Cute Finance Guy Sells Peaches Via Instagram, Calls Biz Taobao
His tasty fruits are cheaper than what you’d find in a supermarket.
Peaches are usually a pricey treat, but the stone fruit is more affordable if you buy it from Jeremy Khoo, 31, via his Instagram account ( @jeremykhoo). An American/Australian snow or golden peach (the varietals he offers) usually retails for around $3 a piece at supermarkets, but his peaches are priced at around $2.20 each, though the price may vary slightly depending on the season and country of origin.
As for the witty name of his biz Taobao (a pun on Chinese e-retail giant Taobao’s moniker and the Chinese words for ‘peach’ and ‘treasure’)? “It’s a catchy name lah. But some of my customers thought I was ordering the peaches from Taobao, so I had to educate them,” he tells 8days.sg.
But don’t call him a fruit seller — according to Jeremy, he’s “just a guy who helps people order peaches”. He still holds a full-time day job in the financial industry, and has been running Taobao in his free time since 2015. He has requested to keep his place of employment off the record, as he prefers to keep his work life private.
How his peachy word-of-mouth business model works: when Jeremy is taking orders for peaches, he announces the “launch” via an Instagram post, and his customers race to place their orders with him by messaging him on the app.
He explains: “My launch is open for 24 hours to two days, depending on how fast the orders come in. It’s first come first served. If customers message me after [the orders are closed], I put them on a waitlist. They get to buy peaches if there are cancellations from other customers, or I will put them on the list for the next launch.”
And there’s “no fixed period” for the next launch. Jeremy reckons: “It depends on whether I have the time to [to do the launches]. For 2018, it was once a year. But this year I’ve done three launches already.” So follow his Instagram account and keep your eyes peeled.
Once the imported peaches arrive at Jeremy’s home in Sengkang, he contacts his customers via WhatsApp to self-collect their orders. You can opt to pay a flat $15 fee for delivery, though it depends on whether Jeremy has manpower available.
Consider his Instagram feed eye candy; other than luscious peaches, you can also feast on video posts of pretty boy Jeremy snacking on juicy peaches to show off his, erm, goods.
He also posts hilariously candid Instagram Stories to update his customers and interact with them, like the above Insta-story. But it’s all in the spirit of providing good customer service.
He remarks, “Some of my customers ask questions like, ‘I want half my peaches soft and half crunchy’ or, ‘Are your peaches sweet?’ I always tell them, ‘I’m not the tree!’
“Not every carton is perfect. I do quality control and take out all the rotten or bruised peaches, but I can’t guarantee that every peach is sweet and juicy. It’s based on luck lah. I have refunded customers for individual peaches when they feedback that it’s not sweet, even though they tried to refuse my refund. After so many years, they understand how this works. The trust is there. They know I will walk them through this. If anything happens, I’m there to settle it. Service recovery is very important after the launch to make your customers stay.”
Most of his customers, says Jeremy, are mothers. “Peaches are rich in vitamins, so they’ll buy it for their kids. I didn’t expect to get so many mothers buying peaches from me! I’m always happy to hear their feedback when they tell me that their kids who don’t like fruits started asking for my peaches when they come home from school. I also have teenagers buying peaches from me for their grandparents, ’cos it's considered a longevity fruit.”
Our colleague had a taste of six of his US snow peaches, which a friend gifted her. Although they looked like red-cheeked butts, the medium-sized fruits ripened to become wonderfully succulent and perfumey with a floral flavour and sweetness. Definitely worth buying and sharing among your homies.
8 DAYS: How did you start selling peaches?
JEREMY KHOO: My dad works at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre dealing with the import and export of vegetables. One time he bought a carton of peaches back for us to try. I have a full-time job and introduced the peaches to my colleagues. They liked it, so I helped them to order it through my dad. I launched it on Instagram to see if it would work, and I took a small number of orders and it started growing from there. Peach season is from October to April, but usually I will launch [my pre-orders] before Chinese New Year in January or February [together with pre-orders for] mandarin oranges. The oranges are sometimes around the same price [as the market price] or even lower.
Other than mandarin oranges for CNY, you sell only peaches. Why?
The peach is unique, and it’s not a cheap fruit. I have customers telling me peaches are so expensive. Needy families or the elderly who love eating peaches can’t buy it. My message is, it doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor, I want everyone to be able to enjoy peaches.
How lucrative is it for you to run ‘Taobao’?
So-so lah. I always bring down my price down to the most reasonable [figure]. Australian peach season starts in October, and it will be more expensive at the start of the season. It fluctuates, so the price will be different every time. We take that into consideration. I get my dad to check with the supplier if the stock is okay. We’d buy one carton back to try first. If all is good, then I’ll try to make time for a launch.
Would you leave your day job to run your peach biz full-time?
I won’t leave my full-time job for this. Selling peaches is a seasonal thing. If there are no peaches, I have nothing to eat (laughs). It’s very different from selling clothes or beauty products where you just pack the orders and ask a courier to send the products out. It takes me at least a week to plan a launch, and some customers would want to change or cancel their orders.
Do you plan to open a brick and mortar fruit store selling your peaches?
If I open a store, the prices will go up with the rental and labour costs (laughs).
When is your next launch happening?
My dad and I are still deciding whether to launch in October or November, depending on the price. I will do a poll on Instagram to gauge whether people are willing to buy at a certain price. If the response is good, I’d do a launch. I’ll still bring it to the lowest price I can. It’ll definitely be lower than the market rate. I might [sell other expensive seasonal fruits like cherries] if I have the chance. I hope to expand Taobao and launch more quality seasonal fruits to the public.
Follow Jeremy on Instagram @jeremykhoo for updates on his next peach launch.
PHOTOS: JEREMY KHOO/ INSTAGRAM