近距離看國外的專職代購年輕人
At Harrods, one of London’s most upmarket department stores, Chunmei Pei, a twenty-something Chinese woman dressed in Stella McCartney platform brogues, tight jeans and a black Chanel backpack, walks around the shop floor.
在倫敦最爲高檔的百貨公司之一哈羅德百貨公司(Harrods)，20多歲的中國女子Chunmei Pei腳穿絲黛拉•麥卡妮(Stella McCartney)厚底布洛克鞋、身穿緊身牛仔褲，揹着黑色香奈兒(Chanel)揹包在逛。
She is glued to her iPhone, juggling half a dozen WeChat messages with her clients.
她一直盯着自己的iPhone手機看，在微信上同時應付客戶們的6個聊天窗口。
Ms Pei is a professional daigou: an overseas shopper who buys luxury items like watches, jewellery, clothes and cosmetics for mainland Chinese.
Chunmei Pei是一名專職代購，專門幫中國內地人士在海外購買手錶、珠寶、衣服和化妝品等奢侈品
Today one of her buyers is considering an ￡860 Dior Diorosphère chain necklace with a gold finish, while another wants a ￡1,500 Céline bag.
今天，她的一名買家正考慮買一條860英鎊的迪奧(Dior)鍍金手鍊，另一個則想買一隻1500英鎊的思琳(Céline)手袋。
Most luxury stores do not allow photos or videos of the products for fear of counterfeiters, so Ms Pei is constantly updating her clients on the price, colour and product details with calls and live messaging.
大多數奢侈品商店由於擔心產品被仿造而不允許拍照或攝像，因此Chunmei Pei不停地通過電話和實時消息告訴客戶關於價格、顏色和產品細節的最新信息。
The chatting is endless and all part of the service.
聊天沒完沒了，全都是代購服務的一部分。
She spends at least 20 minutes at Céline while they search for a different colour of the bag and the buyer dithers.
她在思琳銷售區至少呆了20分鐘，幫買家找那款手袋有沒有別的顏色，同時讓買家有考慮的時間。
Once she gives the go-ahead for the purchase, Ms Pei arranges the sales-tax exemption, buys it on her card, packages it up and posts it.
一旦買家同意購買，Chunmei Pei就去辦理免稅手續，刷她自己的卡買下商品，然後打包郵寄出去。
She does this for a fee she will not disclose, although daigou commonly charge commission of 5 to 15 per cent.
她不願透露自己收取多少代購費，不過這個費用通常是所購商品價值的5%至15%。
Consultancy Bain & Co estimates that daigou like Ms Pei accounted for Rmb34bn-Rmb50bn ($5.1bn-$7.5bn) of sales last year, equivalent to 12 per cent (at the upper end) of Chinese luxury spending.
貝恩公司(Bain & Co)估計，Chunmei Pei這樣的代購去年貢獻了340億元至500億元人民幣（合51億美元至75億美元）的銷售額，（最多）相當於中國奢侈品支出的12%。
But that is a fall from 20 per cent in 2014, and Bain predicts that this will drop further as profit margins are squeezed and the Chinese government tightens controls over imports, including by daigou.
但這比2014年20%的比例有所下降，貝恩預計，隨着利潤率受到擠壓和中國政府收緊對進口商品（包括代購商品）的控制，該比例還會進一步下降。
To stem this grey market and increase domestic spending, Beijing has raised import taxes on postal items and goods brought in by air passengers worth more than Rmb5,000 ($751); that includes a doubling of the tariff on luxury watches to 60 per cent.
爲了遏制這種灰色市場並增加國內支出，中國政府提高了對價值在5000元人民幣（合751美元）以上的郵遞物品和入境旅客行李物品的行郵稅，其中包括將高檔手錶的行郵稅提高一倍至60%。
Customs inspections have been enhanced to target personal shoppers flying in with goods to sell on for a commission.
目前，中國海關已加大檢查力度，重點盯住那些攜帶商品入境賺取代購費的代購。
On the incentive side, it is possible to access overseas websites in certain free-trade zones where taxes are low, such as Shanghai’s, and to purchase goods in local currency and expect speedy delivery.
還有一些措施旨在激勵內地買家在國內支出——國內買家可以在上海自貿區等稅率較低的自貿區購買海外網站上的商品，用人民幣支付，預計送貨也很快。
Prices of luxury goods in mainland China have tended to be higher than abroad, but this is now changing.
中國內地的奢侈品售價往往高於海外，但現在這一情況正在發生變化。
In March 2015, Chanel responded to the euro’s weakness against the renminbi by cutting prices in Asia.
2015年3月，針對歐元兌人民幣匯率下跌的情況，香奈兒下調了其產品在亞洲市場的售價。
This global pricing alignment spawned similar measures at Cartier, TAG Heuer and Patek Philippe.
這種全球價格聯動促使卡地亞(Cartier)、泰格豪雅(Tag Heuer)和百達翡麗(Patek Philippe)也採取了類似的措施。
But brand experts say prices in China are on average still about 40 per cent more expensive, thanks to import taxes and the local cost of business, and this is what fuels business abroad.
但品牌專家稱，由於進口關稅和中國的營商成本，在中國銷售的奢侈品價格平均仍比海外高出約40%，正是這一點推動人們到海外購買奢侈品。
The price difference is still too great.
今年28歲的代購Doris Zhao表示：價格差距仍然非常大。
Everyone I know sends items back home, says 28-year-old daigou Doris Zhao.
我認識的所有人都把東西郵寄回國。
At customs control sometimes they check, sometimes they don’t.
海關有時候查，有時候不查。
Mainly it’s not too often.
