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你好,欢迎收听随行汉语。 Welcome to Takeaway Chinese.
I'm Niu Honglin with Steve in the studio.
Hello, Steve.
Hello there.
How are you doing?
I'm doing very well.
It's been a quite fun year and we've observed a lot of fun things in the Chinese society and we've learned a lot.
It's been a good year.
Yeah, we're getting to the time of year where we start to do two things.
One look back and reflect on on the previous 12 months and two look forward to the next 12 months.
Yes, and while we're doing these things, we also do a little bit.
I think in English you say spring cleaning, right?
You arrange your stuff, you see which are the things that you really love.
You didn't know, but they're important in your life.
Oh, do you do that in December-ish?
It depends.
We do it every change of season comes.
Oh, that's often.
Yeah, but because you need to find out the clothing you need for the coming season and also sorting out the things that you are no longer going to use for the next several months.
And I think that's because my house is not big enough for all of my things.
So I changed them.
And the idea is at the end of the year.
Some people do it in spring as well, but I like to do it at the end of the year because sometimes I figure it's very, very often to see the occasion where you think something is the thing that's vital in your life that you need all the time, yet you haven't been using it for three years.
Yeah, and that can apply to clothing as well.
Books, items, even sometimes makeup, right?
Huh.
Makeup.
Yeah, sometimes.
Well, makeup expires, doesn't it?
They do.
They do.
So maybe they do not belong to the topic we are going to discuss today.
Because in the previous episode, we talked about renting stuff.
Yes.
Which do you still remember how to say in Chinese?
Yes, 租 is the word you use in Chinese for renting, for longing, for borrowing.
But borrowing is more like 借.
借 is the thing that you borrow from your friend without paying them.
Whereas 租, when you rent something, you definitely pay for it.
And that makes me wonder.
In this world.
There are things that we rent and we return, but there are also the things that are.
In English you say one man's trash is another man's treasure.
You do not need anymore, but other people might find it very useful.
Absolutely.
And that can apply to anything.
It just means that somebody didn't want it, but you do.
Yeah, and it can also be a really good deal because for most of the second-hand stuff you get you can have a pretty good bargain compared to the first-hand one.
The brand new ones
Yeah, 100%.
Not everything needs to be purchased brand new.
For example, a toothbrush.
Yes.
Can't be a secondhand one, huh?
You wouldn't want to buy a secondhand toothbrush.
No.
But you could buy a secondhand sofa.
Or a bicycle.
Yeah.
Yeah, or things like that.
So it depends on your own personal taste.
But yeah, secondhand market.
And I guess that's why it's continued to grow and grow.
It's because people have slowly come to realize that you don't need to spend all that money on brand new things all the time.
But there's still this... strange, not strange, but subtle mentality.
But there's still this quite subtle difference in mentality when you're renting something or deciding to buy a secondhand stuff and make it yours maybe yours forever.
But we'll discuss that a little bit later.
Sure.
For now, let's talk about some useful expressions in Chinese that related to secondhand.
Well, let's start with that one.
Exactly.
Yes.
Secondhand.
Secondhand in Chinese is 二手.
R is second.
Two.
Shou is hand.
Literally second hand.
So secondhand, we have two terms in English.
One is secondhand and the other is used.
For some reason, I feel like used has a more negative connotation to it.
Do you have that term?
We do, we do.
And do you have the same connotation?
Yes, we have 旧物.
旧物.
旧 is old, 物 is stuff.
Old stuff?
Old stuff, literally.
But there's another one that is a little bit slightly better, I think.
It's even slightly better than secondhand.
Or maybe they carry the same connotation.
It's 闲置.
Xian is not busy.
Okay.
Zhi is located somewhere.
So the stuff is located at a certain place by you, because the stuff is no longer busy serving you, because you're not using it.
Oh, that's complicated.
That's complicated.
But yet simple.
Yes, it's the idea.
So the thing about Chinese words is that yes, you can understand the word by understanding each character and the relationship among the characters.
But you can also just remember the word by the word.
You can.
Or by the logic, too.
But in this case, 先知, meaning I don't use it anymore.
I don't use it anymore.
Not because it's old and not because it's very much used.
It's just it's no longer carrying a very significant position in my life.
But there's no connection to our Xiao for secondhand.
It kind of is because we would say 闲置物品, so the stuff that is 闲置, the stuff that is no longer used by me.
