Biz Scene: BIZ UNUSUAL

Get a gift, then pawn it

Pawnshops welcomed a business spike after the Spring Festival holiday, according to the report on xinhuanet.com.

"From the last day of the holidays, we received expensive gifts like world-renowned watches and jewelry," said a pawnbroker in Beijing. The golden accessories have accounted for around 80 percent of the pawn business, up 20 to 30 percent over the previous year.

Staff in Jinbao Pawnshop and Huaxia Pawnshop said their shops made 20 business transactions every day recently, the majority on festival gifts of gold, jewelry, watches and home appliances.

The pawn price is usually no more than half of the original cost.

Sending messages for you

Sending short messages to mobile phone of colleagues, friends and clients during festivals has become a modern Chinese tradition. The fad has reached the point that professional message-sending companies have sprung up, according to Guangzhou Daily.

The companies, which often have professional equipment to send messages to a large number of people at the same time, usually charge 0.02 to 0.08 yuan for each message sent, compared with 0.1 yuan for sending a message via ordinary mobile phones.

In addition to a lower cost, the services also offer various short messages for customers to choose from that can be sent on an exact date and time.

No coupons please!

The first no-coupon Golden Week holiday not only brought consumers a convenient and quiet New Year shopping experience, but also presented an unexpected surprise to the shopping mall operators.

According to a spot check conducted by the Beijing Commercial Information Consulting Center, during the first seven days of the holiday when use of coupons was forbidden, retail revenue from consumer goods increased 11.8 percent over the previous New Year holiday.

Sales revenue in 36 shopping centers went up 8.4 percent, and the highest reached a 30 percent increase.

Hotels for graduates

Graduates applying for jobs in big cities are becoming potential clients for budget hotels.

Shanghai's Zhida Job-hunting Hostels is planning to expand its hostel network by establishing joint venture with Utels Youth Hotels & Hostels Federation, to provide budget hotels targeted at graduates who find jobs far away their hometown.

In the first months of operation after its establishment in July 2006, Zhida enjoyed an occupancy rate of almost 90 percent in its three hostels in Beijing and Shanghai by providing two- to eight-bed rooms for graduates at a nightly rate between 20 to 40 yuan.

(China Daily 02/28/2007 page15)