Do you shop online with websites like Taobao?The money you pay doesn’t go directly to the seller.Instead,it goes through Alipay,which keeps your money for a while.After you receive your goods and click the “confirm receipt” button,Alipay then gives the money to the seller.

The process is called “third party online payment”.There is a transfer station,or a third account,between sellers and buyers to make online shopping safe.Buyers don’t need to worry about paying for goods and then receiving nothing.Sellers also get rid of the risk of receiving no money after sending out goods.

These transfer stations are usually set up by payment service companies such as Alipay,Tenpay and Yeepay.Among them,Alipay is the biggest in China.It has more than 270 million active users,according to Xinhua.

While most online sellers and shoppers like the third party online payment system,banks are not very happy.That is because companies like Alipay are fighting over money with the banks.Users can invest in financial products through Alipay and make money.Thus lots of people choose to put money in Alipay rather than in banks.

But WeChat payment is not the same.WeChat doesn’t have its own account.When paying through WeChat,the buyers’ money goes directly to the sellers.That’s why so many people are excited about receiving and handing out “red envelopes” or gift money to their friends on WeChat.

Whether Alipay or WeChat payment,they are all trying to attract more users and make online shopping easier.These two companies are also promoting payments through fingerprints.New payment methods such as quick response codes have become popular too.

In recent years, thrift shopping (买二手货) has become quite trendy. It’s more than just a convenient way to keep costs down when it comes to shopping — “thrifting” is now considered cool. 【小题1】

Thrifting allows us to explore diverse and unique styles.

It’s not uncommon for us to see someone wearing the same dress or shirt that we own. But there is generally a lot of variety when shopping for second­hand clothing. Thrift shopping is like a treasure hunt. 【小题2】 Sellers collect items from all over, so there is more diversity and a lot of options. You can even find one­of­a­kind items!

We can find genuine vintage (经典的) items.

Trends come and go, and often people buy clothing that is mass produced to look like it came from a different decade. 【小题3】 That means you can actually buy clothing that was made in that decade and happens to be coming back into style. You can also find things that are not made anymore!

It is environmental friendly.

【小题4】 Thrifting is a great way to recycle. You can donate clothes you no longer wear and buy more clothes, eliminating (消除) waste in the process. It helps reduce the chemical pollution produced by creating and buying new clothes. It’s a simple and easy way to go green.

【小题5】

Many thrift stores are non­profits that partner with local charities. So when you make a purchase from such stores, part of what you spend goes to a good cause. You can help local brands grow too. In this way, your shopping experience becomes more meaningful.

It is a trend in China to buy things looking nice, especially when people decide to buy something as a gift for their friends. Doing so has caused a rapid development in packaging industry, but also caused a huge waste in our national resources.

A good example is to buy a bag of Chinese tea. The tea itself may cost more than 500 CNY but it includes nearly 200 CNY for the package. Does it mean high quality when you buy goods in an attractive case? The answer is “perhaps”. “Perhaps” here means 50% of a chance is to buy really good and the other 50% of the chance is to buy something crap or fake. One of my friends bought a bottle of Maotai for 1.800 CNY, and he was absolutely embarrassed to find there to be water in it in front of his invited guests. It is crazy

Things have become so expensive and so well packed that many companies produce fake products, playing the same trick. We should criticize the producers that produce crap and fake goods, but should those companies that charge their customers a large amount of money just for the package be praised? No. As customers, we need to think about the question: why do we have to chase the superficial (表面的) things when we buy things? Why do we have to buy friends expensive gifts? Are a notebook computer, an iPhone and electronics really something we have to buy as gifts to someone? Can we not change our ways to show our love to our beloved ones just with an item suitable instead of telling them how much it is worth? If we make statistics in our population, it is easy to find out that 99% of the people would express their hatred (憎恨) for bribery (行贿) and corrupted (贪污的) officials. However, how many of us have ever asked ourselves a question like “What have I done in the past year that has promoted corruptions in our country”?