11-year-old boy becomes Shopee seller to raise funds to buy a phone for online learning

An 11-year-old boy went viral recently for being a seller on Shopee all because he needed to raise money to buy a new phone for his online studies.

Umar Al-Khattab’s initiative came under the spotlight following a Facebook post by one of his customers who initially thought he was being scammed after finding out the LED ring light that he ordered came in the wrong size.

The customer then questioned Umar about the light through the shopping application, Shopee was surprised to learn that Umar was a young boy after he apologised and explained that he was still learning the ropes.

After learning about Umar, the customer then wrote about Umar’s business on Facebook which garnered attention from social media users.

The 11-year-old told Malay Mail that he has received about 300 orders in the past nine days since becoming a Shopee seller.

Umar who is the fourth child out of five siblings also said that he was thankful to social media users who have supported his business where he sells a variety of things ranging from watches, LED lights to stationery items.

According to Umar, his interest in starting a business came after watching his father’s friend explaining to his father on how to start a business on Shopee.

Umar who is a keen learner also said that he learned a lot in just over a week of being a seller.

“I’ve learnt how to talk to customers, and I’ve learned how to properly manage my shop by bringing in new products.

“I’ve also learnt how to deal with problems when they arise. For example, when I delivered the wrong item or the wrong size, I call up the customer and apologise while explaining to them my mistake.

“Most of them responded well to my explanations,” Umar told Malay Mail, adding that he’s a fan of popular preacher, Ustaz Ebit Liew and wanted to be like him one day.

Umar’s mother Nurul Huda Azman said since her son’s incident went viral, he has been approached by a few companies asking him to be their dropship seller.

But she told him to take it slow and learn the basics steps before agreeing to anything.

Nurul Huda also said that Umar was trying to raise money to buy himself a new smartphone so he could join the Teaching and Learning at Home (PdPR) classes as he has missed a few sessions.

This was due to the lack of devices their family had as they needed to share them amongst five siblings who are still in school.

“Sometimes, their classes, and we had to give priority to our elder children.

“He did ask me to buy him a new phone but looking at the current situation, we cannot afford it.

“Because we need the money to pay for more important things like our house’s utilities, groceries, and other bills.

“So, I said to him to keep selling his products and he can buy himself a new smartphone from his earnings,” Huda told Malay Mail.

Both of Umar’s parents are currently not working due to the movement control order (MCO) and have turned to selling local products on a small scale.

Umar’s father Shamsul Bahrim said that his son handled everything relating to the Shopee account.

“Umar loves to watch and learn. He will spend his time on YouTube learning how to handle business on online shopping platforms like Shopee and Lazada.

“Basically, it’s a one-man show. He decides which product to put in, he’ll decide the price and he will constantly update his social media about them.

“We only help him with managing as we still need to deal with the suppliers and also guide him through the internet as it is such a broad place,” Shamsul said, adding that he and his wife are surprised by Umar’s determination in his business.

Shamsul also said that he helps Umar with packaging and postage as Shamsul has experience in logistics and he didn’t want to risk letting Umar spend too much time outside due to Covid-19.

Besides that, Shamsul also said that during the first two days of operation, Umar got 200 orders which have led to their suppliers leaving a whole stock of their products to Umar to ease up his operations.

“They let us hold on to their stock and told Umar to sell as many as he can, and they will do the calculation based on his Shopee’s ledger at the end of the month.

“So, we have a good starting point here. It’s just that everything’s coming on so fast and I’m still in disbelief that Umar has managed to sell all of that in less than seven days,” he said.

Umar’s shop on Shopee has gained over 5,000 followers since its inception and he is determined to continue his business to achieve his target of buying a new smartphone and to help ease the burden of his family at the same time.

Umar also said that he would like to become a successful entrepreneur when he grows up. — Malay Mail

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