I'm sure this has been asked before in various ways but I am looking for a bit of advice about buying items for export.

I have a couple of friends back home in England who own small shops and are asking me if I can buy stuff in Thailand at good prices and send it to them to sell in their shops. It is a good starting point to have a couple of contacts back home to sell the stuff but I really know very little about the buying trade in Thailand.

My problem is where to get good prices. I live in Phuket so I am well away from the production centres of Thailand. I can buy stuff at the local markets and get decent deals if I order in quantity but of course I still won't be getting the best prices. Are there such things as trade fares in Thailand where you can buy directly from producers? If so, do they come to Phuket and how do you find out about them?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Jim,

Could you make your post a little more vague? There are loads of producers where i live but they all produce 'things' not 'stuff'.

If you mention what you are thinking of exporting you may get some useful replies.

Nidge.

If you can buy in large enough quantity you can work directly with factories- minimums can be relatively small for pieces like furniture with smaller factories- for wooden housewares and whatnot you're looking at 100 pieces/item and up. The department of export promotion lists a number of factories/vendors you could contact.

For smaller quantities you're better off working with wholesalers. Find out in Phuket where the vendors are buying product from and go there.

Too often people worry about squeezing the last penny when in reality the difference between factory and wholesale cost can be as little as 10-20% and then one has to factor in management of production, additional travel, etc.

I,m pretty sure that Phuket is limited in factories..............they do mostly seem to be in Bangkok and North.

My wife buys direct from the factory that makes the stingray briefcases and larger items. Usually only 30% of the cost that they sell for in MBK. She makes a decent living on Ebay with it and her own website. Like most Thai,s though............she only puts 50% effort in to it.

Other 50% is on the phone.

If you can buy in large enough quantity you can work directly with factories- minimums can be relatively small for pieces like furniture with smaller factories- for wooden housewares and whatnot you're looking at 100 pieces/item and up. The department of export promotion lists a number of factories/vendors you could contact.

For smaller quantities you're better off working with wholesalers. Find out in Phuket where the vendors are buying product from and go there.

Too often people worry about squeezing the last penny when in reality the difference between factory and wholesale cost can be as little as 10-20% and then one has to factor in management of production, additional travel, etc.

You're right, I don't really need to worry about finding rock-bottom prices, just competitive. I will probably start with small quantities of things that are easy to send, e.g. clothing & textiles, bags, belts, etc and see how it goes from there.

They really make next to nothing in Phuket so going direct to factories here is not an option. So I guess I am looking for local wholesalers. With a little bit of asking around they can't be too difficult to find.

Thanks for the advice.

if you want to start from small don't go to factory dealer! they won't take your order anyways. Go to Pratunam (watergate), MBK, China town and weekend market (JJ), should start from there.