Are young people making a lot of money by setting up stalls when returning home during the Spring Festival?

Returning home to set up stalls during the Spring Festival has become a new way for young people to make money. Let us explore new ways for young people to make money during the Spring Festival and how they can find new business opportunities and development space during this traditional festival.

During this year's Spring Festival, whether it is college students with ample vacation time, young people who quit their jobs at the end of the year, or migrant workers who waited until the New Year's Eve holiday, they all set their sights on the stall economy to tap into the holiday consumption boom.

From internet celebrity trunk stalls and internet celebrity markets to street stalls, more and more young faces are appearing in the street stall economy, which features low cost, flexible time and immediate income.

Young people are more interested in making money than lying down during the holidays. Many young people who set up stalls during the Spring Festival told Tech Planet that they would do everything possible to control costs for the first time, select products in small batches for testing, and especially avoid investing in expensive stall fees at the beginning. If they return to county towns and villages to set up stalls, they will rely more on social connections with acquaintances, and they cannot set prices too high, and they also have to deal with customers who are skilled in bargaining.

At the same time, we must avoid being deceived by second-hand wholesalers, who post experience notes on social platforms such as "earning over a thousand dollars a day" and "realizing the dream of getting rich by setting up stalls" in order to attract users to purchase goods.

A young man who set up a stall to sell Spring Festival couplets told Tech Planet that the second-hand wholesalers are actually the ones who make the most money. As far as he knows, these wholesalers have tripled their purchases this year, and many of the popular products that were promoted eventually became unsalable products. He felt like he was working for the wholesalers.

Although some people make money while others lose money by setting up stalls during the Spring Festival, for many young people who return to their hometowns to set up stalls, perhaps what is more important is to experience more possibilities in life.

01 A post-00s generation returned home to sell Spring Festival couplets and earned 4,000 yuan in 10 days

Location: Longyan, Location: Vegetable Market

This is my second time to set up a stall in my hometown during the Spring Festival. Last year, I made 7,000 yuan in sales in 10 days by selling couplets. This year, I bought a new batch of goods, plus the unsold inventory from last year, and now my highest daily sales can reach nearly 2,000 yuan.

This time the booth was bigger, and I spent 400 yuan to build a 3m x 3m tent. The products were also richer, with red envelopes, window decorations, lanterns, etc. But there were also pitfalls in product selection. Some products would not be posted according to local customs, so I had to find a way to deal with it myself.

Based on the experience of setting up a stall for the first time, I just bought the couplets that were popular last year. There are actually many things to consider when buying couplets. You need to research user needs and confirm the product size. The location where I set up the stall is very close to the countryside, and the residents all build their own houses. Generally, they need 2-meter-long couplets to be posted on the door. There is also a local custom that couplets are posted in the kitchen, so 1.2-meter-long couplets also sell very well.

The profits vary depending on the quality of the couplets. The profits of cheap couplets are higher, and many people sell them at four or five times the price. On the contrary, the profits of good quality couplets are not high because the purchase price is high. I do business with acquaintances, so the selling price is not too high, and the profit is 1 to 1.5 times. Chunhui is more profitable. A pack of 20 couplets is sold at 1 yuan per piece, but the purchase cost is only 5 yuan.

There are many skills in selling couplets, such as buying zodiac styles in small batches and giving priority to customers to sell them out quickly, otherwise they will be unsalable and cannot be sold again until the second year unless they wait another twelve years. During the period when users buy couplets, we should also introduce some high-priced products appropriately. I usually set a price range for the products and give different prices according to the different characteristics of the customers.

The most annoying thing is bargaining. Street stalls are not like supermarkets, where you can't set a fixed price. People who come to buy couplets basically bargain. I sold a 1.5-meter velvet couplet with three-sided tape for 45.7 yuan, but the other party bargained it down to 28 yuan. After a lot of negotiations, the other party bought it for 30 yuan.

My stall is near the vegetable market. When I set up the stall here last year, the vegetable market had not been built yet. This year, the customer flow has increased significantly. But the competition is also more intense. Within a radius of 50 meters, there are two more stalls selling spring festival couplets like me. Customers will compare prices from three different stores.

