China World - A Bootlegger Speaks

am 21 years old and just graduated from university. I was born and raised in a small city in Hunan with around 40,000 people. Now I am living in Shenzhen, a modern city in southern China, not so far from Hong Kong. I am working in the city in an office, selling many kinds of not-original-brand clothing over the internet.

My boss has a factory in China for vegetables and fruits. His family has been doing that for ages. Every year the turnover is around $10 million US. They sell ginger, garlic, potatoes, bananas, lychee, carrots, cabbage, lotus roots, chestnuts, pears, and shallots. The fake-items business is just like an extra bonus. I asked my big boss about it and he said, “I started about three years ago, because I’m a fashionable man. I know all the famous-brand garments and like to wear them. So why not sell them? I can wear them too.” He has three people working for him selling clothing on the internet. That includes me. The goods come mainly from Zhenjiang or Qingdao. I am not familiar with the life of the factory, but I was told that it is dull work because they do the same thing every day. My boss says, “The circumstances are very bad. Twelve hours of working non-stop, no breaks, and very low salary. They make less than $100 US a month normally. But I never think about it. It is as normal as the fact that the sun rises from the east. This is China, and the market rules.” I sell brands like A Bathing Ape, Billionaire Boys Club, Red Monkey, 10 Deep, and LRG. I have been doing this for seven months now. I like it very much because I can communicate with various people from all over the world. At the same time I can make money. I earn more than $1,300 a month! Most of our customers like our clothing very much because the quality is great and the price is good. I like the style myself. But most of the clothing is too big for me. In my future, I think I will keep on selling goods on the internet. Not only the clothing but also other things special to China such as vegetables, fruit, and so on. There are many, many great items with top quality and amazing prices in China. The internet is a great tool. We should take advantage of it to do as many things as possible. AMEKO