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Everyone's a winner in the bartering business
By Xu Wenwen |
November 11, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ZHENG Fangzheng knocks on the door of a college dormitory room, the door opens and the student inside gives him a large bag of waste bottles and newspapers. He is not a scrap collector, but the CEO of Huanbao Net (www.iecobox.com), a new Hangzhou bartering website.
The bag of waste given to him will be taken to a local scrap station, of which Zheng and his partners are shareholders, and the student will receive points for Huanbao Net, which can be exchanged for small commodities.
For instance, a plastic beverage bottle gets eight points, a kilogram of old newspapers is worth 110 points and a soap costs 175 points.
Huanbao, which literally means barter treasures, was launched last month and remains at test stage. The site only accepts waste products such as beverage bottles, old newspapers, books and clothes, and in return gives users knickknacks as "treasures."
Zheng and his four pals, all young graduates of Zhejiang University of Technology, created the eco-friendly bartering website that combines the recycling of waste with online shopping.
Five years ago, Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald who successfully traded one red paperclip for a house aroused the passion of bartering online, and today in Hangzhou, those young people are determined to benefit the city by their unique business.
So far, the five founders, as the core team members, take most of the jobs ranging from designing the webpage to collecting waste.
Zheng said the idea arose when Hangzhou announced a recycling and sorting policy last year. "We noticed the profit of garbage sorting is huge, but the personnel are usually not well-educated, so we decided to offer a better channel, which is the Internet, to extend the industry.
"As young men and students are fond of Internet surfing, we focus on them," he added.
"When I was a college student, the problem of students' waste materials was severe," said Chen Bing, another founder who conceived the idea.
According to their investigation, more than 17 percent of student respondents disposed of six beverage bottles a week, and more than 50 percent of respondents disposed of between two and six bottles a week.
So in Hangzhou, college students are estimated to dispose of 4 million beverage bottles a month.
In addition, nearly half of the respondents choose to throw scrap away rather than selling it to scrap collectors.
The team obviously shows satisfaction with their business idea. "The Huanbao Net offers them convenience as well as a platform to be eco-friendly," said Chen, "and we earn from the business, and it benefits society.
"In the initial period we don't expect to earn money, but to establish the platform step by step," Chen added.
"Because it is an eco-friendly business, we've already won a lot of support from schools, community and government."
Playing the mediate role between individuals and the scrap station, the website earns money by selling waste to the scrap station and paying students with small commodities bought at a wholesale price.
As well as online trade, the team also develops offline activities.
Last Sunday Huanbao Day was kicked off at the Pingfeng campus of Zhejiang University of Technology. It was assisted by the school's Green Environment Protection Association.
Volunteers from the association introduced "Two bottles for one chance at the lottery, 100 percent prize rate," with prizes ranging from tissues to a computer mouse.
Many students were lured there and showed great passion, some of them hauled bags containing dozens of plastic beverage bottles, some held stacks of newspapers and books to "exchange treasures," and some immediately bought two bottles of water and drank up for a chance in the lottery.
"The lottery is to accumulate popularity," said Hong Xiaofeng, the chairman of the association. "The core of offline activity is to cultivate their habit of huanbao (treasure bartering)."
Though the service is only available in Zhejiang University of Technology, the team is developing business in other schools and communities.
The bag of waste given to him will be taken to a local scrap station, of which Zheng and his partners are shareholders, and the student will receive points for Huanbao Net, which can be exchanged for small commodities.
For instance, a plastic beverage bottle gets eight points, a kilogram of old newspapers is worth 110 points and a soap costs 175 points.
Huanbao, which literally means barter treasures, was launched last month and remains at test stage. The site only accepts waste products such as beverage bottles, old newspapers, books and clothes, and in return gives users knickknacks as "treasures."
Zheng and his four pals, all young graduates of Zhejiang University of Technology, created the eco-friendly bartering website that combines the recycling of waste with online shopping.
Five years ago, Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald who successfully traded one red paperclip for a house aroused the passion of bartering online, and today in Hangzhou, those young people are determined to benefit the city by their unique business.
So far, the five founders, as the core team members, take most of the jobs ranging from designing the webpage to collecting waste.
Zheng said the idea arose when Hangzhou announced a recycling and sorting policy last year. "We noticed the profit of garbage sorting is huge, but the personnel are usually not well-educated, so we decided to offer a better channel, which is the Internet, to extend the industry.
"As young men and students are fond of Internet surfing, we focus on them," he added.
"When I was a college student, the problem of students' waste materials was severe," said Chen Bing, another founder who conceived the idea.
According to their investigation, more than 17 percent of student respondents disposed of six beverage bottles a week, and more than 50 percent of respondents disposed of between two and six bottles a week.
So in Hangzhou, college students are estimated to dispose of 4 million beverage bottles a month.
In addition, nearly half of the respondents choose to throw scrap away rather than selling it to scrap collectors.
The team obviously shows satisfaction with their business idea. "The Huanbao Net offers them convenience as well as a platform to be eco-friendly," said Chen, "and we earn from the business, and it benefits society.
"In the initial period we don't expect to earn money, but to establish the platform step by step," Chen added.
"Because it is an eco-friendly business, we've already won a lot of support from schools, community and government."
Playing the mediate role between individuals and the scrap station, the website earns money by selling waste to the scrap station and paying students with small commodities bought at a wholesale price.
As well as online trade, the team also develops offline activities.
Last Sunday Huanbao Day was kicked off at the Pingfeng campus of Zhejiang University of Technology. It was assisted by the school's Green Environment Protection Association.
Volunteers from the association introduced "Two bottles for one chance at the lottery, 100 percent prize rate," with prizes ranging from tissues to a computer mouse.
Many students were lured there and showed great passion, some of them hauled bags containing dozens of plastic beverage bottles, some held stacks of newspapers and books to "exchange treasures," and some immediately bought two bottles of water and drank up for a chance in the lottery.
"The lottery is to accumulate popularity," said Hong Xiaofeng, the chairman of the association. "The core of offline activity is to cultivate their habit of huanbao (treasure bartering)."
Though the service is only available in Zhejiang University of Technology, the team is developing business in other schools and communities.
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