I have to get up at six in the morning and close my stall at seven in the evening. Setting up a stall during the holidays has made my schedule more regular. Because the customer flow is concentrated in the morning and evening, especially in the vegetable market, I can't miss the morning customer flow. I also observe the time of other stall owners nearby, and setting up stalls earlier than them is also a motivation for me to get up. In addition, the smart watch has a "stand reminder" function, which is mainly to prevent sitting for a long time. I never met the standard in school, but now setting up a stall, achieving the goal is not a problem at all.

But it's very cold in the winter when it rains. Even if I wrap myself up in three layers, my hands still shiver. And the sales on rainy days are very bad. I once only sold more than 100 yuan. Because the weather was too cold, I ordered a cup of milk tea and a fried chicken, which made the sales even worse and cut it in half.

I set up the stall for 10 days in total, and this year I expect to make a profit of 3,000 to 4,000 yuan. But in fact, I have a positive attitude. Even if the sales are really bad, I can just save them and sell them again next year.

02 Mobile stalls to avoid urban management, auspicious meaning is more attractive than products

City: Xianyang, Stall Location: Night Market

During the winter vacation, I went back to my hometown and tried to set up a stall to earn some pocket money. It happened that a friend of mine had set up a stall to sell jasmine iced soy milk, so I invited her to come over and join me.

I originally wanted to make a stall truck, but since it was my first time setting up a stall, I didn’t want to invest too much, so I didn’t find a fixed stall. I didn’t have tables, chairs, or small stools. I just hung dozens of lanterns on a simple rack and moved to places with a lot of traffic. And the stall can be moved at any time, so it’s easier to run when we encounter the urban management, and we can come back quickly after the urban management leaves.

Selling lanterns was an accident. I started by selling the very popular twisting stick fireworks on Xiaohongshu. They were quite difficult to make, but the sales were average. I heard that lanterns were very popular in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, so I brought some with me. I didn't expect them to be so popular.

I bought the lanterns from Alibaba 1688 platform, the cost was 2 yuan per lantern, and the selling price was 10 yuan per lantern, 15 yuan for two. The main body of the lantern was prepared by the merchant, but the ropes, stickers, tassels, small wooden sticks and other decorations were all designed and made by ourselves. When I was not skilled in the early days, it took about an hour to make 30 lanterns, and I often stayed up late at night to make lanterns. Later, my friends and I started to work together like assembly line workers, and our efficiency was improved.

At first, we were worried that we wouldn't be able to sell them, so we summoned up the courage to shout, but later we found that it was not necessary, because the battery-powered luminous lanterns are more conspicuous in the dark, and people who see them will naturally come over. Of course, the location is also very important. We chose a location near the night market, where most of the products are snacks, and there are no competitors for our lanterns. Also, I feel that people in my hometown are not as business-minded as those in southern cities. We have rarely seen such Internet celebrity products, and many people buy them because they have never seen them and are curious.

My target group is mainly parents with children. The lanterns are covered with a lot of auspicious stickers, which are more suitable for the Spring Festival. Everyone wants the festive atmosphere and some good omens for the New Year. I thought that lanterns with stickers of "get rich" and "get rich" would sell better, but I didn't expect that parents would choose lanterns with stickers of "happy" and "safe".

I am a very cautious stall vendor. I bought 30 lanterns for the first time. I didn’t expect to sell 15 of them that night and make back my investment. I bought another 150 lanterns and my final operating income was about 1,800 yuan.

I have relatively flexible hours setting up my stall, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. When business is good on weekends, I can sell out all my products in an hour.

Later, we bought some lanterns with higher average order value. One of the lucky things during the stall was that one day we met a TV station that came to shoot a program. They liked our lanterns and bought all the remaining ones to use as props. They also suggested that I wear Hanfu in Datang Everbright City to sell better.

For students, setting up a stall to work part-time during the Spring Festival is a relatively good choice, but it also has its challenges. The income from setting up a stall is affected by seasonality and is unstable. Some of my friends set up a stall to apply film to mobile phone cases, and many times they can't get any orders all night. Stalls often have good business on weekends and worse business during the week.

