What you need to know about WhatsApp import groups

By MJC

If you have been on Facebook for a while, you may have noticed an influx of WhatsApp import groups. These groups are formed to get many people together to import few pieces of merchandise each collectively, so as to attain minimum order quantity (MOQ). Coming together to import goods in this manner has helped a lot of people who are starting out with little capital, and who can’t meet the MOQ by themselves.

However, having been a member of many such groups, there are a few negative aspects I have noted as explained below: 

1. The buying price and/or shipping charges might be slightly or grossly inflated. The founders/admins of these groups are more often than not, doing it to make money. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but most act like they are doing it from the goodness of their heart, when in fact they are there to make money out of it. They make money by slightly or grossly inflating the buying price as well as the shipping charges. Not forgetting pesa ya kutoa that you will add as you send the money via Mpesa.

2. Quality is not guaranteed. Most of the admins of these groups do not first get samples of the items to check quality. So sometimes you will get very poor quality items and you the member, will just have to take the loss –  a huge one if you dared make a large order.

3. There might be no compensation for items lost before they get to you. If an item is lost whether at the point of being packed by the supplier, in transit or at arrival shauri yako! There may be no compensation for you. And if compensated it either takes a long time to get the compensation or you are compensated with something totally different from what you wanted.

4. Dishonesty. Like I said most people who come up with these groups (the admins) are there to make money, which they won't tell you. The intense kind of work that's needed when putting together these group orders simply cannot be done for free. You will pay for it in one way or another. Some will combine different shipments and charge the group for the whole shipment yet the group’s merchandise was only a part of the shipment. Some will use the money you pay them for something else and then pay for your items much later. This means your items will arrive months late because the money for your items was diverted to other things. Which is not so bad if you are buying for personal consumption, but detrimental if you are buying for business because by the time you get your items, the market will likely be saturated with the “unique” item that your WhatsApp group ordered.

5. Poor customer service. In some groups you will be treated very poorly. If you question anything you feel is off you will be berated, sometimes even insulted. Some admins don't even answer your questions within the group or if you contact them directly.

6. Con men. There are a few con men and women who have managed to swindle people out of their money using these import groups. I have seen it in two groups.

7. Undisclosed storage fees. Some of the admins  of the import groups don't have shops in town (Nairobi CBD) which means they have to store items in other people's shops who then charge you daily storage fees. The longer you take to pick your items, the higher the storage fee you pay. So, if you take several days to pick your consignment you may end up having paid retail prices for the items after including storage fees in the mark-up, which means you can’t sell your items at a competitive price. Often you are given a day or two to pick your items before storage charges start to apply, but in some cases, the charges apply from the first day.

8. Herd mentality that makes you buy worthless or hard-to-sell products. It's normal human behaviour to gravitate towards things that seem to be popular. But take your time to actually research about that popular product, check if there is a market for it before you order several pieces that you will be stuck with.

 I did encounter a group where the admin was very honest, was kind enough to teach us the process of importing for ourselves, did not inflate prices, made sure everyone got their order,  so there is still hope you may yet find a group that's a good fit. (Unfortunately she quit group orders after a couple of times. I told you the work involved is too intense to be free).

In conclusion, WhatsApp import groups can be of great help, but you have to go in with your eyes wide open. Be ready for all the things I've listed.

• Demand for accountability and better customer care because contrary to what the admins of these groups want you to believe, it is a business and you are their customer.
• Research and know the wholesale prices for the items you want. This is easy especially if you are importing from China. Go to Alibaba and contact a few suppliers and they will give you quotations that you can use to compare with what your WhatsApp import group admin is offering.

Solution to the education crisis finally found

Nakuru teachers protest on 7th September, 2015. Photo: Suleiman Mbatiah/Daily Nation

The government has finally found a lasting solution to the perennial teachers' strikes as it had promised to do at the tail end of a televised presidential address on Sunday.

Bogus News can now reveal that even as the president made his speech, there was a team working diligently behind the scenes to come up with the much-needed solution that would put an end to the recurrent yearly work boycotts by school instructors. The aim of the solution seekers committee, made up of representatives from the TSC, treasury, and a selection of well-paid,  high-ranking government officials, was to find a way to reduce the percentage of the public wage bill that goes to paying teachers salaries, rather than implementing the High Court ruling that determined teachers should get a pay rise of between 50 and 60 per cent.

One member of this special team who cannot be named for fear of being charged with "betraying the government's confidence", told this Bogus News reporter that the court ruling was not binding and that it was considered as a mere suggestion that could be ignored.

Leaked documents from that lengthy meeting, that lasted all day Sunday and spilled over into the wee hours of the night, eventually ending late afternoon Monday, show that after debating millions of possibilities, the committee members narrowed down to three possibilities, which all involve firing the entire current public teaching staff.

Cheap teachers from China

The government would import cheap Chinese teachers, preferably untrained, to replace the entire public teaching staff. On closer examination, this idea was quickly discarded because of the language barrier problems it would initially pose. The Chinese teachers would require English language training. The committee of solution seekers proposed that Chinese would then become the national language of instruction in line with the government's foreign policy of "facing East." It also emerged that with the Chinese official unemployment rate being only four per cent, the government might not get enough manpower from the Asian nation to fill up all the teaching vacancies.

