Wholesale market

If China has the reputation of low quality, its business runs well. Since 1992, china lifestyle has changed. Traders come from all around the world to buy and make deal. Chinese sellers have done everything to receive customers. Big areas have been organized such as wholesale market. What is a wholesale market? Wholesale means buying a large quantity of the same good. Usually the sale is made with a minimum order quantity (MOQ), it can be from 60 up to infinitive. The price by bulk order can be one fifth of the retail price. Each wholesale market has its kind of produce: clothes, watch, electronic, leather…
Lihua is one of the most famous wholesale markets in Guangzhou. There are so many building looking like big malls. If you are a business man, a tourist or just a walker you can go there and find whatever you want, even replica garment.

If you are a trader, and particularly foreigner, you will have special treatments. Everything is made in order to make you feel comfortable, the more you stay better it is. So you have free internet access, you have a private area to rest which looks like a five-star hotel. When you are an important customer, the seller will pull the curtains to be sure that nobody sees the latest produce. That is an example of the low trust level in China; sometimes you cannot even guess what they are selling. It is not unusual to see a sheet of paper on the window shop saying not to stay in front of the shop or to get inside if you are in the same business. Of course you are not allowed to take pictures if you are not in business with them.

In the wholesale market you can also choose your produces on catalogue, because some brands are not available in the shop. You can make the produces as a carte, which means you can ask to put the brand you want on the clothes. When you want to buy, wholesaler will suggest bringing you to their factory, which could be their own house. You also can see many signs with have stock written on it, that means you can buy directly just a small quantity, even one piece. Otherwise sellers will ask you MOQ. You have to place an order on one type of produce, one color and one model.

You can be surprised by the way of selling. Professional attitude has no sense for them. You can see some shops which are so full of goods that shopkeeper tramples on them and don’t really care about his products.

If you worry about shipment, ask the sellers. Some of them will help you and will give you the name of forwarding companies. Anyway, you can find some right in front of the market and you cannot miss them because at the entrance you can see hundreds of big package, waiting to be sent.

To get there it is easy by bus because there is bus terminal: Guangzhou railway station, and one advice: don’t forget a suitcase, you will need it because you cannot resist buying staffs there.
Overall if you are tourist or visitors. In the Liuhua wholesale market, it will not be easy for you to buy. It is exclusive for wholesaler. So you must say first you want one piece, if you don’t do it they will start to talk about the wholesale price and you will waste your time for nothing because at the end they won’t sell the item for detail. In this wholesale market it is better for you to stay on the first and the second floor, the rest being for wholesale. Speaking to the seller, don’t hesitate like everywhere in China to negotiate the price and smile even if you don’t buy, a smile can always give you a discount!!
You will not believe how cheap it is. You can get two suits and a tie for less than 500 RMB. That depends on the buildings. So stay in this area. But there is really a difference of price from one place to another. So compare, the advice is to look for shop not so well decorated, it is sometimes better to go in normal building for better price, because fashion buildings are as a mall.