And usually you would see the word 闲置 in situations where this person is selling out all of his 闲置物品, all of his secondhand stuff.
Okay, then it becomes secondhand when the person receives it.
Yes.
Until that time.
That person is the second person using it.
Are you a supporter of the secondhand market?
Do you purchase a lot of things secondhand?
Yes, yes.
I'm a supporter of secondhand stuff.
And also I produce a lot of secondhand stuff.
Do you use the apps?
Do you sell a lot of your stuff on the apps?
Definitely.
The thing is in English.
Or to be more precise, in the Western world you see flea market or yard sale all the time, right?
Oh, by the way, we have flea market in Chinese as well.
It's literally flea market.
跳蚤市场
Yes, so is flea and is market.
So literally flea market.
Yes, that's a flea market.
But we don't really have a yard sale.
Maybe because yards are not that common in the Chinese society.
Well, not in the major cities, of course.
And that's true for any major city around the world.
Maybe if you go into the rural areas where people have a yard, then you might have a yard sale.
That's true.
But the concepts are quite common in any culture.
Yeah.
Yard sales are fun.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think you'd really enjoy them.
What we do is it's kind of like a community thing.
It doesn't have to be.
You can just do it by yourself, or you can kind of get together with the other people who live on your street or something like that.
And then you take all your stuff and you just put it out in front of your house and you put little stickers.
But the key is it's everything is just really, really, really cheap.
And those are the things that you no longer need.
Yeah.
A flea market is a little bit more organized.
It's like an event where sellers will come and they'll have their own booth there and sell their own things.
That's true.
And in Chinese, we also have secondhand market.
Yeah, obvious secondhand market.
And funny you asked about the apps.
I think the real time one secondhand idea or the concept of being able to widely nationally accept secondhand stuff and even seeing it as a trend, as something that are considered a smart choice in purchasing that started when the secondhand related app got really popular in the country.
And when was that?
10, 15 years ago.
Yeah, that's when people started to realize like, oh, I can actually get some really good stuff.
Because I think probably what happened here is what happened in other places.
Because on the apps you can buy secondhand stuff from sellers, but you can also buy secondhand stuff just from people, right?
And I don't know about you, but for me, there's maybe... more of a trust with buying from people.
And the reason I say that is because on the apps you can see their review, because when other people buy or exchange with them, they review each other.
So you can see whether that person is trustworthy or not.
And if you see that before you initiate the conversation about whatever it is you want to buy, then you feel more comfortable with it.
I've bought so many different things on secondhand apps.
And I don't know about you.
I find it addictive.
Definitely.
Right?
Because it doesn't cost.
You know, of course, depending on what you're buying, but it doesn't cost that much for a lot of the things you'll purchase there.
And also the thing about secondhand market, or secondhand app to be more precise, is that you can find almost anything in the world with almost impossible prices.
I'm saying that because in flea markets, for example, it's usually within your neighborhood or really near, or at least to the center of your city.
And you can't really get the things that you've been looking for.
But on these apps, you can and with very niche hobbies.
For example.
Yeah, right.
See, the thing is, with very niche hobbies, the kind of items, little gadgets that you want, you can't get them in the lowest price when it's not secondhand, when it's brand new.
But there is a Chinese word here that's called 退空.
退空.
退 means to retrieve from.
And 空 is a huge big hole.
Okay.
It's kind of like a rabbit hole.
When you fall into the rabbit hole, you can't get out of it.
It's the idea.
So when you're addicted to such a hobby, you love stickers.
You use stickers to create a whole big picture.
And you need to buy all kinds of stickers.
And you buy really, really, really a lot.
And at a certain point, you feel like, I'm no longer there.
My life stage is moving on.
I'm moving on in my life.
I no longer am obsessed with this hobby.
What am i supposed to do with all these stickers that i have?
I have to.
I have to retrieve from the hole.
I get out of the hole.
I no longer need this stuff.
What am i gonna do with them?
You started to sell them on the second hand.
App to those, which becomes your new hobby.
That's true.
But for those who wanted to test the water, see if they like this, they can get to the really cheap secondhand stuff first and see if they really like it.
So if you search the keyword 退坑 from these secondhand apps, you would get a lot of very cheap bundle of stuff.
And you can even get them in 福袋.
What's 福袋?
福 is blessing or bless.
袋 is a little bag.
So 福袋 would be a bag full of blessings, which means you do not know what's in the bag.
