From our experience in wholesale market, we found that wholesale markets such as Yiwu market and Guangzhou marketare not a good for everyone. Not every visitor left with a happy smile.
Shoppers Who Want To Shop Cheap Items:
For example, Yiwu claims itself as “paradise for shoppers”, but that’s not a proper translation. The proper translation should be “paradise for mid-sized buyers”. The actual “paradise for shoppers” should be HK or Shanghai, Yiwu is definitely not on that list.
Even for locals who live there, it’s still hard to find a right place to go shopping in the weekend. Most shops here only do wholesale, NOT retailing.
Buyers Who Can’t Accept Over-one-carton MOQ(except jewelry):
This is a wholesale market. There is always an MOQ for each product if the products are not in stock. Even for stocks, suppliers also prefer you buy by cartons because stocks are all pre-packed.
If a small shop is what you only have or that’s the only place you can sell, in my opinion, you don’t necessarily need to come to any wholesale market. You may simply buy it from your local wholesale market.
Theoretically, you can buy one carton from this shop and one carton from that shop here, but the overall cost plus shipping,duty etc. will be high.
Shipping by big containers is what the big importers from your country are currently doing now. They can save lots of shipping cost. If you can’t fill up even a small container, you will probably can’t compete with them for price.
Besides, the traveling cost and time may eat up all the profit you buy from your trip.
If LUCKY enough, you find something NEW, I mean they never exist on your local market before, AND there is a good profit, AND you have the ability to sell lots of them. Then you’re a lucky dog. This kind of things don’t happen all the time though.
Buyers Who Only Want To Deal With Factories:
As far as I know, now only about 20% of the shops in markets are the office of their own factory, the rest are all representatives and distributors. If you’re only open to trading with factories, you won’t be very happy.
In summary, the buyer who has the buying power to ship in by containers, no matter how many products are mixed in that container, will like wholesale markets better. AND those who know their market very well and are always open to new opportunities will also like China wholesale markets.