.:Final Final Trade:.

I posted my item on eBay for $60 and I mentioned that it was cash on delivery, so my buyers would only be limited to Singaporeans.

Surprisingly, after posting my item on eBay, I received a bid on Saturday for $65! I was really excited and I contacted this buyer to arrange for he meet up. I will be meeting her later to sell her the Little Taps!

So from this whole exercise, I made a total of $28 ($60 cash - $32 for the Little Taps) + $65 from this sale = $93!!

That's a really cool profit from what started out to be a paper clip!! Of course during this process, I traded alot of relationship for substance and I really appreciate all the help from all my friends and family who supported me through this activity!!! =))

.:Final Trade!!!!:.

Wow, we've come to the final trade for this course and I think I really learnt alot from reading my classmates' blogs..

But for this trade, I decided to take a slightly greater risk, by putting up my item for trade/sale.. Last week, my sister was going to Hong Kong for a holiday trip, and I asked her to help me buy a collectible item which I was looking for -Disney Taps!

For those who have no idea what it is, please watch this video of my collection!


These Disney Taps were bought on my previous trip to Japan, and I have been looking for more characters to add to my collection.. I heard from my friend that these were also available in Hong Kong, so I asked my sister to buy a few more for me..
Upon her return, I was excited that she managed to buy 2 more Hello Kitty Taps for me! However, the 2 Hello Kitty Little Taps could not be connected to my Disney ones (Disney and Sanrio probably used different manufacturers!)

Major disappointment!! But I decided to turn this into an opportunity for my final trade! The exchange rate for HKD was pretty good for last week, hence I was able to buy the 2 Little Taps for $16 each (this is considered really cheap, since I bought the Disney ones for $25 each)

Lastly, I decided to post my trades up on eBay and to sell them for $60(both)... The results will be out on Sunday, so I will update again by then!! =))

5:: Car car car

This blog post is waay overdue because I've been busy with data entry for the past 2 weeks..

Anyway, my cousin was in need of a car to travel to his workplace. Since I was pretty sure that my sister wouldn't mind lending her car to our cousin, I asked him if he had anything to trade for using the car for 3 days.

He said he could offer me cash, but exceeding the amount that he could rent a car for. So I went to check out the prices of car rental services, and found that the average market rate was $50 a day! Eventually, my cousin haggled alot over the price and we finally agreed on $60, and he would top up the petrol and include a car wash.

Although it was lesser than the expected $150, I felt that it was a rather good deal since I did not have to pay for the petrol (approximately $60) and certainly did not have to wash the car myself. Moreover, I managed to use the car for 7 days, which reduced my travelling time significantly! I'm quite satisfied with this trade but I have yet to think of what to do with my $60! =)

(No picture because the money was transferred to my bank account!)

4::Most exciting trade yet

The element of mystery from the previous trade seemed to have upped its value by quite a bit...

My eldest sister was about to travel to Shanghai for a 10-day holiday, so the conversation started, 'Did you know you can't use Facebook in China? Who's gonna look after all your games?"

"Oh no! I forgot about that!!! Can you help me log in everyday? I don't want to lose my bonuses!"

"I might be a little busy.. But what will I get in return?"

"Well.... I'll see what I can get you over there.."

"And??"

"What else do you want?"

Since I figured my sister didn't have much of a choice, there wasn't any one else who could log into her Restaurant City game. So I took the liberty of asking, " How about if I give you this mystery gift and take care of your Restaurant City, in return for using your car while you are away?"

"Ok ok, I don't need the car anyway. Make sure you drive carefully. Are these chocolates??"

"Thanks, I guess so... hahhaaa"

Now, I've got a car for 10 days in return for my mystery gift and 5 minutes everyday to log into Facebook. I'm pretty sure I can find my next target who will be extremely willing to trade me something so that he can use the car.... heehee

Pirates of the Caribbean Negotiation analysis

This is a pretty interesting way of analyzing negotiation tactics and from my favourite movie too!!! Johnny Depp!!!

3:: The mystery gift!!

My third trade of the week wasn't even initiated by myself! When I reached home after having dinner with my friend, my niece saw the little pink toy inside my bag. She came up to me excitedly and asked 'Is this for me?' *innocent look*

'Ermm.. No..'

'But, I like!!'*disappointed*

'You have to ask your mummy first, ok?'

Almost immediately, she dashed out to the living room and dragged my sister to my room.
I explained to my sister that my niece wanted the toy, but I couldn't give it to her since it was part of my assignment. She asked, 'So it seems I have to trade something with you for the toy?'

'Yes!'

'Ok.. How about this? It's a gift from my student for Teachers' Day (my sister works at a childcare centre). I suppose there are chocolates inside, and I don't like to eat chocolates.'

'Wow, mystery gift!!! Ok, thanks for the trade!!'

Now I have one mystery gift and one happy niece! I realised that often, the value of an item is very subjective. What may seem to be valuable to you may not be of the same value in someone else's perspective - One man's trash is another man's treasure! How true~

Never say no to Panda!

Extreme power display!!! Hahaaa~