Oh, wait, people do blind boxes on the secondhand apps?
Yes, it's really fun.
And if they say it's a 退坑福袋, it means that no, you do not get to choose what kind of stuff exactly which type you get with this bag package.
Yet the seller is kind of promising you that it's definitely worth it.
There are many stuff in it and they surprise you with their taste, their choice of stuff you just described takeaway chinese.
Takeaway chinese is the listeners can't control what we do on the show, but we're guaranteeing they'll get something good from the program every time they listen, and it's always worth it.
Yes, maybe it's not a, it's just a.
I don't get it, though.
Why would i mean?
Because you contact a person right then you go to A meeting place.
Yeah.
And then there's a Tui Kong Fu Dai.
There's an unknown exchange.
You're getting something, but you don't know what it is.
What if you don't like it?
You've wasted your time to go there.
It's possible, but it didn't happen to me even once.
I've bought at least...
Three or five different kinds of 福袋 on the secondhand market.
I've bought the stickers we talked about.
Did you know you were getting the broader theme of stickers?
Of course, yes.
There's a broader theme.
There's a broader theme and you can even 许愿.
What's 许愿?
Make a wish.
Okay.
You can wish because they will give you the broader items and different types of theme.
And you can wish to have some traditional Chinese style figure in the sticker.
You can wish to have Harry Potter in the sticker.
You can wish.
You can wish.
And they will tell you okay, you can 许愿 one or two kind, but you cannot pinpoint all of the items I'm going to give you.
And in this 福袋, there will be around...
8 to 10 types.
Each type there will be around 20 to 30 different little items, so they will give you the basic information so that you judge whether or not 20 yuan is worth it.
But definitely the idea is the element of surprise, the things that you might enjoy and a really good bargain.
How do you say that in chinese?
A great bargain or a great deal?
Okay, so in english you say it's a great bargain or a great deal, as you're describing The deal, it's a noun.
In Chinese, you use an adjective to describe it.
You say 很值。 很值。 很 is very.
值 is worth it.
Totally worth it.
Okay.
It's very worthy.
Yeah, these are the fun things about secondhand market.
And in China, we see more and more young people going for secondhand.
And there are more and more such expressions.
We talked about 福袋, 退口.
These are a little too niche, to be honest.
On the secondhand market.
There are more expressions or words or phrases that you'll see more commonly, referring to all the items.
For example, 九成心.
Jiu cheng xin.
Jiu means nine.
So jiu cheng would be 90%.
So out of 10 shares, the level of novelty is nine, if I'm describing it properly.
I don't get it.
So cheng is kind of like saying separating things into 10.
So jiu cheng would be 90%.
Ba cheng would be 80%.
Qi cheng, 70%.
Okay, so it's talking about the percentage.
And the 新 is new.
So 九成新.
80, 90% new.
Yes.
And of course, you can say 九五成新.
So that's 95 成. That'll be 95% new.
So it's the way to describe how old it is.
Yes.
Hmm, it's trying to describe the item you're selling.
Yeah, and people will only use those terms right for second-hand stuff.
Well, not only that, like you wouldn't say you would, you would, you can, because it's literally describing the situation of the item you're selling.
Right, if it's, if it's 5 new.
No, 50.
Five would be, 五成 would be 50% new.
Oh, it wouldn't be 五十?
No, that was the point I was trying to make.
The 成 replaces the 嗯, the 10 part.
Yes.
I understand.
Yes.
It's separating something into 10 shares instead of into 100 shares.
Right.
So my point that I was trying to make, I was not making.
You would only say it if it's positive.
That's what I was trying to make.
No.
People would say 三成心 is only positive.
30 new, it's still okay, but no one would say zero, five that's what i was trying to say like five percent no no no, that would not exist, because you can't really sell something.
If it's five percent exactly, it still still have to be, you know, relatively reasonable.
This is really good information.
So you'll see this.
You'll see this type of thing like When you're looking at any type of item secondhand, and the number doesn't matter 九 八 七 whatever, and then 成 新 Yes, and you can also, by the way, say 八五成 八 is eight, 五 is five.
So 八五成 would be 85%.
So even we're talking about a not round number 10%, it's still okay.
Understood.
We have an expression in English called like new.
And like new means it's the same condition as a new one.
Yes.
It's like new.
Do you have that kind of expression as well?
We would say 久久成新。 久久, meaning what?
99%.
Okay, almost like new or almost new.
