Laden¹ with plastic bags that are almost too heavy to carry, we meet Rika Wenjing, a 24-year-old accountancy graduate from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.

我们见到了24岁的Rika文静（音译），这位来自湖北省武汉市的会计专业毕业生拿着一大堆沉重的购物袋。

She labours with tins of infant food, supplements and skin lotions² from a discount chemist to sell to customers back home in China.

这个袋子里装满了从折扣店购买的罐装婴儿食品，保健品和护肤品，这些东西准备销往中国。

Rika has worked part-time for the past two years as a daigou, a freelance retail³ consultant⁴.

Rika做兼职代购（自由零售顾问）已经两年了。

She is glued to her phone and tablet, using the messaging app WeChat to build a network of 300 clients who aren't afraid to pay premium⁵ prices for trustworthy Australian goods.

她密切关注有着300余位中国客户的微信帐户——这些人不吝花高价购买值得信任的澳洲产品。

"In the beginning I just had my friends and my aunty to buy baby formula or unique brands from Australia, like Ugg boots. Then I wanted to build a platform to show more products to them," she told the BBC. "I don't want just to earn money, I want to provide products to my friends."

她对BBC表示：“刚开始只有朋友们和姨妈从我这里购买婴儿配方奶粉或Ugg这样的澳洲本地产品，然后我想建一个平台卖货；我不仅是想赚钱，也想向朋友们提供产品”。

In Australia, it's estimated there are 40,000 daigou.

目前约有4万网络代购活跃在澳大利亚。

The online shopping agents are almost exclusively from mainland China, and are young migrants or international students looking for flexible ways to help cover their rent and university fees.

代购几乎全部来自中国大陆，他们通常是以灵活方式赚房租或学费的青年移民或国际学生。

Earlier this year, Beijing tightened⁶ regulations on cross-border online shopping, but there is still money to be made, especially in baby milk formula, known as "white gold".

尽管今年早些时候北京对跨境网上购物有所限制，但是市场仍然存在，尤其是被誉为“白色黄金”的婴儿奶粉。

In 2008, at least half a dozen children died and as many as 300,000 fell ill in China after consuming milk products contaminated by melamine, a chemical used in plastics and adhesives⁷. Since then, imported milk has become highly prized by sections of China's affluent⁸ and health-conscious middle classes.

2008年，含有三聚氰胺的有毒中国奶粉造成约30万婴幼儿病倒之后，处于小康生活水平的中产阶级家庭转而依靠进口奶粉。

"Everyone cannot buy the good quality or the reliable formula in China, so they want to buy from Australia. Maybe it is more expensive, they don't care [about] the price but they do care about the quality," Rika explains.

Rika解释道：“在中国买不到质量过硬的奶粉，所以他们要从澳洲购买，可能更贵一些，但是他们不介意价格只在乎质量”。

At the height of a boom last year in demand in China for milk formula, a buying surge from daigou attracted criticism in sections of the Australian media for leaving domestic shoppers empty-handed.

去年由于对澳洲奶粉的需求达到新高度，因此澳洲当地消费者经常买不到奶粉，这引发当地媒体的批评。

Daigou came to prominence⁹ in Europe by shipping¹⁰ luxury goods such as Gucci handbags to China. In Australia, the trade revolves¹¹ around everyday items including food, beauty products, wine and clothes.

代购在欧洲国购买的产品更多集中在名牌包，比如Gucci等奢侈品。而在澳洲，需求量最大的是包括食品、美容产品、酒类、服装在内的日常用品。

Daigou typically charge premiums¹² of about 50% above the retail price in Australia. But even allowing for transport fees, buyers in China invariably pay much less for the same product in a local shop - assuming it is available.

代购的价格通常比澳大利亚产品原价高出50%。但是即使加上运费，在能买到的情况下，中国消费者所付的价钱仍然要比在中国实体店的价钱要低。

The industry with its home-spun roots does have its challenges. Customers must be convinced the goods they receive are genuine, and not fake, and that the supplier is reliable.

代购这一以家庭为根源的产业确实也面临挑战。消费者必须找可靠的代购、确保他们收到的产品不是假货。

Consultants¹³ often livestream their visits to supermarkets and chemists to prove the authenticity¹⁴ of the goods they send. It is an industry founded on trust.

代购者常常需要给客户直播去店里买货的过程。这是一个建立在信任基础上的行业。