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Yiwu is a city in the eastern Zhejiang province that has made a name for itself as a center for small commodity trading. In fact, it’s among the top destinations in the world for small buyers. While Yiwu is not a financial powerhouse like Shanghai or a world class manufacturing hub like Shenzhen, it’s still got something that other cities in China doesn’t – ready made products that can be purchased in small volumes.
“What is Off shelf?”
In this article I’m referring a lot to “off shelf” products, a topic that is highly related to the city of Yiwu. It’s in fact its main attraction and the biggest reasons for small businesses to make a visit. An off shelf product is a ready made item ready to be picked up by a buyer. Isn’t this the case everywhere in China? No, while many importers assume that buying from China is about the same thing as walking into a warehouse and pick this and that, it’s very far from the truth.
Chinese suppliers are almost always using a “make to order” approach. This means that they manufacture a product only upon receiving an order and a down payment. The Chinese supplier don’t even keep components and material in stock, it’s also purchased as soon as the order is confirmed – and in a quantity that is matching the buyer volume.
Yiwu is an exception. Here you can actually walk into a wholesale market and see the products for yourself. Basically, you buy what you see. Now that being explained, let’s move on.
Why Yiwu makes sense for small buyers
Yiwu is famous for its traders and they are in general quite friendly towards small buyers. If you want to find “off shelf” products ready to purchase in fairly small quantities from China, then this is the place.
While Yiwu is not a one stop solution for every product (I’ll get to that in a bit), it can be perfect as a destination to purchase products such as watches, accessories, textiles and bags. An Yiwu based supplier can also act as a complement to your existing suppliers in China. Many small businesses, especially e-commerce companies, are in dire need of filler products to not make their stores empty. That’s one example of when Yiwu might be well worth a visit.
Yiwu wholesale markets and trade fairs
You can get in touch with Yiwu based traders right away. There are plenty of them on B2B sites like Alibaba.com. However, since you’re probably going to buy “off shelf”, I suggest that you visit the place and make product selection on site. Apart from the obvious benefit of knowing what you buy, visiting an Yiwu wholesale market also enables you to visit a large number of vendors under the same roof.
The largest wholesale market in Yiwu is the China Commodity City. It’s sprawls over 4 million square meters and is attended by more than 60,000 wholesalers. Unlike Trade Fairs, such as the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, the China Commodity City is a permanent fair that is open all year around (well, apart from the Chinese New Year). You can read more about it here.
Yiwu agents and their function
It’s one thing to find a supplier with interesting products. It’s a completely different thing to negotiate prices, settle the payment and ship the products back home. This is when an Yiwu agent might make sense. An Yiwu agent acts as your purchasing manager and accompanies you while visiting suppliers.
After you’ve made a product selection and decided the quantity of your purchase, the Yiwu agent coordinates the procurement process and makes sure that all the cargo is collected in one single shipment. This is especially important when buying from multiple suppliers since several small shipments can cost a lot more than one large shipment.
Apart from that, an Yiwu agent should also ensure that the wholesalers provide you with the right products and in the right quantity. This is not as obvious as it might seem to certain Chinese wholesalers.
Most Yiwu agents work on a commission rate. This means that they charge a percentage based on the order value. This usually ranges from 2 to 8%, depending on your order value. For natural reasons, the commission as a percentage is smaller the more you buy.
Based in the US, Europe or Australia? Read this!
Yiwu is not a recommended destination for importing all kinds of products. For Europeans and Americans, product certification regulations put a lot of restrictions on the type of products that can be purchased off shelf in China. Why? Because the products are mass produced and sold in Yiwu are in general intended for the domestic Chinese market. While some of these products reach a decent quality standard and are already sold in the west, they are not in compliance with US and EU product certification regulations.
Importing non-compliant items from China is illegal and may result in a forced recall or even a lawsuit, in case anyone is injured by your product. While all imported products fall within the scope of regulations, certain products are more strictly regulated than others. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Toys
- Children’s products
- Furniture
- Cosmetics
- Electronics
Transportation and hotels
There are no international flights heading to Yiwu. The easiest way to get here is by flying to Shanghai and then take the high speed train. It takes roughly 2.5 hours and the train tickets can be purchased at the Hongqiao railway station.
While in Yiwu, there are a number of hotels in various price ranges. Go to Motel 168 if you’re on a low budget. If you want something more upscale, then you might want to consider the Crowne Plaza or the Tian Heng International Hotel.
Getting around in Yiwu is quite easy. There are taxis, but don’t expect them to understand a single word of English or any other language than Chinese. If you’ve hired an Yiwu agent, it’s customary that they pick you up and drive you around to visit various wholesalers.
One more thing, look up to the sky while you’re in Yiwu. There’s a military airbase close to the train station. Those fighter jets can be really cool to watch when they make a fly by at low altitude.
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