Yeah, that's really good information to know when you're looking at secondhand stuff.
When you say that, I also think some people would say 全新, 紧拆封.
So 全新 would be completely new.
紧 is only.
拆封 means I just opened the box.
I didn't touch the item.
Sometimes that happens, right?
When you get a gift, you want to sell it. but you opened it and anything.
So these are very common expressions.
When you are, you know, browsing on a secondhand app and you see these words, now you know what they mean.
Yeah.
Can I ask you an off-topic question?
Of course.
How do you say re-gift?
Because sometimes you'll get the same gift.
Like if you have a birthday party or, I don't know, a baby shower or something.
A baby shower is probably a good example.
Oh, yeah.
Because you'll get the same gift from two different people.
So you keep one and then you secretly, without telling your friend, sell the other one.
Or you just give it to somebody else.
And if you give it to somebody else, then you're re-gifting.
Yes, but we don't have a term for regifting.
We just say, we just describe the situation.
Expert tip.
If you are regifting, don't give it back to the same person that gave it to you.
And also open the box.
What if there's a card?
It's embarrassing.
You can tell if there's no card in there, because sometimes you'll get like one time I got and this was very weird.
I guess I had spoken about this to multiple friends, but I had said that I wanted one of those mini handheld vacuum cleaner things.
I don't know.
For my birthday, two people got me that.
That's good.
You have good friends.
Yeah, I guess.
Anyway, so there's no card inside the box.
It was unopened straight from the store.
Then you know.
Then you know.
But sometimes you got really beautiful packaging and the package paper, very nice with a bowl on it.
Then in those situations, open it.
Maybe there's a card.
Unwrap the wrapping paper, but don't open the box.
Don't open the box.
Yeah, because people like that.
People like to buy secondhand things when the box has never been opened.
That's true.
But on the secondhand apps you see some celebrities buying, selling stuff, sometimes really yeah yeah, yeah it's, it's a fun thing to do.
Sometimes it's because they have too many stuff.
Then they really want to be environmentally friendly and they sell them, and also they're all kinds of stuff household appliances so there's some like chinese celebrities just selling their fridge Or maybe a vacuum that they can hold with their hand.
And also the thing is with the celebrities and stars when they do advertisement for certain goods, they will get the sample.
They'll be asked to use it a little bit or they will be given these as gifts.
And they do not really need five or 50 different vacuum cleaner in their home.
But shouldn't, don't they just like give it, they're famous, right?
They're famous.
They're celebrities, so they just give it away.
They're trying to sell it.
Sometimes they sell it in really cheap price, like 10 yuan, so more fans would follow them.
It's kind of like a little, i see, i see okay right, there are that, but buy my microwave for five yuan.
It's a fun thing to do with friends and fans.
But there's also the situation where, like you just described, they re-gift the gift from fans.
That would cause scandal.
That would cause news because people don't like it.
Of course.
If you sent a gift to your favorite celebrity and then you open up their live stream and they're giving away your gift oh, the worst scenario is the gift is even handmade like handmade no, and they give it away.
Right, did that happen?
Did that actually happen to some?
Yeah, in some occasions they will suffer a huge problem.
They should.
That's awful.
That's awful.
Yeah, just throw it away if you don't like it.
See those of you who are listening who love Steve so very much.
I will never throw away your gifts.
Good.
Unless I don't like them.
So that's a lot of fun things happening in the secondhand market.
And we mentioned this in the beginning of our conversation, that is...
There's the subtle and slight different mentality or way of thinking in secondhand stuff and the stuff that you read.
I don't think it's only in Chinese.
And also, by the way, these days it's getting much better.
But in I think 10, 15, 20 years ago, people would feel renting stuff.
Renting stuff is still fine, depending on what you rent.
But buying secondhand stuff, people still look at it in a relatively biased way.
Maybe that wasn't even the issue.
Maybe it wasn't even an issue of trust.
Maybe it was just they wanted something new.
That could be it, too.
But these days we are making money.
Smarter choices in the sense that, to start with those who are selling secondhand stuff, they make sure the status of the things are what they claim to be.
Instead of lying about how new they are.
Oh, you just triggered me.
What did you buy?
Well, before I moved to China, right?
So we're giving away all my like kitchenware because we're not going to take it to China.
Mm hmm.
Just pots and pans and, like, frying pans and just stuff, right?
And Charles, I still remember his name.
What did Charles do?
I don't know Charles, by the way.