03 29.9 yuan for a set of photos, I set up a stall in the county town to take New Year photos

City: Jingxi, Stall Location: Park

I just graduated and have been working for two years. I am a teacher and have a relatively ample vacation time. In my private time, I am a photography enthusiast. During the Spring Festival holiday, I returned to my hometown and thought about setting up a stall to take pictures of the New Year.

First of all, I needed to set up a shooting booth with a Chinese New Year atmosphere. I purchased some red lanterns, Spring Festival couplets, and various props with dragon elements, as well as shooting background cloths of different colors, photography stands, etc., which cost me about 600 yuan in total.

The stall is set up on the lawn of a nearby park with a large flow of people. It is usually set up in the afternoon when the light is good. The largest number of customers are children, and many parents hope to take a festive New Year photo of their children.

Before setting up the stall, I posted information about the stall on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin. One of my notes went viral with hundreds of thousands of views. With the push of big data in the same city, many people from my hometown would ask me in advance about the time to set up the stall. What I didn't expect was that they would dress their children in distinctive costumes such as princess costumes and Northeastern flowered jackets and come to take pictures, which was very photogenic.

Because the consumption level in the county is not high, I initially priced the product at 19.9 yuan, and it immediately sold out. Although I take a set of 9 photos, I will actually take 20 to 50 photos for selection, and usually give some extra to parents.

Later, my friends persuaded me to raise the price slightly, and now the price is 29.9 yuan. At most, I can take pictures of more than a dozen children in an afternoon, and the camera takes more than 600 photos. My arms are sore from taking pictures, and I am dazzled by the selection of photos when I go back.

It is not easy to photograph children. Many children are shy or reserved in front of strangers, and need their parents to communicate and guide them. I also have to communicate with them all the time. The most tiring time is when I talk too much in a day and don’t want to talk anymore when I go home.

Sometimes when three kids were shooting together, some would cry and make a scene, which was very chaotic. Some kids would grab the props too hard, or they would bite them thinking they were real, which damaged the props.

Setting up a stall to take photos is greatly affected by the weather. The stall can only be set up on sunny days. If there is strong wind, there will be many unexpected situations. Our tripod cannot stand at all, and the background cloth and couplets are blown everywhere. I was very upset at the scene.

I just set up the stall for four days and made about 600 yuan. But this time I set up the stall mainly for experience, and it also happened to be through my photography hobby that I helped the children record their New Year time, which I felt was quite meaningful.

04 On-site calligraphy practice "performance" to sell cultural and creative products to avoid cheap feeling

Location: A city in Jiangsu, Location: Pedestrian Street

Before the Spring Festival holiday, I finally realized my dream of setting up a stall after get off work. I am a typical socially anxious worker. I had a long psychological struggle before setting up a stall. Even before I rode my electric bike to set up the stall, I was still thinking about

I set up a stall from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day. In the early days, I tried a lot of popular stall products that were circulated on social networks. For example, I bought a lot of refrigerator magnets and other products in the early stage, but in the end I couldn't sell them and ended up losing money.

I later sold mobile phone cases, calligraphy stands, key chains, lanterns and other products. Setting up a stall actually depends on luck. There is essentially no technical threshold. Everyone is selling the same product. For example, if big data recommends a stall product to you, you will see countless recommendations, and the price of the product will also drop all the way, indicating that many competitors are selling this product.

Offline, if the lanterns you sell are popular, other stall owners will also sell the same product. Not only will they shout loudly to sell, but they will even directly put the lanterns into the hands of children passing by in cradles. Most parents will buy them as soon as they see their children like them. This simple and crude method allows them to successfully beat the other two or three stalls on the street. In summary, it is "breaking the rules + accurate users + thick skin".

