I saw an article before and posted it here for you to read. . Basically, after reading this article, you will have a general understanding of many things in this area.
Uncovering the price secrets of "foreign trade shops" (reposted)
There is a "Burberry store" in the "Sijiqing Market", which sells everything from children's clothing to bags.
The seemingly identical BCBG tank top is priced at 3,150 yuan in the Hang Lung store; in a foreign trade chain store on Shaanxi Road, which is famous for its affordable prices, it is listed at 180 yuan; in another store not far away from it In a small store, it becomes 250 yuan; and in Hangzhou, in a place called "Sijiqing Clothing Wholesale Street", it is piled on the floor, and the going price for small wholesalers is 135 yuan...
I don’t understand the clothes and the prices I don’t understand. This reporter has been running around for more than a month to bring you————
Shanghai is a very magical city. For example, girls all over the street, whether they are ladies or beauties in the alley, whether they earn 5 figures per month or 30,000 per year, are all capable of dressing themselves up brightly. When they step out of the house, they will see a scenery that they will never tire of seeing on Huaihai Road. .
For another example, whether it is the world-famous brands hanging in high-end department stores such as Hang Lung and Westgate, or the local fashion brands of Pacific and Parkson Lane, as long as you look carefully, you can find them in the small streets. In a certain "foreign trade store", I found exactly the same style, but the price was half, or even two or three zeros different.
If you investigate the origin of these clothes, the boss will usually call them "excess foreign trade goods": "Chinese labor is cheap, and big brands are happy to set up factories in China. If they make 100 pieces, there will always be 10 pieces is a lot. So, don’t buy it from me. The items are exactly the same as those in big shopping malls. The price is so low, it won’t hurt your heart...” If I asked further about where the goods were purchased, they would say. He kept it secret: "Shenzhen, Hangzhou, everywhere... Do you want to buy it or not?"
It sounds reasonable, but no matter how much "excess goods" there are, they are only a few pieces, and all of Shanghai has them. They are selling it, and everyone claims to be authentic. Who can you believe?
It is a mystery in this city. But we are determined to find out.
After more than a month of interviews and investigations, we have also cracked open the doors of several "foreign trade shop" owners. On the afternoon of April 1, the reporter, who was generally confident, followed Tracy, the last and most important informant, to the Hangzhou Sijiqing Clothing Market to see with his own eyes how she wholesales to... These "world famous products" with mysterious origins...
How genuine are these "foreign trade goods"?
The layout of Sijiqing Clothing Market is similar to the Qipu Road Market in Shanghai, but the scale is much larger than that of Qipu Road. There are seven or eight buildings of several floors above and below, occupying a whole block. The goods in each market are mixed.
Tracy took us directly to a relatively new market called "Xinhangpai". It is said that the "grade" here is relatively high, and there are many leading wholesalers of "foreign trade goods" in Hangzhou.
I feel a little dizzy as soon as I go up to the second floor - the walls are covered with the most popular BCBG skirts in Shanghai stores, boxes of Esprit pants are piled in the aisles, Episode suits, MissSixty's T-shirts, Jessica’s shirts, and skirts from uncommon brands like BananaRepublic!
My eyes widened when I saw it, and I asked Tracy: "How many of the things here are real?"
Tracy smiled slightly: "Some are real, and some are fake. "She took the "BCBG" pink cotton-padded jacket that was all the rage last winter as an example.
There is a store in "Xinhangpai", which is said to be opened directly by the manufacturer. It is estimated that the quality of the goods was not up to standard and was returned by foreign merchants. The boxes were stacked to the ceiling, and the purchase price for each item was 130 yuan.
The boss of another store was jealous and asked, "Pink is selling so well, why don't you make more?" The boss waved his hands repeatedly: "I don't dare, I don't dare!" Such a store only sells leftover goods picked by foreign merchants. There is one less item, and the quality and size are not as good as others.
There are a large number of imitations of this cotton-padded jacket, available in various colors, and the woolen sleeves are much shorter than the original ones. The wholesale price is reduced to 80 yuan.
For another example, the popular MissSixty short-sleeved cotton T-shirt is soft and boneless and can be obtained for more than 20 yuan; do you want something better? Just spend about 10 yuan more!
