Importing from China

[Men the Master]

I should have posted this a week ago in order to give earlier notice.

For those of you who have an online store or do business on ebay or in a brick and mortar store, the Kenfair is in Las Vegas (Mandalay Bay) between August 24 (Today) to August 26.

To my knowledge Kenfair is the biggest convention of Chinese suppliers in the United States with some 400 something exhibitors. I was there last year and here are some examples of prices of certain products:

High quality ukeleles that I've seen in stores for $30 were only $2.50.

The scales that I've seen sold at Sharper Image for $100 are less than $10.

Watches that I've seen sold at Target or WalMart for between 5.99 to 9.99 were only 17 cents.

Copycat oil on canvas original paintings of Van Gogh and Monet that I have seen sold for $150 to $300 at the mall were less than 10 bucks. They come with the matting and the frames.

Expensive looking cabinets, coffee table, and home decors that I've seen in stores for $100 to $500 were sold for less than $30.

Toys that I've seen a Kaybee or ToysR'Us for $40 to $60 were less than $8.

These are all wholesale prices of course. And there are minimum orders. But if you are a retailer of sorts or planning to be one I suggest you check out this convention at Mandalay Bay in Vegas. The alternative would be to communicate with these buyers through email or by visiting their websites but nothing beats actually seeing and touching their products in person and speaking face to face with the merchants.

That US manufacturers can compete with China in price is impossible. This is one of the things that was made very clear to me when I visited the show last year. A US manufacturer that decides to join this show would get slaughtered pricewise.

I believe the entrance is totally free. Here is a link to their website:

Kenfair at Mandalay Bay

I'm leaving for the show right now, then I'll play 2-5 nolimit holdem in the evening. Hopefully, the Chinese exhibitors will be playing poker not pai gow or baccarat. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[homeslice]

Well, if you're not in Vegas, then you should check out alibaba. You can find plenty of vendors at this site.

[imitation]

Check your PMs

[dc_publius]

I wish I could go to this, but this is too last minute for me. (I'm in DC) If you see any good GPS manufacturers, pick up some info. I would like to source harddrive based GPS with ~5 inch screen or a little larger, TFT screen/good resolution, small form factor.

[Men the Master]

Funny you mention Alibaba.com. They are a major sponsor of this show.