Chinese youths are ‘selling’ their annoying bosses and colleagues online for stress relief; but there’s a catch

In China, the young professionals have adopted unique methods to deal with the stress in workplace. A viral trend has emerged in the East Asian country where employees list their bosses, colleagues, and jobs for sale on an e-commerce platform.

Several Chinese youth are playfully selling their jobs, bosses and colleagues on Xianyu, Alibaba’s second-hand e-commerce platform, as a way to ease stress from work and wash off the “work smell.” In China, “work smell” refers to the feeling of mental and physical exhaustion after a long day of work.

According to the South China Morning Post, some of the listings on the website include “annoying bosses”, “terrible jobs”, and “hated colleagues”, that are up for sale in a price range of Rs 4 to Rs 9 lakh.

Selling her job for Rs 91,000, one user said it pays Rs 33,000 a month and promised that buyers can regain their investment within three months.

Another person wrote, “Selling a colleague who is very good at being sarcastic for Rs 45,000. I can teach you how to deal with this colleague and offer 10 tips to avoid being the scapegoat at work.”

A third persion listed his "terrible boss" for Rs 6,000, claiming that their personalities clashed and that the boss frequently criticized him, causing significant mental stress.

Importantly, the sellers ensure the advertisements do not lead to a real cash transaction. If someone does buy the “product” the seller usually cancels the deal right after the transaction or outright refuses the purchase attempt.

An anonymous seller told SCMP: “Someone did pay before, but I applied to offer them a refund, and I deleted the listing after. This is just my way of venting my emotions, not actually buying or selling anyone. I saw many people selling their jobs on Xianyu, and I thought it was interesting, so I wanted to try it too. Selling my job that has no weekends for just 9.9 yuan feels like a small act of revenge.”