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So you`re interested in buying wholesale, but need more information? Here`s what we`ve learned through our years of working with China.
1. Things to watch for when you buy directly from China.
2. Chinese currency`s price fluctuations.
1. There are several things you need to know before you start dealing with Chinese pearl farms.
We`ve heard a lot from customers who`ve mentioned before that when they went into China with an interpreter and negotiated with the farms themselves they often found themselves paying twice or more than they would with us even after extensive haggling. Why is this? Well, we hate to admit it but many businesses in China and all over the orient have a large network of long term relationships and connections. These companies prefer to deal exclusively with these sorts of clients and will often for various reasons inflate their prices when dealing with anyone they haven`t spent years building trust with. So if someone shows up from a foreign country for the first time and begins negotiating with a farm they`re likely to be less than cooperative on price and add in hidden margins many people may not otherwise notice.
However our founder is from a Chinese family heavily invested in the pearl industry. We have pearl farms we own ourselves as well as extensive business relationships we`ve built up over many years with other pearl farm owners and suppliers of silver, gold, etc. We`ve also spent a lot of time cultivating deeper personal relationships with these people, which is just as vital. When a good long term customer also becomes like a friend then it`s infinitely easier to talk price or anything else. This is one of the biggest keys to any successful business relationship with a company in Asia. You have to build a lot of trust on both levels before they`ll take you seriously.
Another must is to think over is shipping. Here`s an email from one of our long term business customers, Harry Clifton,on 9/12/2005 16:47:50 -0400, >> >>You still there????? What is new?????Just received some things I got >>from China....My Shipping was almost $ 500.00 cant stand much of >>this....
Unfortunately for that order we couldn`t help Harry since we weren`t able to get the type of Jewelry he needed in time in that case. So he had to order somewhere else. Always be sure you know what your shipping costs are before you order, find out what courier the company`s using, ask for the weight of your package and double check yourself if the amount seems right on the courier`s rate calculator. Shipping fees are another notorious area where hidden margins may be added in.
Even more importantly though, what happens when something goes wrong with the shipment or you`re not happy with the merchandise? Can you send broken items back, if it`s damaged during transit will you be reimbursed? What about if the quality is sub-par or you`re not happy with a color? Is it even possible to get reimbursement or exchanges if something goes wrong? Are the orders even insured ? What about a tracking number? Anything can happen to products en-route and translation issues can often make it difficult to get detailed pieces made exactly to spec without a physical sample. Not to mention that you`re usually out of luck mailing returns back into China, as Chinese customs typically refuses or confiscates all of these they find as a measure of protection for their pearl industry.
Unlike other companies though since we have an office in the USA there`ll never be any problems with returns on any order. Just send your items to California and we can take care of the rest. We guarantee all of our items with a six month warranty and a ninety day satisfaction guarantee and we stand by that.
2. Currency fluctiations
China`s facing a tense economic situation now with its huge export industry. In recent years the Yuan has seen some of the worst inflation in recent history as the price of crude oil and other commodities continues to rise, just like the U.S.A. To make matters worse inflation`s been bad here and the dollar is in a downward spiral in value. This can make pricing a very difficult issue and it can change at any given day of the year.
The good news is that unlike other companies we planned ahead and managed to create an umbrella of investment that shields you from the rain of high prices. We invested heavily and early, when the dollar was doing good and the exchange rate was very lucrative from dollars to Yuan. We continue to invest at a steady pace and this means that while our prices will inevitably go up as time passes you`ll be shielded from the majority of it. So that right now you can pay less for your pearls than what most people who live and work in China right now pay.
The bad news is that shipping costs associated with UPS and other American companies will be subject to fluctuation based on the state of the U.S. and Chinese economies. As you are probably aware for our wholesale program we charge the actual cost of shipping out every order. Right now the current prices for UPS 2-3 day international delivery to anywhere in the world are now the same as if you were shipping that package from California and getting worse. This even takes into account the discounts we get since we send many large shipments. We`re currently hard at work trying to solve that problem and are constantly on the lookout for other channels for shipping. To that end we`ve already adopted EMS as a courier for many of our orders. They do take longer but the rates can be much cheaper (about 15% less per order on average) when you factor in the cumulative cost of several orders through us.
No matter how we ship your package we`ll always let you know exactly what the costs are, and be more then happy to go over your options before we ever ask for a dime from you. This way there are no surprises.
Customers` testimonials
- C. D. Plus, Inc, has served the wholesale and retail industry with fine pearls and pearl jewelry for years with our pearl farms and jewelry factory.
Don`t take our word for it though, here`s what our clients have to say. Click here to read more.
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