Homeschooling

The other option that the committee of solution seekers considered, was closing all public schools for good and changing educational policies to require children to be taught at home. With Kenya's youth unemployment  rate of about 17 per cent according to World Bank figures, the government would table a bill in parliament to offer these unemployed youth unpaid "internships" to homeschool children in their neighbourhoods. The team suggested that most Kenyan youth would take up this offer, because they were desperate, they needed the work experience and needed something to keep them busy. Parents would be advised to offer the homeschool interns food during the time they spent teaching their kids. Youth in the NYS would also be required to take up teaching duties as homeschool teachers, in addition to unblocking sewers and cleaning up slums, but they would only get an additional Sh30 per week above the Sh471 daily rate that they currently enjoy. The government would also require that one parent in two-parent homes  resign, to focus on home schooling his/her children without pay. Opinion was divided on this idea and it did not arouse much excitement from most of the team.

"Really, teaching is all about dedication and passion, so money should not come in anywhere; it is a non-issue," the chairman of the solution seekers committee told our Bogus News reporter.

Contract teachers

The last idea which had the meeting room abuzz with excitement was to offer one-year, non-renewable contracts, to fresh graduates from teacher training colleges (TTC) and universities, as well as Standard Eight and Form Four dropouts, and just about anybody who was willing to take up the public teaching jobs. Graduate teachers, whether they had just an undergraduate degree, or a master's or even a PhD, and regardless of what position they held in the school, whether head of departments or head teachers, would be paid a flat-rate of Sh25, 000 with no allowances, benefits, perks or pension. TTC teachers would be paid a flat-rate of Sh18, 000, while the school dropouts would be paid anything between Sh5, 000 and 10, 000 without any allowances or pension. The good thing would be that only the teachers earning Sh25, 000 would be required to remit Sh5, 000 to KRA every month; the rest would enjoy tax-free, perk-free, allowance-free and pension-free salaries. At the end of the year, teachers would automatically lose their jobs and could only be considered for another contract job after a waiting period of at least two years.

"This is the most workable and lasting solution and I'm sure everyone, except the selfish and unpatriotic striking teachers and their union representatives, will be happy with it. When we implement this, we will not have to raise taxes, borrow for recurrent expenditure or cut our development budget. Above all, you can be sure that there will be never be another teachers' strike in Kenya," said the grinning chairman of the solution seekers committee, as seen and heard in a secret video recording that was sent to our newsroom by one of the committee members.

The committee members are expected to table the report to the head of state when he jets back into the country. However, they are still grappling with how they will fire the tens of thousands of teachers who are currently in public service without facing irritating wrongful dismissal lawsuits. However, a new committee of experts will be formed to address this niggling consequential matter, after which the official government parrot will be tasked with breaking the news to the country.

Keep it here for all the details as the story unfolds.

Celebrating New Year again – the Chinese way

Chun jie kuai le!

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of joining the Chinese community in Kenya in celebrating their new year. I had already marked New Year, a few weeks back, with a large portion of the world, which follows the Gregorian calendar. But there is something uplifting about new beginnings, so I did not hesitate to join the fray again.

The ceremony was to begin promptly at four, but it seems we have a lot in common with the Asian tigers when it comes to timekeeping. Two hours into the scheduled time, we were still waiting for the event to begin, and when it finally did, I almost walked out in protest. It turned out that we had been waiting for a Kenyan foreign affairs official -the chief guest- to arrive, before the ceremony could begin. That sort of got the Chinese off my list of  ‘African timers’. However, they still failed, in part, for not distracting the audience with entertainment during that long wait before the real act began.

After a few speeches, the cultural showcase finally began. I am big on culture, so I was looking forward to some exciting performances and I wasn’t disappointed. Art appreciation knows no language barriers, so despite my faltering grasp of Chinese, the language of the day, I was fully taken in by the performances. The dancers had electrifying moves that made the audience want to join them on stage, the singers had silky voices that penetrated deep into the soul and the overall oriental energy on display was captivating.

Why can’t the Chinese celebrate New Year with the rest of the world?

Unlike the Gregorian calendar, recognised by most of the world as the official measure of years, the Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. To harmonise the two, an extra month is inserted once every few years, just like an extra day is added every leap year on the Gregorian calendar. That is why the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New year’s day falls on the first day of the new moon after winter. For the Chinese, New Year is not just a one-day affair. It is a 15-day festival, also known as the spring festival that is marked with pomp, colour and festivity. During this festival, the colour red is used prominently because it is believed to attract good fortune. The crowning moment is the last day during which the lantern festival is held.

Like in other cultures, New Year among the Chinese is a time for family reunions.  Family members come together to celebrate, feast, and give thanks for the old and new year,  and to mark a new beginning.

Many rituals and symbols of good luck accompany the celebrations. One that struck me is the one where all houses are spring-cleaned from corner to corner in readiness for New Year. This ritual is supposed to remove any bad luck lurking in the house and open up the house to good fortune. I bet no Chinese house would be featured in the How Clean is Your House reality TV show. And of course the festival would be incomplete without the fireworks,dragon dances and parades on display throughout the two-week festival.

I did not wait long enough for the ceremony to end, but I left with the knowledge that 2011 is the year of the rabbit – a far cry from the ferocious year of the tiger that was marked last year. But docility is a welcome retreat from the bold, aggressive and unrelenting approach of the past year. People born in this year i.e. rabbits are believed to be keen, wise, tranquil, sneaky, fragile and fashionable among other traits. If I were Chinese I’d say this is going to be a calm year when some of the most dazzling works of fashion will be created. So my Chinese gene is yearning for an impressive Jimmy Choo collection some time this year.