Another product I sell is a calligraphy stand. I am quite interested in calligraphy, so I practiced calligraphy for a while before setting up the stand, often from getting off work to bedtime. Products like this are not just for display. They sell atmosphere and emotions, and need to be a bit performative. You don't need to shout, just take a pen and write something there, and people who are interested will naturally come around. Moreover, young people pursue freshness and fashion, so the words can be more lively, and conventional blessing words can be combined with some Internet buzzwords.

Of course, there are also embarrassing moments. One time, I was writing on the spot, and a child looked at it for a while and said directly: "Your writing is not good at all. Are you just learning it?" Many people laughed when they heard it, which made me very embarrassed for a while.

The calligraphy stand looks cheap, but in fact, cultural and creative products are not just for demand. Buyers pursue beauty and refinement. All aspects should avoid cheapness and make the stand unique. Therefore, I need to buy a lot of expensive materials, such as rice paper of various colors, pens, ink, paper cutters, and packaging bags, which cost a lot of money.

I feel that setting up a stall does not cultivate any core competitiveness. For example, calligraphy seems to have a threshold, but in fact it does not. Most people do not understand calligraphy, and they cannot tell whether it is good or bad. When I first started setting up a stall, I felt that my calligraphy was terrible, but I could still sell it.

I opened a store online at the same time, but found that I could not successfully direct traffic to the online store because the logic of the two is different. Online stores require operations and popularity. Offline users may make impulse purchases when they see the products, but online users can compare products across the entire network. You definitely can’t compete with those calligraphy or literary styles that are well-known in the circle.

However, I mainly set up stalls for experience. I think many people like me have studied since childhood and then started working, so they don’t have much concept of money. It just so happens that during the Spring Festival consumption peak period, I will probably continue to try to set up stalls after the holiday.

05 Open at 10 am and close at 10 pm, earning only 14 yuan a day at the worst

City: Guangzhou, Stall Location: Shopping Mall

I graduated with a degree in computer science last year and worked in the backend of games. Later, the company's project failed and the entire team was laid off. I went home early during the Spring Festival. This year, I happened to try to set up a stall in the mall on New Year's Eve, thinking that I could continue to do so during the Spring Festival.

This time I signed up for the Spring Festival market held by a local shopping mall and was lucky enough to be selected. The advantage is that the mall provides stalls and shelves, but the disadvantage is that there are many restrictions and it is not free, such as only accepting New Year goods. I originally signed up for a toy stall, and the most frustrating thing was that the mall had many specific toy category requirements. After I got the goods, the mall asked me to temporarily change the product, and finally I had to return the goods and bear the shipping fee. Now my stall mainly sells lanterns, red envelopes, and some small toys.

When setting up a stall in a shopping mall or market, we must not be late every day, otherwise the mall manager will call us to urge us. In serious cases, we may even be fined.

When choosing products, we need to consider practicality and cost-effectiveness. Product placement is also very important. I will put toys in places where children can easily see them, especially some luminous toys. Children will light them up when they pass by, which makes them more likely to buy.

The daily income is not stable. There are activities on weekends, and the flow of people is more, so the business is better. But if a product sells well, some competitors will secretly follow suit. There are only eight stalls in the mall market, so the competition is fierce.

Setting up a stall is harder than I thought. One person needs to consider a lot, from selecting products, purchasing, and sorting goods, everything has to be done by oneself. And the stall time is relatively long. It opens at 10 am every day and closes at 10 pm. It is open for 12 hours a day, plus the 2-hour journey to and from the mall, which takes 14 hours a day.

When the performance is bad, I will be more frustrated. One day I only sold 24 yuan, a lantern for 13 yuan and 4 red envelopes for 11 yuan. The red envelopes were originally sold at 10 yuan for three packs, but the customer wanted four packs. In the end, I bargained down to 11 yuan, thinking that I would sell them to clear the stock, and the overall profit was less than 14 yuan. The weather was still quite cold that day, which was equivalent to my running around all day, and the hourly wage was less than one yuan.

Because there are still a lot of leftovers, the final profit is not calculated. Nevertheless, for me, setting up a stall is a very good experience. Being able to sell products can bring me happiness. If there are good opportunities in the future, I will continue to try it.

Author: Lin Jing WeChat public account: Tech Planet