grew even more dejected.
"Hey, young man, don't be discouraged. A pair of leather shoes costs at least 100 yuan now. If you plan to wear them yourself, even if you buy ten boxes and only get one pair of leather shoes, you still wouldn't lose money and would even get five wallets for free!" someone beside him continued to egg him on.
"Mmm!" Perhaps influenced by the surrounding encouragement, or perhaps feeling a sense of unwillingness to give up, the young man impulsively bought five more blind boxes and opened them one by one.
However, with each opening, his face grew more disheartened. By the time he finished all five, his face had completely fallen, as they were all wallets, and not a single pair of leather shoes had appeared.
Since he had bought a total of ten blind boxes, quite a few people were now paying attention to this young man, including those who had been egging him on earlier.
"Ahem, your luck isn't too bad, actually. These five wallets, none of them are duplicates!" someone offered as consolation.
"Why not try buying another five!" someone continued to instigate!
"Young man, forget it, don't buy anymore. Your luck is bad today, it's best not to buy anymore!" someone else tried to dissuade him.
"How can I do that? If I leave now, won't my previous 100 yuan be wasted?" To everyone's surprise, the young man directly retorted to the person trying to dissuade him and then handed ten yuan to Shen Yuequn, saying, "Boss, give me one more!"
Shen Yuequn was also paying attention to this young man and immediately gave him another blind box. Upon opening it, it was yet another wallet.
"Boss, one more!"
"One more!!"
...
After a total of five more blind boxes, they all turned out to be wallets, with no sign of leather shoes. Even Shen Yuequn felt a bit embarrassed and proactively said, "Young man, forget it. You're not in the right state today, and your luck is poor. Come back another time!"
"No, I've already lost fifteen boxes today. If I retreat now and come back tomorrow, everything starts from scratch. Then all the losses from today's fifteen boxes will be wasted?" the young man exclaimed.
Well, his reasoning was muddled, his mindset was chaotic, and he clearly didn't understand probability. If his math teacher saw this, they might just die of exasperation.
But it was evident that the young man was hooked. Even though everyone around was urging him to give up, he completely ignored them. He had only one thought: if he gave up now, all the money he had spent so far would be wasted.
This was the sunk cost fallacy in economic theory, commonly known as the gambler's mentality.
Thus, the young man continued to buy blind boxes. Although he only bought one at a time, he did so continuously. As long as he unboxed a wallet, he would definitely buy another.
Clearly, this kid would not give up until he unboxed a pair of leather shoes.
In this manner, the young man continuously purchased nearly 50 blind boxes, spending close to 500 yuan, yet not a single pair of leather shoes appeared. By this time, everyone around had gathered around this young man, making him the center of attention.
Frankly, if it weren't for the fact that other people around were continuously unboxing leather shoes, proving that there were indeed many leather shoes in the blind boxes, people might have started questioning if Shen Yuequn was scamming them.
But this was the most painful part for the young man. He had bought 50 blind boxes without getting anything, yet he saw others unbox leather shoes with just one purchase. One could only imagine how terrible his state of mind must have been.