Controversy Arises as Harbin Ice and Snow City Auctions Nine Sugar-Coated Hawthorn Stall Spaces for One Million RMB

Recently, the bidding locations for selling sugar-coated haws in the Harbin Ice and Snow World were openly auctioned, with 9 hawthorn stalls in the area packaged for bidding, starting at 1 million yuan each. The price for a single stall has increased by 170% compared to before. Some netizens jokingly commented, “They sharpened that knife really well! Who dares to go there now!”

According to the Chinese media Times Finance and Economics, the Harbin auction house recently announced the auction of the 26th Harbin Ice and Snow World project, with a starting bid of 1 million yuan for the sugar-coated hawthorn spot. If we include the cost of the self-provided container room borne by the bidders, which is about 500,000 yuan, the operating cost for this sugar-coated hawthorn spot would have to reach at least 1.5 million yuan.

The “26th Ice and Snow World Commercial Service Merchandising Registration Form” shows that the starting bid of one million yuan is not for a single stall, but includes 9 sugar-coated hawthorn selling spots within the park.

Reported by the Da Xiang News on November 27th, records from the auction platform showed that one snow circle stall was auctioned off for a highest bid of 2.7 million yuan.

The starting bid for leasing a snow circle was 250,000 yuan, with an increase of 2,000 yuan. There were a total of 485 bidding records, with the final transaction price reaching 2,708,000 yuan.

Staff at the Harbin Ice and Snow World told the Times Finance and Economics that the specific opening time of the park this year has not yet been confirmed, but it is expected to be around mid-December. If we consider last year, the operating time of the park was about 2 months.

In the operating regulations disclosed by the Harbin auction house, the sugar-coated hawthorns involve nine varieties such as strawberries, grapes, hawthorns, dates, and pineapples, with prices ranging from 10 to 30 yuan. The cheapest is a bunch of date hawthorns, priced at 10 yuan for 12 pieces.

In 2023, the Ice and Snow World also held an open bidding auction for the project operating rights of sugar-coated hawthorns, with a starting bid and transaction price of 400,000 yuan each at that time for 10 spots. Calculated this way, a spot for selling sugar-coated hawthorns has increased by over 170% in auction price within a year.

Some netizens did some calculations, “With a cost of 1.5 million, if selling one stick for 30 yuan, without considering labor costs, you would need to sell 50,000 sticks of sugar-coated hawthorns just to break even.”

Apart from the sugar-coated hawthorn spots, other business spots were also put up for auction, such as a 5-square-meter beverage spot starting at 120,000 yuan, and a 5-square-meter stewed pork spot for 80,000 yuan, among others.

It is worth noting that the project was originally scheduled for an open online auction on November 27th at 9:30 am. However, after 9 am, the relevant auction items had already been removed from the website.

Reporters from the Cover News registered on the platform and found that the platform had removed the auction items related to the 26th Harbin Ice and Snow World. Subsequently, the reporters called the auction house, and the staff said that the auction was held as usual, but the format was changed to an on-site auction with bidding cards.

Netizens: They sharpened that knife really well! Who dares to go there now?

The incident sparked heated discussions among netizens, with many giving up on the idea of going to the Ice and Snow World.

“After seeing this news, it immediately dispelled my thoughts of going there this year! One million starting bid for a sugar-coated hawthorn stall, what about the others? Is it a case of cutting corners or is it better to just forget it…”

“With such high stall fees, businesses still need to make money. The prices and quality must be disappointing. Who would dare to go there?”

“I was about to book tickets, then saw a sugar-coated hawthorn stall with a starting bid of one million, are there any other similar high prices? It’s too scary, better not go.”

Most netizens still believe that the stall fees are set too high, making it difficult for businesses to make a profit.

“A stick of sugar-coated hawthorn for ten yuan, selling a thousand sticks a day, for three months, it wouldn’t even cover a million, isn’t this losing money?”

“A million for the stall fee, daily cost over ten thousand, not including ingredients and labor costs. They need to sell hawthorns for thirty yuan each; they have to sell four hundred sticks just to break even.”

“This is a real rip-off! It’s a trap. Don’t buy sugar-coated hawthorns. No one would eat them given the prices set so high.”

“Collecting that much, wouldn’t it force businesses to desperately solicit customers?”