近距离看国外的专职代购年轻人
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.
在伦敦最为高档的百货公司之一哈罗德百货公司(Harrods)，20多岁的中国女子Chunmei Pei脚穿丝黛拉•麦卡妮(Stella McCartney)厚底布洛克鞋、身穿紧身牛仔裤，背着黑色香奈儿(Chanel)背包在逛。
She is glued to her iPhone, juggling half a dozen WeChat messages with her clients.
她一直盯着自己的iPhone手机看，在微信上同时应付客户们的6个聊天窗口。
Ms Pei is a professional daigou: an overseas shopper who buys luxury items like watches, jewellery, clothes and cosmetics for mainland Chinese.
Chunmei Pei是一名专职代购，专门帮中国内地人士在海外购买手表、珠宝、衣服和化妆品等奢侈品
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，她的一名买家正考虑买一条860英镑的迪奥(Dior)镀金手链，另一个则想买一只1500英镑的思琳(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.
大多数奢侈品商店由于担心产品被仿造而不允许拍照或摄像，因此Chunmei Pei不停地通过电话和实时消息告诉客户关于价格、颜色和产品细节的最新信息。
The chatting is endless and all part of the service.
聊天没完没了，全都是代购服务的一部分。
She spends at least 20 minutes at Céline while they search for a different colour of the bag and the buyer dithers.
她在思琳销售区至少呆了20分钟，帮买家找那款手袋有没有别的颜色，同时让买家有考虑的时间。
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.
一旦买家同意购买，Chunmei Pei就去办理免税手续，刷她自己的卡买下商品，然后打包邮寄出去。
She does this for a fee she will not disclose, although daigou commonly charge commission of 5 to 15 per cent.
她不愿透露自己收取多少代购费，不过这个费用通常是所购商品价值的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.
贝恩公司(Bain & Co)估计，Chunmei Pei这样的代购去年贡献了340亿元至500亿元人民币（合51亿美元至75亿美元）的销售额，（最多）相当于中国奢侈品支出的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.
但这比2014年20%的比例有所下降，贝恩预计，随着利润率受到挤压和中国政府收紧对进口商品（包括代购商品）的控制，该比例还会进一步下降。
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.
为了遏制这种灰色市场并增加国内支出，中国政府提高了对价值在5000元人民币（合751美元）以上的邮递物品和入境旅客行李物品的行邮税，其中包括将高档手表的行邮税提高一倍至60%。
Customs inspections have been enhanced to target personal shoppers flying in with goods to sell on for a commission.
目前，中国海关已加大检查力度，重点盯住那些携带商品入境赚取代购费的代购。
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.
还有一些措施旨在激励内地买家在国内支出——国内买家可以在上海自贸区等税率较低的自贸区购买海外网站上的商品，用人民币支付，预计送货也很快。
Prices of luxury goods in mainland China have tended to be higher than abroad, but this is now changing.
中国内地的奢侈品售价往往高于海外，但现在这一情况正在发生变化。
In March 2015, Chanel responded to the euro’s weakness against the renminbi by cutting prices in Asia.
2015年3月，针对欧元兑人民币汇率下跌的情况，香奈儿下调了其产品在亚洲市场的售价。
This global pricing alignment spawned similar measures at Cartier, TAG Heuer and Patek Philippe.
这种全球价格联动促使卡地亚(Cartier)、泰格豪雅(Tag Heuer)和百达翡丽(Patek Philippe)也采取了类似的措施。
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.
但品牌专家称，由于进口关税和中国的营商成本，在中国销售的奢侈品价格平均仍比海外高出约40%，正是这一点推动人们到海外购买奢侈品。
The price difference is still too great.
今年28岁的代购Doris Zhao表示：价格差距仍然非常大。
Everyone I know sends items back home, says 28-year-old daigou Doris Zhao.
我认识的所有人都把东西邮寄回国。
At customs control sometimes they check, sometimes they don’t.
海关有时候查，有时候不查。
Mainly it’s not too often.
总的来说不经常查。
If I bought one Louis Vuitton handbag they won’t charge me the tax.