This is on a second-hand app.
What I said on the app was, if you're interested...
Just it's a bunch of kitchenware stuff like frying pans and pots and stuff.
I don't have time to post the pictures.
It's free.
It's in good condition.
If you want it, just come and take it.
Oh, that's great.
Yeah.
So Charles text me and he said, can I see some pictures?
And I said, please refer to the post.
I already said there that I don't have time to post pictures and stuff.
And he said, well, I'm not going to go all the way over there if I don't know what I'm taking.
And I said, then don't.
I said, so then don't come over here.
That's no problem with me, Charles.
Oh, I'll never forget.
I was so mad about that.
It's for free.
I wasn't selling it.
What about that part of it?
The giveaway stuff?
The giveaway stuff is also on the secondhand app.
Yeah.
And in China, does it disappear in like seconds?
Like if you post something and you say, this is free, you'll get a response almost immediately.
Somebody saying they'll come and pick it up quickly.
But the thing is, on top of the secondhand app, we also have a lot of WeChat group, or social media chat group, among the community.
And those free giveaway stuff would disappear in those chats because it's easy to pick up.
Oh, interesting in the community you're talking about, like the apartment complex area.
Yes, oh right, you can just take them from your neighbor and maybe send your neighbor a little cupcake that you made or a little flower.
It's nice gesture.
You make friends.
It's easy to do so.
Yeah, those we chat group or any type of chat group also exists in china.
That's how vibrant the secondhand market these days are.
And another funny thing is on the secondhand app not only can you get stuff, you can also buy all sorts of strange things.
For example, the other day I took my kid to you know play in a major commercial complex area with playground and also a square with all sorts of booth and stuff.
And on that square there's a tiny little toy train that kids can sit in and the train would go around the square having a little bit fun.
And you can even get a ticket from these secondhand market because if you buy 10 tickets, you get a percentage of discount and you can use your cell phone number that you registered for that 10 times to get a discount, have an exchange of that one-time ticket.
Oh so you don't have to physically go and pick up the tickets, you can just have have them on your phone.
Yes, and the thing is, if i purchase the 10 times, i can sell, resell one time of the little toy twin experience to any online friends who's interested, so that they can purchase only one time with the discount.
So you get that, And that would be really popular in the community chat, wouldn't it?
Yes, community chat or secondhand online apps, those work.
And the weirdest thing is that you can even start your own gig business on the secondhand apps.
So you can sell like eight hours of your weekend to go online.
Climb a mountain with someone because they do not want to do it by themselves, or give them a PE training in a gym.
So selling your gig, something that you can provide as a service, can also be found in the secondhand app.
That's where they advertise those.
Yeah, that's cool.
And it's a good spot to advertise those types of things in those locations, because the people who are shopping there would also be shopping for those types of experiences too.
Yeah, it's great.
And which also means it's great for the app itself itself, because they can provide not only goods, but they can provide services too.
Yes, and it can also be a good opportunity for people to meet up, to make friends, to join the same kind of club, a reading club or any kind of hobby.
Oh like, if you bought like, a secondhand book from someone, like that type of thing yeah, then you make friends because you share this, a similar hobby.
Have you ever done that before?
Made a friend that way?
I have bought the 退坑福袋 from someone and talked to her and learned a lot about the new hobby that I was only into for three seconds yet find very much fun for a while.
So that can happen as well.
A little micro relationship.
Yes.
And that's the thing about...
These days in the Chinese society, you don't know what opportunity would open for you, as long as you try something new.
Yeah.
And even if you're not really looking to buy something, even just kind of scrolling through the apps and seeing what other people are selling is kind of entertaining.
Oh, you know that's also a little bit irritating because for some people they would brag about the things they have or the pet they have or the hobby they have and write an entire post with pictures and everything.
And at the end they would put a price tag like 10000 or something and say I'm not selling, I'm just bragging.
Oh, no way.
Yes, it's a fun way to socialize.
Well, at least that's better than celebrities selling their fans gifts.
That's true.
Much better.
So for those of you who have listened to this far, you must have a lot to say about secondhand stuff.
So if there's a fun story about your secondhand purchasing experience or something we didn't mention about secondhand app, maybe in your country, that you observed that we don't know about, please leave us a comment in the comment area or send us an email so that we can chat about our show secondhand.
Thank you so much for listening.
感谢收听,我们下次再见。 Thanks very much.
See you next time.
