Smart Mob in China for Retailer Discount

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Tuesday July 4, 2006 @06:41AM from the tried-in-the-us-but-mob-was-arrested-as-terrorists dept.

taweili writes "The Economist has a story about Tuangou in China. Tuangou, roughly translated into group purchasing, is basically a smart mob who arrange the meet up over the internet and show up at a retailer at a specific time and use their number to negotiate a discount with the retailer. In the story, a Tuangou group of 500 show up in Gomei (largest home electronic retailer in China) at 4pm on June 16th and negotiate a 10 ~ 30% discount for the group. Gomei not only closed the door to the normal customers but also prepared goody bags for these Tuangou shoppers. Now, that's Power to the People!"

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Re:People != Mob by QuantumFTL · 2006-07-04 09:06 · Score: 0, Troll

Mob based power has existed throughout history, and it usually has not been pretty. Furthermore, if you're an individual (in the true sense of the term) who does not enjoy associating with the mob, you tend to be screwed over by those who do. Food for thought.

That's precisely my problem with the US democracy. The mob/corporation driven Republicrats screw over anyone like myself (a registered Libertarian) that wants some kind of representation. Winston Churchill said it best: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."