As for BCBG’s silk skirt, it’s hard to tell whether it’s genuine or fake. Tracy bought a 190-yuan dress. Before selling it, she went to a Shanghai store to carefully compare it. The workmanship of the suspenders and skirt was obviously much rougher than the real thing, but it was still snapped up by customers. She also encountered a batch of 260 yuan skirts. They were not the so-called "brand-cut goods" with a fake hole punched in the label, but the kind with a half-moon shape cut so that the brand could not be seen at all. "The quality is really good..." At that time, she and the proprietress thought about it for a long time, but they couldn't figure out the origin of these skirts. After a while, the imitation goods came out, and the workmanship and fabrics were much inferior, but they still carried the BCBG banner - "Now, as long as it is a silk skirt, it is called BCBG, because it sells so well!"
"Does the more expensive the price, the better the product?"
"Not necessarily. The purchasing channels are too complex, and if there is something wrong in one of the links, the price will not be clear. Is it true or false? , it all depends on your eyesight.”
In this way, the more obvious the labeling, the more exquisite the bagging, the clear ingredient list, the complete colors and sizes, and the more suspicious the behavior of “foreign trade goods”. ————Really surplus goods, how can there be so many accessories "buy one get one free"?
Where did “foreign trade goods” come from?
Walking into the "Nine Stars" market opposite the "Xinhangpai", Tracy suddenly turned into a store full of suspicion and looked left and right at a silk skirt on the wall. The girl looking at the store, who was holding her chin in a daze, suddenly became energetic and said, "Take it off and let you take a closer look!" The skirt was really beautiful, but it had an unknown brand on it. Tracy looked over it over and over, and after a long while, she suddenly asked: "What on earth is it?" Brand?"
The girl's eyes lit up: "You know what the goods are! Originally, we just made random labels, but a boss also noticed it and asked us to send it back and label it with BCBG - we can't help it now. This brand is very popular. 'BCBG' will arrive tomorrow. Can you leave your phone number and I'll let you know?"
The little girl sat blankly for a long time, and was suddenly questioned carefully, and she immediately started to talk a lot: "Everything. They were taken from the factory... There was no brand when they were taken. If you want to sell them, you can put on whatever brand you want... Nowadays, it is difficult to do business in foreign trade factories. If you are not careful, the foreigners will return the whole batch. Foreign trade The factory had no choice but to ask us to get some goods to help sell them, and we only took a few dozen pieces at a time..."
After leaving the house, Tracy whispered: "The skirt is very well made, not necessarily BCBG, but It should be exported..."
Looking around, but finding nothing interesting, Tracy began to talk about the weird "legends of fake goods": "Do you remember that DKNY red coat that sold like crazy last year? ? I heard that the DKNY company is so strict that the processing factory can still produce 500 pieces of excess goods, but if one piece is not left in the mainland, they will all be sent to Hong Kong - the mainland wholesaler pays 300 yuan, and they ask for 600 yuan! ...What should I do in the Mainland? Some factories have made a batch of counterfeit wool. Anyway, I definitely haven’t seen the real thing about this coat!”
The funniest thing is. A hooded vest from Dior last year was copied by someone unknown, and with two woolen sleeves added, it became the "DKNY03 new autumn and winter style"...
"Foreign trade goods", how to buy them at a low price?
While wandering around the "Xinhang School", it was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon on Thursday. Several bosses patiently explained to reporters who looked like amateurs: "Hey, this 'MissSixty' short Sleeve T-shirt, if you buy it for free, I will give you 50 yuan, the wholesale price is 39...'BCBG'? The wholesale price of the long skirt is 180 yuan.
The minimum order is 5 pieces, and different styles are available. You'd better find two more girls to come with you next time..."
We pretended to take out the store card, and Tracy, who was standing at the door and watching, nodded: " You guys are very lucky today, you didn't look down upon me, and the wholesale price quoted was fair. It seems that this time is right! "
It is said that Thursday is the weekend for wholesalers, and there is only more than an hour left before the market closes. The boss, who is used to doing "big business", has time to chat with individual customers.
If you look at it on a Friday afternoon, it will be a different scene - the small businessmen who purchase goods are filling up the market with large and small packages. You can see in the corridors large cartons sent to various parts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, many of which are shipped to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. "The boss of ××, Qipu Road Market, Shanghai"
This "grand occasion" can last until Sunday. If you encounter individual customers, or strangers who only want to wholesale four or five pieces, it is not a good idea. Although you are still being polite, if you are more cruel, just put your hands on your hips and yell: "Do you have any trumpets? I don’t want to sell it to you yet! ”
However, after 5 minutes, we finally tasted the feeling of rolling our eyes.
It is a "women's pants specialty store", "Jessica", "Burberry", "Prada", There are all kinds of trousers in Shanghai stores with prices ranging from one to two hundred yuan. The proprietress stood aside with a sullen look on her face.
