If you ever wondered just who it was you were buying all that Taobao stuff from, say hello to my friend here. This great photo came from the New York Times, which just did a story about Taobao.  Most of the article is pretty boring, with way too many sentences beginning with ‘Analysts say…’ But the photo above and the few details about this guy are pretty interesting.

Yang here is still attending university – Yiwu Industrial and Commercial College – and it seems like Taobao has become something like a final project for most of the students there.  All the students there are interested in selling online, but Yang’s success has made him Big Man on Campus.

His shop started with yoga matts (I am pretty sure I bought one) and now sells cosmetics and shampoo and stuff like that. The product that he is holding is one of my favorite too. It’s called Face Up, and it is designed to rejuvinate saggy faces.

Another interesting part of the story is a quote from a Taobao shop that sells computers, and that clearly did not understand the reason for the reporter’s inquiry.  The Taobao shop admits to using their connection with a Sony OEM factory to sell laptops with Sony-similar components.

Seems like a pretty dangerous claim. Sony’s gonna have your ass if they find out! Don’t worry, your secret’s safe, right? Not so much. The reporter quickly tattled on their source to try and get a reaction from Sony, but Sony gave a big ‘no comment, we’re looking into it’.

I doubt they will find what they are looking for. The only reason this shop would say this is as a selling point for their computers. It is the kind of thing you hear all the time from a Taobao shop that wants to justify higher prices.

可贴SONY HP 联想 三星等

Sony, HP, Lenovo or Samsung stickers available

Interested in finding out more about all the sweet stuff you can buy on Taobao? Check out our Cool Stuff to Buy, or contact one of our friendly Taobao Agents for your international Taobao connection. They can get you anything!

Anything.