He polished a collection of empty bottles, then took them in to see the man. The price paid by the trader varied according to the brand, or make of perfume. From 15 bottles, he made the impressive sum of B700.
The biggest return from any one bottle was B200, for Calvin Klein’s ckin2u.
The trader also offered B100 each for three or four other popular scents; B50 each for two others; B100 for a handful of lesser-known brands, plus B5 each for two bottles which the trader didn’t want but paid him for anyway.
Maiyuu did not ask him what he intends to do with the bottles, but we might be able to guess.
‘He might buy a small bottle of the original scent, in the form of oil, and mix it with alcohol,’ says Maiyuu. 'He will sell the scent, packaged as the original but at a cheaper price, in the bottles he bought from me.'
The trader wll probably sell his scent, in the bottles he obtained originally from Maiyuu, at Klong Thom market near Chinatown.
The trader also buys in used printer cartridges (is there a market for knock-off printer ink?), used CDs, and old currency, among other items.
Where do we get them from? Maiyuu buys scent in bulk from a gay friend, who gets it from the perfume counter of a city department store, where he is on good terms with a couple of staff. Pictured are some of the bottles in Maiyuu's collection.
We buy the real thing, mainly in the standard size available at any store, though we also have a few bottles of scent in tester size.
Airline stewards, who get them from the manufacturer, offer testers to traders, who sell them on to the public.
‘The guy who bought my bottles asked me if I had any Polo Black. I do, but it is in tester size, which is too small for his needs,’ said Maiyuu, showing me his stubby-looking bottle of Polo Black.
Under pressure from the US to enforce intellectual copyright law, the government launches occasional crackdowns on pirated and counterfeit goods, such as imported CDs, clothes and scent. Police raid stalls offering the goods in tourist centres such as Silom.
I wonder if they also tackle the problem at source, such as traders who buy empty bottles to refill with knock-off scent, or second-hand CDs which they slip back into a new CD cover to make them look new?
‘He might buy a small bottle of the original scent, in the form of oil, and mix it with alcohol,’ says Maiyuu. 'He will sell the scent, packaged as the original but at a cheaper price, in the bottles he bought from me.'
The trader wll probably sell his scent, in the bottles he obtained originally from Maiyuu, at Klong Thom market near Chinatown.
The trader also buys in used printer cartridges (is there a market for knock-off printer ink?), used CDs, and old currency, among other items.
Where do we get them from? Maiyuu buys scent in bulk from a gay friend, who gets it from the perfume counter of a city department store, where he is on good terms with a couple of staff. Pictured are some of the bottles in Maiyuu's collection.
We buy the real thing, mainly in the standard size available at any store, though we also have a few bottles of scent in tester size.
Airline stewards, who get them from the manufacturer, offer testers to traders, who sell them on to the public.
‘The guy who bought my bottles asked me if I had any Polo Black. I do, but it is in tester size, which is too small for his needs,’ said Maiyuu, showing me his stubby-looking bottle of Polo Black.
Under pressure from the US to enforce intellectual copyright law, the government launches occasional crackdowns on pirated and counterfeit goods, such as imported CDs, clothes and scent. Police raid stalls offering the goods in tourist centres such as Silom.
I wonder if they also tackle the problem at source, such as traders who buy empty bottles to refill with knock-off scent, or second-hand CDs which they slip back into a new CD cover to make them look new?
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