Pointing to a pair of "Prada", "How much does it cost?" She rolled her eyes and quoted a "sky-high price": "280!" ”
We muttered “so expensive” and continued to ask: “What about this one?” The landlady finally became angry: "We don't accept retail here, please get out!" "
Although we had been vaccinated in advance, we were still quite humiliated when the incident happened. Tracy quickly comforted us: "The big stores in the 'Xinhang Pai' market have branches in the 'Nine Stars' opposite. , the more individual tourists are received there, the attitude will be slightly better. Next time you come, why not make a good impression here and then go to the other side to shop slowly. ”
When I saw the labels BCBG and DKNY on the collar of my clothes, my blood rushed to my head and I wanted to pay for them?
I found the styles in foreign trade stores and the ones in the windows of specialty stores. The displays are exactly the same, so do you believe the boss’s so-called “foreign trade surplus”?
You are too naive!
Today’s manufacturers are targeting the “soft brands” that Shanghainese love. I've been playing a trick of "selling sheep's meat to dogs". Some small local clothing factories have become so powerful that they don't even need to buy genuine clothes for "sampling". After watching BCBG's ready-to-wear show, I watch them on TV. The image is drawn and the work begins. After the clothes are finished, the BCBG label is directly sewn on - it costs 5 yuan a pack. The market for fake trademarks is overwhelming!
Levis has launched new styles this year, and new products have just been launched at the counter. The boss of "Sijiqing" immediately launched a batch of new Levis with "big bumps and big red flags", with a wholesale price of 65 yuan a piece.
If you want to find treasures among the "foreign trade goods" that are mixed, there is no way. A pair of "fiery eyes" is a must.
Therefore, we asked Wendy, an old "foreign trader" who often goes to Guangzhou to purchase goods, and Tracy, an informant in Hangzhou, to teach you how to identify the "best quality" foreign trade goods.
Defects
Some people who are shopping for foreign trade clothes like to pick up the clothes and carefully check the stitching; Traces of missing needles. Once the "flaws" are mentioned, they are told that the boss is using "substandard goods" to fool them.
This is not the case. Some "substandard goods" may be the ones in the specialty store. The "twin brothers" of clothes.
Generally speaking, after the finished knitted sweaters processed in China are shipped overseas, they must first be inspected by foreign inspectors and have defects attached. A small red arrow, packaged and "sent back home"
Although such foreign trade returns sometimes have color differences, missing stitches and silk snags, they are made of the highest quality fabrics and ingredients, and the workmanship is top-notch. When you put it on, you can feel the four words "genuine and genuine".
If all you encounter are minor problems such as loose threads and dropped buttons, then it’s really like “your forehead hits the ceiling”!
Buttons
The "wrong version" of clothing buttons is also one of the signs of "good goods".
Because of the fear of "piracy", big brands will strictly control the entry and exit of raw materials. After placing an order, they provide the manufacturer with fabrics and accessories such as buttons and zippers according to the production quantity.
Taking into account the production scrap rate, the manufacturer will definitely be able to get a little more fabric than expected, but there will not be so many matching accessories. After completing an order, garment factories usually have leftover fabric and run out of buttons. At this time, some manufacturers "waste recycling", using the excess fabrics and randomly finding buttons to make a batch of clothes.
Although the details of this batch of clothes are rough, the main materials are crisp, and they are also rare "top quality" in foreign trade goods.
Seams, parquet, zippers
Colored shirts and skirts made of large floral fabrics are the greatest test of the workmanship of foreign trade garment factories.
Delicately handmade clothes, the direction of the colored stripes and the arrangement of patterns will all be arranged in advance. At the seams of the shoulders, cuffs, and waist of the clothes, strips of the same color on the left and right sides are exactly aligned and moving in the same direction; each petal of the flower is embedded "seamlessly" to form a complete flower.
Such an approach not only requires careful planning in advance, but also wastes a lot of fabric. Some high-end ready-to-wear fabrics do not have repeated patterns within 1 meter. You can imagine how much material is wasted to make a flower.
Also, when encountering a jacket made of different fabrics, it is best to "test" the "endurance" of the zipper. A good-quality zipper can be finished in one go without any lag; a zipper that is not good enough will get stuck in the middle when it reaches the interface between two fabrics.
Cut the sign
Don’t believe the boss’s so-called “sign cutter”. Those who make small holes or cut small corners on the sign are just trying to trick laymen. "gimmick".
The "cut goods" that are really forced to be destroyed will never be merciful with the scissors. Either cut it into a crescent shape and dig out all the words on the trademark; or "uproot" the trademark, leaving only two trademark sutures faintly visible. I can't let you recognize it anyway.
