Headed to Zhu Ji on Monday...any suggestions?

[missmouse]

hi,

upon jeremy's suggestion i am heading out to Zhu Ji on monday to check out the pearl market. anyone want to share what i should expect? i'll just let you know, i am relatively new to the pearl biz, and i don't know a ton about FW pearls (which is what i am after). i am using these pearls for fashion jewelry, so i want the best quality i can get, at a decent price.

here are my basic Q's:

--how do i examine for nacre thickness? what should i be expecting for a high-quality beading pearl? i think i can spot good luster, but the nacre thickness thing kind of boggles me.
--will they sell me a strand or two? what if i tell them they are samples?
--what should the prices be like compared to Ling Ling (or Hong-Qiao)
--how hard am i going to have to bargain?
--what kind of 'tricks' are they going to try and use on a novice pearl buyer like me?

and does anyone know of a good hotel in that area, or Yi-Wu (i am going there, too).

TIA for any info from anyone. i am willing to let y'all know what i find there.....
this forum is so great!

erin

 

[jshepherd]

I am glad to hear you are going to Zhuji! You will have a great time. I am sure a lot of others will email you with their experiences as well!
Regarding my take on your Q's:

--how do i examine for nacre thickness? what should i be expecting for a high-quality beading pearl? i think i can spot good luster, but the nacre thickness thing kind of boggles me.
--will they sell me a strand or two? what if i tell them they are samples?
--what should the prices be like compared to Ling Ling (or Hong-Qiao)
--how hard am i going to have to bargain?
--what kind of 'tricks' are they going to try and use on a novice pearl buyer like me?

You are going to look at freshwater pearls in Zhuji (and in Yiwu), so nacre thickness is not a concern. Nacre quality is important, but as the pearls are almost universally mantle-tissue nucleated, the thickness is not an issue.

They will sell you 1-2 strands if you prefer, but you will pay a large premium. It is really not worth it. The ‘samples’ line will NOT work – this is what most tourists say when they are trying to score a good deal. They will pretend as though they are working with you, but you will not get a good deal.

The prices will be better - you will be at the source. At Hong Qiao you are paying for finished pieces - in Zhuji you will likely be purchasing loose. Ling Ling has a great eye for quality and she makes great pieces, but in Zhuji you will be (if negotiated well) paying what Hong Qiao dealers pay. Ling Ling has a Zhuji partner - that is why she is one of the best.

Bargain very, very, very, very hard! I cannot emphasize it enough. Be careful (if it is your first time) not to buy all from the same dealer. After two rounds of negotiation they will know where you start and acquiesce and plan their prices accordingly.

They will show you the lowest end pearls first, bringing out medium grade (emphasizing the quality) and you will be convinced they are the best of the best. Your eyes have been 'washed' (as Richard put it). Do not be afraid to walk away.


You will do best in the open market if you do not plan to purchase a lot. You can purchase strands for just a few dollars apiece (ok strands) if you are paying cash. But if you show the cash you will be mauled by a crowd, so be careful.

The last tip I can give: watch the ends of the strands. If you are buying (especially in the open market) strands quickly, the sellers will hold hanks up to you showing you only the body of the strands. The ends are often garbage, but the mid portions look fine. They anticipate that you will not examine the ends...

 

[missmouse]

thanks so much, jeremy!

i appreciate you taking the time to respond. i am taking 2 other jewelry company owners with me, so many will benefit from your words of advice.

so, one other question: what kinds of minimums are we looking at to get the true wholesale price? do i need to bring a lot of RMB with me? (a little scary).

(okay, that's 2 questions.... )

xie xie,
erin

 

[jshepherd]

If you are not planning to purchase a lot I would use cash and stay on the floor. The quality will not be the same as that coming from the factories, but on the floor (open air atrium section) your cash will get you below-cost pricing from many. Just be really, really careful. Do not start paying cash if you are there by yourself. I am not kidding when I say you will get mauled!

To get good pricing from the larger outfits and the factories, be prepared to purchase 30-40 kilos. Most factories would consider 40-50k US a good sale.

 

[missmouse]

been there, shopped that

been there, shopped that

well, here was my Zhu Ji experience:

i was there with 2 other sets of women, we all sell various kinds of jewelry in the US. none of us sell hi-end sets of pearls (we leave that to you 'pearl experts,'--who can beat your prices/quality? in fact, i have directed many people to your websites to buy high-quality FW pearls). we were looking for interesting stuff for beading, and nice, fashion jewelry pearl strands to make long ropes, etc. I was somewhat dissapointed in the quality of the pearls i saw. i repeatedly asked every vendor if this was the best they had, and they all assured me it was. my guess is, they were not going to pull out the good stuff for someone who wasn't buying in large quantities.

all the coin pearls i saw were quite low quality. i get much better ones on nan-jing road (and pay for it). prices in zhu ji were good-great, quality was just okay.

in the end i walked out with 10 strands of lovely, fat 11-12mm potato pearls, that i got for a decent price, and about 100 pairs of pearl studs. i looked at probably 20 batches of the same size of potato pearls from different vendors before i found some i thought were worth the price.

my take is you really have to build a relationship with some vendors in zhu ji before you will be able to buy the nice stuff at a good price. which is the key to everything in china . i will definitely return again as my need for pearls increases.

thanks for all the tips from jeremy! it was a fun trip!

ps--we also visited the ULTRA LARGE international wholesale market in yi-wu. it was incredible! thousands of vendors and any product you can think of. i won't go into detail since this is a pearl forum, but it was amazing!

erin

 

[pearltime]

So, there is the open market and then there are the factories. Is that correct? Is it hard to get entry into the factories? Could anyone suggest a hotel?

Thanks erin and Jeremy for the interesting information.