"The Blind Box Imperial Prize can be sold in our FamilyMart convenience stores, but our procurement price must be half of the selling price!" After learning of Huang He's identity, Xi You Zujian naturally abandoned the idea of recruiting Mr. Huang and instead began discussing cooperation terms. He immediately demanded half of the sales as profit.
"95%!" Mr. Huang knew the other party was asking for the moon, as this was something anyone could do. So, he promptly quoted a procurement price of 95%.
What followed was a verbal sparring match, with constant disputes over pricing. Eventually, they were deadlocked between 80% and 70%.
Huang He stated firmly that he could only give FamilyMart 20% of the sales as profit, while Xi You Zujian insisted on 30%.
"Your product has a significant issue: once the rewards are all drawn, many of the remaining draws will simply not sell. We would have to bear all of this! We would be taking on huge risks!" Xi You Zujian argued.
"Then we can assume that risk. As long as unsold prizes are returned along with unopened prize tickets, we can refund the corresponding ticket funds. As long as they are genuinely unsold, we will bear all losses!" Mr. Huang stated resolutely, giving Xi You Zujian no room to retort.
"Your product will occupy a huge amount of space in our convenience stores!" Xi You Zujian continued. "These prizes require a large, specialized shelf for display, forcing us to remove some shelf space for other goods, which will impact the convenience store's sales!"
"We have already optimized this. The previous shelf specifically for prizes will be removed and replaced with a meticulously designed cardboard display stand!"
"This display stand comes with each complete set of Imperial Prizes. With the addition of protective foam, it can be assembled into a dedicated stand with perfectly fitted spots for all prizes. It only requires 0.5 meters of shelf space to place this entire cardboard stand. If you don't even have this little space, FamilyMart would have gone bankrupt long ago!" Mr. Huang said.
"There are other issues, such as how to convince customers that we haven't faked the prize tickets. Also, regarding the setup of rewards A, B, C, and D..."
"None of these are problems. Our product includes a large poster for hanging the drawn prize tickets. As for the prizes themselves, you can arrange them as you wish. Furthermore, the prizes have been revised. They are no longer exclusively Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, but a batch of Pokémon figures. Additionally, there will be 2 of Reward A, 3 of Reward B, 3 of Reward C, and 4 of Reward D. The numbers for rewards E, F, and G remain unchanged, and the price is now 500 yen per draw!" Huang He stated.
"..." Xi You Zujian was speechless. Essentially, all the points he wanted to make had already been covered by Huang He.
"Actually, these issues are not important!" Xi You Wen Nai, standing behind Xi You Zujian, suddenly spoke up.
"What do you mean?" Huang He asked Xi You Wen Nai with great interest.
"The key lies in the IP of your Imperial Prize rewards!" Xi You Wen Nai said indifferently. "The reason your Imperial Prize is currently popular is mainly due to its borrowing of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s influence."
"But the number of Yu-Gi-Oh! players is limited. You can't rely on it forever. Moreover, no matter how much you sell, it seems you're just working for Bandai. You must have your own cultural and creative products, and you need sufficient major IPs to support them, otherwise, this will just be a fleeting phenomenon!"
"Mmm!" Xi You Zujian nodded.
"Indeed, precisely!" Mr. Huang also nodded, then snapped his fingers. Hu Jing, standing behind him, handed a document to Huang He.
"What is this?" Xi You Zujian asked curiously.
"You'll know when you look at it!" Huang He handed the document to Xi You Zujian. After reading it several times, Xi You Zujian's expression became solemn. Xi You Wen Nai, behind him, also secretly cast a glance out of the corner of her eye.
It read: 2004 Week 41 Release Plan: Pokémon Posable Wind-up Doll Series, Reward A Pikachu Posable Wind-up Doll, Reward B Charmander Posable Wind-up Doll, Reward C Bulbasaur Posable Wind-up Doll, Reward D: Meowth Posable Wind-up Doll, Last Reward: Mew Posable Wind-up Doll.
2004 Week 42 Release Plan: Resident Evil Figure Series, Reward A Ada Wong Qipao Figure...
Week 43 Release Plan: Ultraman Tiga 8th Anniversary Commemorative Series, Reward A Tiga True Bone Sculpture Figure... Last Reward GUTS Base Finished Model, capable of housing the complete set of fighter models...
Week 44 Release Plan: Detective Conan Series: Reward A, Mouri Detective Agency 1:15 Assembly Model, Reward B Conan's Tech Watch (can launch plastic dull needles)...
2004 Week 56 Release Plan: Fate/stay night: Reward A, Saber Holy Sword Figure, Reward B Rin Tohsaka Despair Figure... Last Reward Fate/stay night Special OVA "Bu Mo" Animation · 23 minutes.
Xi You Zujian looked at the list of plans, which detailed the release schedule for the entire year of 2004, basically on a weekly basis, with a new Blind Box Imperial Prize released every week.
If such terrifying new product production capacity could be understood, then within the 17 weeks of the release plan, there wasn't even a single repeated IP. Each time it was a completely new IP.
Even an old man like Xi You Zujian, who didn't understand things popular with young people, knew the popularity of some of these IPs, such as Detective Conan, Ultraman Tiga, and Pokémon.
"What do you think? I don't understand your generation's interests very well, but you should know more. Will these be popular?" Xi You Zujian hesitated for a moment, then asked his daughter directly.
"..." Xi You Wen Nai licked her lips and then asked, "Huang, I can roughly guess the nature of some of the other prizes from their names, but I can't figure out some of them. For example, this Reward E in Detective Conan, 'APTX4869 (childish voice after ingestion).' Is this just a sugar pill, or something else? It says here it causes a childish voice after ingestion. Could it really make people revert to childhood?"
"Oh, reverting to childhood is naturally impossible, but there are some interesting ways to play with it. It's a special capsule containing some helium gas, specially formulated to be harmless to the human body. However, if you bite it open in your mouth and swallow it, it can temporarily alter your voice. Based on our tests, 86% of users' voices become sharp and childlike after taking it," Huang He explained.
"Good heavens, there's such an interesting thing!" Xi You Wen Nai swallowed and asked about other interesting items. Indeed, they sounded very appealing and filled her with the desire to purchase.
"And this last one, the special OVA 'Bu Mo' animation for the Last Reward."
"I know OVA refers to short, standalone animated works released for cultural products like games, novels, or manga, but I don't quite understand the meaning of 'Bu Mo.' What does that mean?" Xi You Wen Nai asked curiously.
"Well... may I ask if you have played the game Fate/stay night?" Huang He asked back, licking his lips.
"I've heard of it. It's a very popular galgame this year."
"If you cooperate exclusively with our Xi You Corporation, I can agree to your terms and only charge 20% of the sales as profit!" Xi You Zujian said decisively.
"It's not impossible, but if that's the case, then 20% of the sales might not be enough!" Mr. Huang smiled and shook his head.
"What, are you only planning to give us a 10% profit?" Xi You Zujian's face darkened.
"No, it's still 20%... but FamilyMart will have to give us an additional 20% of the sales as an exclusive agency fee!" Huang He stated.
"..." Xi You Zujian's face had already turned the color of soy sauce.
"Sir, we cannot give up the sea for a single forest, so you don't need to think about exclusivity anymore. However, our selling price for convenience stores will always be 80% of the retail price. If other convenience stores do not accept our offer, then this naturally becomes a product exclusively sold by FamilyMart!" Huang He said.
"Then if I don't agree, won't this become a product exclusively sold by someone else?" Xi You Zujian retorted.
"That depends on your decision!"