總的來說不經常查。
If I bought one Louis Vuitton handbag they won’t charge me the tax.
如果我買了一隻路易威登(Louis Vuitton)的手袋，他們不會收我的稅。
For Ms Zhao, who spends her working hours helping Chinese students arrange their visas and university applications, a trip to Harrods in her lunch break is mostly a favour for family, fulfilling orders for Vacheron Constantin watches and Louis Vuitton handbags for relatives who are seeking deals they can find online but not access in China.
Doris Zhao的正職是幫助中國學生安排簽證和大學申請，她午間休息時去一趟哈羅德百貨大多是給親戚幫個忙，幫他們以划算的價格購買江詩丹頓(Vacheron Constantin)手錶和路易威登手袋，身在中國的他們可以在網上看到這些划算的價格，但買不到。
Even with the added shipping cost and import taxes, the ￡85,000 Métiers d’Art Year of the Monkey timepiece she sent home to her aunt in China was ￡15,000 cheaper than one bought locally.
即便加上運費和進口稅，她寄給她在中國的嬸嬸的那隻8.5萬英鎊的江詩丹頓Métiers d’Art猴年腕錶仍比在中國本地購買便宜1.5萬英鎊。
Typically, Ms Zhao buys four items a month to post to China, alongside trips home.
Doris Zhao一般每月購買4件商品寄回中國，此外她還會定期回國。
Her last purchase was a Burberry trenchcoat, snapped up in the summer sale for a friend in China.
她上一次幫人代購的商品是一件博柏利(Burberry)風衣，是在夏季促銷時幫中國的一個朋友搶購的。
She clearly enjoys the luxury experience: not all education agents wear Valentino rockstud leather shoes and a black quilted Chanel bag.
她顯然對代購奢侈品樂在其中：可不是所有教育中介都能穿華倫天奴(Valentino)鉚釘皮鞋、拎香奈兒黑色絎縫手袋。
Yixi Cai, a 26-year-old university student from Shenzhen, says she spends about ￡1,000 a month on herself while out shopping for friends and family back home.
來自深圳的26歲大學生Yixi Cai說，她會在爲家人和朋友做代購時順便爲自己買些東西——每月花費大約1000英鎊。
Gucci is really popular this season, the sexy secretary look, she laughs, talking about the new line from creative director Alessandro Michele.
她笑着說：本季古馳(Gucci)確實流行，性感祕書裝扮。
The fashion fan enjoys labels like Alexander McQueen but says her friends mostly want items from older luxury brands like Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton.
她說的是古馳創意總監亞歷山德羅•米凱萊(Alessandro Michele)設計的新系列。這位時尚達人喜歡亞歷山大麥昆(Alexander McQueen)等品牌，但她表示，她的朋友們多數喜歡一些更老的奢侈品牌，例如香奈兒、迪奧和路易威登。
A common call from friends, Ms Cai says, is, Who’s in England? Can you get me something?
她說，朋友們經常會這麼問：誰在英國？你能幫我帶點東西嗎？
Brands need to make sure their consumers buy the product for the right reasons: the heritage, the craftsmanship, the experience, everything you would expect from a luxury product, and not buying just the bargain, says Bruno Lannes, a partner at Bain based in Shanghai.
品牌需要確保消費者購買自己的產品是出於對的理由：傳承、做工、體驗，所有你期待奢侈品帶給你的東西，而不是買便宜，貝恩駐上海合夥人布魯諾•拉納(Bruno Lannes)表示，
So the brands have to correct this point and stop offering bargains through price imbalance across geographies.
因此，品牌需要修正這點，終止這種不同地區不同價格、導致在某個地區購買特別划算的狀況。
It’s not good for their long-term health.
這種狀況不利於品牌的長期健康。
For the brand owners, this has significant implications, as the relationship has shifted from business-to-consumer to business-to-business, says Rebecca Robins, a director at Interbrand and co-author of the book Meta-luxury, considering the daigou as a businessperson.
Interbrand董事、《Meta-luxury》一書合著者麗貝卡•羅賓斯(Rebecca Robins)把代購視爲商人，她表示：這對品牌所有者有重大影響，因爲這種關係已從企業對消費者(B2C)轉變爲企業對企業(B2B)。
This makes it harder for a brand to build a relationship with the end-consumer, and that’s a real concern for brands who are facing the realities of single-digit growth and a rising consumer who already has no interest in loyalty.
這令品牌更難與終端消費者建立起聯繫，對於那些正面臨一位數增長且越來越多的消費者對忠誠已沒有興趣的品牌而言，這確實值得擔憂。
One benefit the daigou can add to any price advantage is trust, according to Sage Brennan, co-founder of China Luxury Advisors.
中國奢侈品諮詢(China Luxury Advisors)的聯合創始人塞奇•布倫南(Sage Brennan)表示，除了價格優勢，信任也是能爲代購增加生意的一個因素。
People trust the internet and connections they make that are verifiable.
他表示：人們相信互聯網以及可信度可以驗證的賣家。
Many times these daigou purchases have photos of actual receipts from Harrods, Mr Brennan says.
這些代購很多時候會提供哈羅德原始購物小票的照片。
Trust is a challenging aspect of Chinese life.
信任是中國人生活中一個具有挑戰性的方面。
So there are opportunities to say, ‘If I don’t trust a department store clerk [not to switch out] real watches for fake ones in store and things like this, the daigou steps in and becomes more popular.’
因此，可以說，‘只要人們不確定百貨商場職員會不會把真表換成假表，或者是不是會有其他類似性質的行爲，代購就會有市場並越來越受歡迎’。
People will jump into those voids.
這些空白會有人來填補。
It’s not going away.
這種狀況不會消失。
