What You See Is Not What’s True – It’s What Others Want You to See

There’s a documentary about everyday people starting their own businesses.

One of the subjects runs a crayfish stall. Business was slow during the pandemic, so the interviewer asked him why he took orders over the phone, why he personally delivered to regular customers, and why he didn’t just list on Ele.me.

The stall owner gave a straightforward answer.

He said, “If you come to my shop, you can get four jin of shrimp for 100 yuan. On Ele.me, it’d cost you 130.”

“And I’d make even less. That extra money goes straight to Ele.me, Alibaba’s food-delivery platform.”

The interviewer pressed him for more details.

He explained that the platform makes money on all three sides—taking cuts from merchants, from buyers, and even from the delivery riders.

At the end of the day, everyone’s just working for the platform.”

Ele.me does this, but what about Taobao and Tmall? Aren’t they the same?

As a merchant, if you have no traffic and no promotions, how are consumers ever going to find you?

So how do you get visibility, how do you end up on the homepage?

Obviously, you have to pay Taobao, pay Tmall.

That’s why Jack Ma claims he’s created jobs and a better life for small vendors and delivery workers.

But when they’re actually interviewed, their answer is completely different.

They’ll tell you they can’t make any money—all of it goes to the platform.