如果我买了一只路易威登(Louis Vuitton)的手袋，他们不会收我的税。
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的正职是帮助中国学生安排签证和大学申请，她午间休息时去一趟哈罗德百货大多是给亲戚帮个忙，帮他们以划算的价格购买江诗丹顿(Vacheron Constantin)手表和路易威登手袋，身在中国的他们可以在网上看到这些划算的价格，但买不到。
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.
即便加上运费和进口税，她寄给她在中国的婶婶的那只8.5万英镑的江诗丹顿Métiers d’Art猴年腕表仍比在中国本地购买便宜1.5万英镑。
Typically, Ms Zhao buys four items a month to post to China, alongside trips home.
Doris Zhao一般每月购买4件商品寄回中国，此外她还会定期回国。
Her last purchase was a Burberry trenchcoat, snapped up in the summer sale for a friend in China.
她上一次帮人代购的商品是一件博柏利(Burberry)风衣，是在夏季促销时帮中国的一个朋友抢购的。
She clearly enjoys the luxury experience: not all education agents wear Valentino rockstud leather shoes and a black quilted Chanel bag.
她显然对代购奢侈品乐在其中：可不是所有教育中介都能穿华伦天奴(Valentino)铆钉皮鞋、拎香奈儿黑色绗缝手袋。
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.
来自深圳的26岁大学生Yixi Cai说，她会在为家人和朋友做代购时顺便为自己买些东西——每月花费大约1000英镑。
Gucci is really popular this season, the sexy secretary look, she laughs, talking about the new line from creative director Alessandro Michele.
她笑着说：本季古驰(Gucci)确实流行，性感秘书装扮。
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.
她说的是古驰创意总监亚历山德罗•米凯莱(Alessandro Michele)设计的新系列。这位时尚达人喜欢亚历山大麦昆(Alexander McQueen)等品牌，但她表示，她的朋友们多数喜欢一些更老的奢侈品牌，例如香奈儿、迪奥和路易威登。
A common call from friends, Ms Cai says, is, Who’s in England? Can you get me something?
她说，朋友们经常会这么问：谁在英国？你能帮我带点东西吗？
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.
品牌需要确保消费者购买自己的产品是出于对的理由：传承、做工、体验，所有你期待奢侈品带给你的东西，而不是买便宜，贝恩驻上海合伙人布鲁诺•拉纳(Bruno Lannes)表示，
So the brands have to correct this point and stop offering bargains through price imbalance across geographies.
因此，品牌需要修正这点，终止这种不同地区不同价格、导致在某个地区购买特别划算的状况。
It’s not good for their long-term health.
这种状况不利于品牌的长期健康。
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》一书合著者丽贝卡•罗宾斯(Rebecca Robins)把代购视为商人，她表示：这对品牌所有者有重大影响，因为这种关系已从企业对消费者(B2C)转变为企业对企业(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.
这令品牌更难与终端消费者建立起联系，对于那些正面临一位数增长且越来越多的消费者对忠诚已没有兴趣的品牌而言，这确实值得担忧。
One benefit the daigou can add to any price advantage is trust, according to Sage Brennan, co-founder of China Luxury Advisors.
中国奢侈品咨询(China Luxury Advisors)的联合创始人塞奇•布伦南(Sage Brennan)表示，除了价格优势，信任也是能为代购增加生意的一个因素。
People trust the internet and connections they make that are verifiable.
他表示：人们相信互联网以及可信度可以验证的卖家。
Many times these daigou purchases have photos of actual receipts from Harrods, Mr Brennan says.
这些代购很多时候会提供哈罗德原始购物小票的照片。
Trust is a challenging aspect of Chinese life.
信任是中国人生活中一个具有挑战性的方面。
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，可以说，‘只要人们不确定百货商场职员会不会把真表换成假表，或者是不是会有其他类似性质的行为，代购就会有市场并越来越受欢迎’。
People will jump into those voids.
这些空白会有人来填补。
It’s not going away.
这种状况不会消失。
