Aviation company receives 11.8 quadrillion yuan worth of helicopter 'orders' during Single's Day

When the Nov 11 Single's Day shopping festival concluded, the number of helicopter orders received by Quanyi Aviation reached nearly 7,000.

There was, however, just one genuine buyer.

"People were placing helicopter orders with our company so that they could take screenshots and prank their friends," said Huang Ping, manager of Quanyi Aviation, which is located in Jiangsu province. But only one person paid the deposit to confirm the order.

"I was shocked at first when there was a flurry of orders being placed around 8 pm on Saturday night, but we soon knew it was just a joke," he added.

The massive number of orders amounted to 11.8 quadrillion yuan ($1.8 quadrillion). In comparison, the total Gross Merchandise Volume received during the 24-hour Single's Day extravaganza was 168.2 billion yuan.

The price of a helicopter at Quanyi Aviation starts from several million yuan. Orders were still being placed on Monday.

Huang said that the company set up an online store on Taobao eight years ago as a means to showcase their products, which include helicopters, drones and airships. While customers can use the e-commerce platform to place a deposit for an aircraft, they must still meet with a company representative to complete the relevant paperwork.

To Huang's surprise, one customer surnamed Lu from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, was actually serious about buying a 15-million-yuan helicopter. Lu paid the 9,999-yuan deposit on Taobao.

Lu was purchasing the helicopter for an event planning company, according to Yangtze Evening News, a local newspaper in Nanjing.

Huang said that this was Quanyi Aviation's seventh helicopter sale this year.