Chapter 213 Isn't This a Proper IQ Tax?

Hearing Li Yi's words, the saleswoman became serious immediately.

There was a professional smile on the corner of her mouth, she looked at Li Yi and said: "Sir, you may have misunderstood a little, natural cochineal is a very rare raw material, and our lipsticks are all handmade, and the quality of the products is well-known , after-sales is also guaranteed, you can try to learn more about this.”

She spoke very politely, but the meaning in her words was obviously that Li Yi didn't understand.

Without arguing with her, Li Yi nodded with a smile: "Well, maybe I'm just ignorant."

The salesperson is also trying to earn money by selling goods, and get some wages. It is indeed a bit unkind to say that the things they sell are not good at the counter here.

Seeing this, the salesperson breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Liu Yifei and Zhao Jinmai, and continued to introduce them.

Liu Yifei listened to her introduction politely, and after she finished speaking, she put down her lipstick and thanked her with a smile: "Thank you! This set of lipstick is good. The manufacturer gave me a set at the spring and summer press conference. "

"Really?"

Zhao Jinmai on the side said enviously: "Is this the treatment of a fairy sister?"

Liu Yifei was amused by her, and said immediately: "If you want it, I'll give it to you! I still have quite a few."

After finishing speaking, she smiled at the salesperson, "Thank you, bye."

Then, she took Zhao Jinmai's hand and left the counter.

Li Yi followed behind unhurriedly, and casually glanced back, only to see that the girls were already trying out that special lipstick.

At the elevator entrance, Liu Yifei and Zhao Jinmai stopped.

Zhao Jinmai pressed the elevator button and shouted at Li Yi: "Brother Yi, hurry up!"

When Li Yi followed, she asked curiously, "You just said that the cost of lipstick is very low? Is it true?"

Not in front of the counter, Li Yi didn't have so many scruples when speaking, so he explained casually: "The so-called cochineal is actually an insect bred by the Spaniards, it can extract cochineal red and make carmine fuel.

The dyeing effect of this kind of carmine is much better than that of common mineral dyes, and its stability is stronger, so it was once sold very expensively, even at the same price as gold. "

Zhao Jinmai nodded and said: "I heard from the makeup artist that she said that all lipsticks are made of this traditional craft, and they are all made of cochineal.

She also said that this kind of cochineal was very valuable in the past, and only the royal family could use it. "

"A few hundred years ago, it was almost like this."

Li Yi smiled and said: "At that time, in order to monopolize the Spanish people, they always claimed that this carmine was extracted from plants, and the export of live cochineals was strictly prohibited.

However, after Leeuwenhoek from Helan invented the microscope, he cracked the secret of cochineal red, which led to a sharp increase in the breeding of cochineal insects and a reduction in costs.

Now in the international market, the price of cochineal is almost 500 dollars per kilogram, which is more than 3,000 yuan, and 1 gram is less than 4 yuan. "

"ah?"

Zhao Jinmai was shocked: "It's only four yuan? Is it real?"

Liu Yifei was also a little surprised. She thought that even if the cost of lipstick was lower, it would not be much lower, but she never expected that it would be as low as single digits.

"It's not four dollars, it's less than one dollar."

Li Yi smiled and shook his head before explaining: "The net content of most lipsticks is 3-4 grams, but most of them are oily and waxy, and the amount of carmine dyed is not even 1 gram."

1 gram of carmine can make almost 6 lipsticks, and the cost of carmine used in 1 lipstick is only 60 cents.

The cost of grease and wax is lower, and the cost of a lipstick, I count one yuan, is already too much. "

"One, one dollar?"

Zhao Jinmai was completely dumbfounded, she couldn't believe that the cost of those lipsticks that cost hundreds of dollars could be so low.

"Isn't it?"

Liu Yifei couldn't help asking: "How cheap is carmine?"

"I'm talking about international prices."

Li Yi said with a smile: "There are also many places in China where cochineal insects are grown, and the cost is lower.

You just open a shopping platform and search for food-grade cochineal, and the price can be lowered to less than one yuan per gram.

Calculated, the cost of a lipstick is not even used. "

"..."

Liu Yifei didn't know what to say anymore, she felt that her ideas had been subverted a bit.

"Really, there are less than one yuan per gram."

Zhao Jinmai searched on the shopping platform, and immediately confirmed the price of cochineal. For a while, his three views collapsed: "It turned out that we spent so much money and only bought a package."

"Packaging doesn't cost that much."

Li Yi smiled and said: "Go to the OEM factory in Yiwu, find someone to design a pattern, make a mold, and make 100,000 sets, just like the packaging, the cost can be two or three yuan each.

Even with the best materials, one core costs five yuan, which is already against the sky.

Including the lipstick raw materials and packaging box, the cost price of a lipstick is ten yuan, and I have said it very politely. "

"..."

Zhao Jinmai was stunned for a while before blurting out: "Isn't this a proper IQ tax?"

"It's not really an IQ tax."

Li Yi said with a smile: "Most of the cost of cosmetics companies is on publicity expenses. They need to spend a lot of money on advertising. If the advertising expenses are spread out, the cost will also increase."

"That won't improve much."

Zhao Jinmai also learned to settle accounts: "Givenchy's lipsticks are the best sellers in China, I remember selling more than 20 million lipsticks last year.

Even if its annual publicity fee is 500 million yuan, the cost per lipstick is less than 20 yuan... Hey! "

She was counting, and couldn't help taking a breath: "Selling lipstick is so profitable!"

The lipsticks of brands like Givenchy cost at least two or three hundred on average, and occasionally they are sold at a discount of one or two hundred, which many people think is a great deal.

Who would have thought that the cost of others is only a dozen yuan?

"That's why I said, women's money is best earned!"

Li Yi said something with a smile, and when the elevator door opened, he walked in.

Zhao Jinmai and Liu Yifei were still immersed in the calculation of the cost price of lipstick, and followed in a daze.

Watching the elevator go down, Zhao Jinmai asked Li Yi curiously: "Brother Yi, you are a big man, how do you know so much about lipstick?"

Liu Yifei also looked over after hearing the words.

Li Yi didn't take it seriously, and calmly explained: "Because I have studied traditional rouge."

"Eh? You're so nice, why do you want to study traditional rouge?"

Zhao Jinmai became even more curious.

"Because traditional rouge can also be used in dishes!"

Li Yi smiled and said, "In the next episode, I plan to cook a dish made with traditional rouge."

"Rouge can still cook? Hey!"

Zhao Jinmai twitched the corners of his mouth, gave a hee, and asked, "Are you going to make it with cochineal?"

"Of course not."

Li Yi explained with a smile: "Traditional rouge uses red and blue flowers, which are real pure natural plant pigments."

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