Bad karma on the eCommerce interwebs?

While buying stuff on Taobao is the ideal, perfect form of human activity, it is not without its pitfalls. Taobao shops out-of-stock on your treasure, kuaidi delivery guys calling you from the wrong address, and dreadful browser security plugins…

Such things happen to all unenlightened humans occasionally. And sometimes they happen all at once. When you find that your luck is on a particularly bad streak, it might be a karma problem.

Bookmark this Taobao shop for when you are having one of those days. Place an order with the Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Hangzhou and they will light a candle for you for Buddha to gaze upon in contemplation of your karma.
Link the name to the shop

For only 10rmb a day you can get a special Buddha candle lit for you. I know what you’re saying… one day won’t be enough to fix this mess! Well you’re in luck. They also offer a year-long package for a special price of 1,800rmb. So much good fortune at such a low price! They are practically giving it away.

It’s such a sweet deal at 10rmb a day. Why wouldn’t you do it?

Have a Chinese Buddhist Temple Light an Auspicious Candle for you – 10rmb

President Obama is keeping his Blackberry, and his new email address has become the ultimate status symbol in Washington. Reports say that his new email address is only known to the VP, Chief of Staff, Obama’s top advisers and some of his oldest friends from Chicago.

Being from Chicago, I like to think of Barack as one of my homeboys. But for some reason, I did not receive the his new email address. That’s alright, I don’t take offense. And I think I might have figured out what his email address is anyway.

That’s the one. I’m 99% sure. How do I know?

I was searching for Obama merch on Taobao, China’s largest online marketplace. That’s when I ran across an offer for obama@ email addresses on China’s most popular domain names. Surprise, surprise. Two of them were taken.

Judging from this, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Barack chose either obama@126.com or obama@sogou.com. What is unclear is if Barack paid the 100rmb ($14) ransom that this shop was charging, or if he just took them by executive order.

If you want one of the remaining obama@ email addresses, you better make sure that you are up to the challenge. It says here that these email addresses are: ‘for the top togs’  牛人情用. I was thinking about buying obama@163.com for myself, but I don’t know if I can live up to that kind of responsibility. I guess I should stick with one of the “Obama is my homeboy” shirts also being sold on Taobao.

Right now, China’s online shopping websites are flooded with Obama products. Xinhua News says that you can find 8,000 Obama products on Taobao. That includes Obama branded hats, shoes and cough masks.

Learn more about Taobao

Check out more of the wacky stuff being sold online in China

Obama – 奥巴马