Terence Cao sells $12,500 Rolex in 16 seconds, 'forced' to do live-streaming due to lack of acting jobs

 A $12,500 Rolex watch sold within 16 seconds on livestream.

And the orchestrator of the impressive sale is none other than veteran local actor Terence Cao, who has been noticeably absent from our screens in recent times.

These days, you're more likely to find Terence on your digital screens twice a day for about 12 times a week on e-commerce and F&B platform Sibay Shiok, which he co-founded with several business partners in 2021.

In an interview with Shin Min Daily News on Thursday (June 30), the 54-year-old celeb answered this burning question, among others: does he now consider himself an actor or a livestreamer first and foremost?

He retorted in exasperation: "That's life!

"It's hard to say [which is my real job], it's all up to the heavens. Nobody has hired me for acting jobs, I don't have an income, so I'm 'forced' to do live-streaming."

Rolex and branded bags

Of the high-ticket Rolex sale a day earlier on Wednesday, he shared with the Chinese evening daily that he had gone into selling luxury watches for a company on their platform.

And while he initially thought it would be a "hard sell", he was surprised that up to three people indicated their interest for the $12,500 Rolex almost immediately.

The luxury timepiece was sold within 16 seconds, with the transaction successfully completed three minutes later.

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And it's not just luxury watches that Terence and company are hawking on the platform. According to Shin Min, they also managed to sell several branded bags costing a four-figure sum each, all within a minute.

When praised by reporters for his excellent salesmanship, Terence demurred and contributed his success to the hard work of his team.

"I must praise my partner Dawn Yeoh, we've always worked well together," shared Terence, indicating that she has "courageously'" plunged herself into the realm of livestreaming.

When asked if he has a formula to his success, he stated that "he's still learning every day", but shared that developing trust is most important when it comes to livestreaming, which he considers "an art".

"How do you get netizens to buy the items purely based on information provided over a livestream? It's definitely a form of trust."

Getting down to the crux of which is a better paymaster, acting or livestreaming, Terence would only say that both jobs are "completely different".

"Whether an artiste is able to earn a good living or not depends on many factors," he shared, indicating how the type of roles one gets, commercial partnerships and even Lady Luck play important roles.

"These things are not within your control. The reason why livestreaming is so popular now is that people's spending habits have changed. Who hasn't bought something online before, right? Online shopping is something that will continue."

However, he doesn't think celebrities have an edge when it comes to livestreaming.

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On the contrary, there may be numerous obstacles that they would have to overcome, he said. These include meeting with companies, learning how to relay the information provided, and the internal struggle of having to "forgo their celebrity status to do the hard work".

In July, Terence will be off to Italy and France, together with Dawn and former Mediacorp actress Chris Tong, where they would be selling luxury goods on their platform.

His sales target? "We won't come back if we don't hit $1 million," he shared, before quickly adding that he was "just joking".

"We just have to work hard."

candicecai@asiaone.com