Fabric
To truly determine the quality of a "foreign trade product", you still have to touch the fabric.
Let’s just talk about the BCBG black pleated halter top that is all over the streets this year. The 3,150 yuan piece hanging in the specialty store is made of light and soft material. When you hold it in your hand, it feels like you are holding a cloud. The one from Sijiqingli that has the same style and is also made of silk is priced at only 135 yuan. It seems soft and pleasant to the touch at first glance, but when compared with the real thing, it smells a bit like georgette.
Good fabrics should be soft and comfortable without losing strength. For example, pure cotton with a high thread count has a thick texture and will not be easily deformed after being washed several times; a good coat fabric has a vague sheen and will not pill when rubbed a few times; a down jacket should be soft to the touch and cannot touch feather stems. There is also an anti-drilling velvet compartment...
Therefore, Tracy and Wendy finally unanimously recommended "touch more, see more, and compare more".
"If the same style is available in a specialty store, you'd better put some effort into comparing it piece by piece. This is the ultimate level of identifying 'excess foreign trade goods'! Maybe, you can really find it in a small shop. I found the exact same one in the store. ”
The most practical guide for selling “Sijiqing”
●The most cost-effective: Stop by “Sijiqing Clothing Wholesale Street” when you go to Hangzhou for vacation! Take a walk.
●The most important reminder: closing time is 4:30 pm, so don’t delay.
●The easiest thing to forget: If you want to compare shopping, but don’t take a note and write down the store number, you will quickly get lost in the dark market.
●The most useful tool: measuring tape. In addition to being absolutely familiar with your own underwear, you should also remember the key dimensions of your fitting clothes to make it easier to choose clothes in the market.
●The most popular customer: a cute and sweet little girl who impresses the smart boss lady and makes the boss reluctant to kill you.
●The most unsuccessful customer: He appears to be very smart, but he is obviously a retail customer, but he still plays the role of a wholesaler clumsily, arguing with the boss over a few dollars.
He will ignore you and say something bad: "Don't come here if you don't have money. This is not a place for you to find bargains!"
●The most tragic outcome: Ten million, absolutely, absolutely. Put away your spoiled temper! If you encounter a bad boss, pretend not to hear and leave quickly. Otherwise, all the savage bosses in the market will gather around and scold you with their hatred...
Photos of the "foreign trade goods" family group
Look at the "foreign trade goods" that are flooding Shanghai. They look similar, but if you compare them carefully, the difference is huge. If you don't understand what's going on, just go to a small shop or visit "Sijiqing", and your boss will cut you to pieces!
Eldest son: "Original goods"
Big foreign brands provide fabrics and patterns, and they go to domestic manufacturers to produce them. Those with qualified quality are the "genuine goods" found in specialty stores.
The "original goods" are ready-made garments that the manufacturer dug out from less than 3% of the "planned scrap materials" and secretly processed them. The only difference between it and the "real thing" is that it is "from a concubine". The quantity is very small, so you will be lucky if you encounter it.
There is also a kind of "original goods", which are "exported goods for domestic sales" that have been rejected by brands due to various quality problems. Sometimes the quantity is quite large, but the quality is not as good as the previous one.
The second son: "Following orders"
"Original" fabrics are combined with a batch of domestic accessories to make the original style. This is "Following orders". Although the workmanship of the "following orders" is a bit sloppy and the details are not so good, after all, it has the same style and fabric as the "eldest son". The key is that the "blood" is the same. If the "second son" wears it, the general appearance will not change.
The younger son: "Chasing orders"
When the manufacturer's original fabrics are all used up, and the "foreign trade goods" wholesale bosses are chasing him for goods again, what should he do? Fortunately, I still had the pattern in hand, so I purchased a batch of similar fabrics in China to replenish my stock. This is called "purchasing orders."
Fake son: "fake goods"
The worst quality, and also the most common batch on the market. Seeing the "three brothers from the original factory" running rampant and invincible, Xiaochang was jealous and followed suit. The big "copycat" companies can imitate the clothes just by taking a look at the photos of ready-made clothes at the Paris fashion conference. Wendy said that for a silk shirt, you can find instructions from a small factory. The minimum order is 500 pieces, and it only costs 50 yuan a piece! As for the quality, if I can give you a rough idea, it’s worth 50 yuan!
From the oldest to the youngest, the "blood" of this family becomes less and less pure, but the number of them increases. Which one you can buy depends entirely on your eyesight!