Category: China Shopping Sites

Regular readers of my blog should have been familiar with how I definite “legitimate Chinese international sites”. Anyway, in case some new visitors of my site is not clear about the concept, I want to re-emphasize that from my own point of view, it is impossible to find a Chinese foreign trade site which is completely free of complaints and as a result some of the better ones are viewed as “legit” just in a relative sense.

When I put a site onto my personal list of “reliable sites” or “good sites”, I simply mean that it is an officially registered business and better in terms of credibility, products and services. Seriously, in order not to mislead people who are looking for helpful guides to sourcing products from China, I hope you are well aware that my ideas are just for your reference only and you are always encouraged to do as much research as possible yourself before you try a Chinese site.

As for legitimate shopping websites based in China that offer toys to global buyers, I use the same criteria to compile the list. Hopefully you may find some stable suppliers from my recommendations after rounds of real transactions between you and the suppliers. In December 2012, I posted a topic talking about my points regarding made-in-China toys as a response to an Indian reader. In addition to discussing about the quality issues related to made-China-toys, there I also introduced some better sites where you can find high resell-margin toys made by Chinese factories or Chinese suppliers of toys. If you are interested in, please read here.

Below I will share my knowledge in more details about which sites are better to use to purchase low priced toys, especially in wholesale quantities.

So far I haven’t found any Chinese global sites that exclusively offer toys – this does not mean that such sites do not exist though. It seems Chinese online wholesalers or retailers prefer to list toys as one of their major categories instead of the only category, usually named “Toys and Hobbies”. Continue reading Legitimate Chinese International Sites to Shop for High-margin Toys

Below is my personal summary of the upsides and downsides of buying toys in bulk from China-based wholesale trading platforms like Aliexpress.com or DHgate.com. If you are interested in using such sites to source toys for your resell business, the following points may inspire you.

Pros:

• As a big and famous trading platform, they have attracted millions of suppliers to do business there and as a result, they carry the widest arrays of toys that fit all ages, personalities or interests. Whether you are looking for toys for adults or kids, or toys for boys or girls, you will get a lot of products to choose from.

• The toys for sale there are abundant to select from also in terms of quality levels. Both high-end toys and low-end toys can be easily found there.

• Most of the toys listed at the sites are in stock so that you can get them delivered to your doorstep in a much shorter timeframe compared to shopping with suppliers who need to arrange the production after you place the order.

• You can order the toys in small quantities while still at low wholesale prices. One big attraction of Aliexpress.com and DHgate.com is that their MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) is generally very low. Most sellers require a MOQ of less than 10 pieces for a single order and some have no MOQ requirement at all. This has become a very popular trend in the Chinese international wholesale business arena.

• Due to intense competition, the price tags for the same or similar toys offered by different sellers can be significantly different. As a buyer you can benefit a lot from the pricing difference.

Continue reading Pros and Cons of Shopping for Toys with Sites like Aliexpress.com or DHgate.com

The other day an Indian reader of my site e-mailed me, asking what my opinions are about the toys made in China. He said toys from China are reported as containing toxic material for children in his country. For this reason he is hesitant to get these toys to the Indian market. In case other readers may also be interested in purchasing toys from the Chinese wholesale market, I decided to create this post for your reference.

Before you go ahead, keep in mind that my shadow understanding about the made-in-China toys is based on my own experience and research only. You are encouraged to do more research yourself in order to make a smart investment decision.

Basics about Toys for Sale in the Chinese Markets

First of all, as a Chinese, I can tell you that it is true there are some crappy toys for children which are made of unsafe material or of poor quality in the Chinese domestic market. These cheap toys are available at small stores or offered by moving street peddlers. At the same time, consumers can also buy them from online stores, especially from sellers at Taobao.com (the Chinese eBay). This is pathetic as the Chinese governments do not take strict measurements to ban such poorly made toys, which are definitely a huge threat to the health of the children.

However, toys for sale at bigger stores such as supermarkets or brand stores are generally made of safe material, covered with authoritative quality certifications, e.g. the 3C Certification (China Compulsory Certification or CCC). If you see a toy labeled with a 3C Certification, you can be confident that its material does not have any negative impact on the health or safety of the kids. Although toys meeting national quality standards are usually more expensive than those not, they are not necessarily beyond common people’s consumption capacities. I myself have bought several good quality small toy cars or trucks with 3C Certification for my little boy, each priced at around ￥8 RMB (a little more than $1 USD). Also, I purchased a four wheel electric driving car (see image on the right) with a remote control function for my son at ￥300 RMB only – the high-end ones priced at around ￥1000 RMB. The car is very fun. My son can drive it on the road by stepping on the switch while we adults can control it with the remote controller. It has a 3C certificate, by the way.

Continue reading Made-in-China Toys: Are They Worth A Try?