What is a garment stock lot?
Generally speaking, a garment stock lot is a bulk of garments that is for wholesale or clearance at one time, usually, the quantity is large but the price is low, it is always related to these kinds of words: closeouts, surplus, canceled orders, liquidation, excess inventory, overstock, overrun, leftover, bankruptcy, remaining, overproduction, etc. Due to these different kinds of reasons, a garment stock lot appears. The quality of garment stock lots varies a lot, it is similar to finished commercial merchandise, there are different quality grades of consumer goods, so is a garment stock lot. Normally the quality of the garment stock lots is as good as common commodities since the price is considerably low, the garment stock lots are competitive and attractive in the market, dealers and traders benefit a lot from the transactions.
Features of garment stock lots 1. Cheap Cheap is the main feature of a garment stock lot, that is the reason for calling it a garment stock lot, otherwise, it will not be called a garment stock lot, it is ordinary goods. The price is as cheap as 1/10 of the normal market price, sometimes, the price may be even cheaper because of bankruptcy or some other reason, which makes buyers astonishing, however, this chance rarely exists, but it does. If you get one, we should say you are a really lucky man, because the deal could bring you a big fortune. 2. Large quantity A garment stock lot is usually a large number of garments that are big quantities for wholesale. Compared with normal wholesale trade, stock lots business is always a clearance or liquidation transaction; in most cases, buyers take the whole stock in a deal. In a few cases, buyers do not take all but a MOQ which is also a big quantity. 3. Uniqueness Due to the reasons of overproduction, canceled orders, bankruptcies, excess, etc, the same styles of the garments will not be produced again, which makes the stock lots unique. If someone makes the deal faster, others will unable to get involved in the trade again. Therefore, it is important to have a reliable supplier who can provide sustainably different garment stock lots, keeping the trade going forward. 4. Cost-effective It is cost-effective in doing garment stock lots business, although buyers need to take all or take a large number of the goods, the unit price is still low which gives big space for retailing or a second wholesale deal. In discount stores or dollar stores, these kinds of merchandise are popular and welcomed by consumers because of cost-effectiveness. The goods are in good condition, but the price is considerably low. To some extent, most people like cost-effective items, that is why people like to go to Walmart, commodities in Walmart are cost-effective, so are the stock lots goods. Where to buy garment stock lots? Geographically speaking, garment stock lots come from high volume clothing manufacturing areas, there are a big amount of garment factories and trading companies there, which is the foundation of garment stock lots business. At present, the production center of the world textile and garment industry has been transferred to Asia, most of the world’s garment factories located in Asian countries, like China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Bangladesh. Since 1994, China has become the world's largest producer and exporter of textiles and apparel, and for more than 20 years, China's textile and apparel exports have been growing steadily. By 2004, China's textile exports accounted for about 1/6 of the world's exports and apparel exports accounted for about 1/4. The textile and apparel industry is one of China's pillar industries. The Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions are the most concentrated areas for textile and garment clusters, where small and medium-sized cities and towns have formed textile and garment clusters with product specialization and consisting of small and medium-sized enterprises.
This post focuses on China’s garment stock lots market. From the map above, we can see that the areas in blue have the most textile and apparel enterprises, businesses in there are also the most active, including garment stock lots business. A well-established supply chain foundation makes the garment business smooth and easy, there are 2 major textile and fabric markets locating in Guangzhou and Shaoxing, you can almost find any fabric you need in the 2 markets, along with the fabric markets, there are accessory markets. Large and small garment factories are located around the fabric market, skilled workers are producing in the workshops every day, and a large number of garments are sold all over the world, both domestically and abroad.
As long as tens of thousands of garments are produced, there may come out hundreds or even thousands of stock. Therefore, the garment stock lots of business has formed. Guangzhou is famous for its clothing industry, there are the biggest RMG(ready-made garment) markets in China as well as stock lots markets, most people may know the first, however, very few know the latter. If you are not a native or have not specialized in stock lots business for years, it is hard to know this. Many markets are scattering in Shijing Town, which is in Baiyun District, Guangzhou. Among these markets, Jingdong, Guangda, and Qingfeng are the 3 biggest ones, it is easy to see Africans in these markets, some of them are doing very big business. The garment stock in these markets and some other items, apparel business takes most of the business. There are also other markets in China, but the scale is much smaller than in Guangzhou, it is also not so convenient to do business in other areas in communication and transportation.
How to buy garment stock lots from China? Generally, there are 4 ways to buy garment stock lots from China.
- Buy from a fair like Canton Fair.
In this way, buyers need to attend the fair. Take Canton Fair as an example, buyers have to prepare for the trip to Guangzhou, China. During trade show time, there are many buyers from all over the world, so it is necessary to do a good preparation for the trip because the air tickets and hotels are not as easy as usual to book. Buyers can choose and communicate with sellers face to face, this is the most effective way to do business, another good advantage is that sellers who attend the fair were audited initially, sellers also need to pay the rent of the booth which is not a small amount, small companies or not qualified sellers will not attend the fair. It is suitable for a middle-sized or big company to find a garment stock lots supplier because it needs a certain budget to attend a fair. - Buy from an online marketplace like Alibaba.
Buy from online marketplaces is easy and convenient, currently, there are 3 major platforms: Alibaba, Made-in-China, and Global Sources. No platform has more advantages than any other one, Alibaba may be more famous than others, but it does not mean it is better to source on Alibaba, some sellers may favor on Made-in-China, while some other sellers favor GlobalSources. It is critically important to verify the sellers before trading with them, the 2 parties do not meet each other, they just communicate by a few emails, the qualification on the platform may also not enough to prove the seller to be a qualified one. Therefore, it tests buyers’ wisdom and experience. Looking for a suitable supplier is always a hard job especially in buying from online marketplaces. The good aspect is easy and convenient, there is no need to take planes, book hotels, just a computer can start the work. Buyers who do not have a budget to attend a trade show can try this out. - Buy from a company that is sourced from Google search.
This way needs buyers to use computers skillfully. Compared to buying from online platforms, buying from a company that is from google search results should pay much more attention to sellers’ qualifications since no 3rd party check the listed companies. Buyers should be very careful dealing with the sellers to avoid scams. Some sellers may not open a store on Alibaba, but they run their website outstandingly, they also have their Facebook page, youtube channel, Instagram, or Twitter to do social media marketing. It is very likely to find a good supplier by google searching because a company that can market is usually a good supplier, and the ability to market is a reflection of the company’s ability. So make good use of this way, there will be a big surprise there. - Buy from a local market like Shijing.
Buyers have to go to Guangzhou, this is a good way to explore the market. Shijing is a town in Baiyun District, which is not far from Guangzhou International Airport. There are 3 major markets: Qingfeng, Guangda, and Jindong, it is suggested for foreign buyers go to Qingfeng Market because there are more foreign style and size garments. The market is composed of many stores, each store is owned by a company or an individual, it is better to take an interpreter since most of the stores know very little English, otherwise, communication would be a problem. If buyers attend Canton Fair, it is strongly recommended to take this chance to go to Shijing. Another issue is about shipping, buyers need to find a shipping agent to handle all the related issues, the stores could not help with this because they know nothing about international shipping, they always do business with trading companies so they do not care about the shipping. Other markets are near Qingfeng, Shijing is the garment stock lots cluster, almost all the business is related to stock lots. So it’s a good idea to go to Shijing, it will open a new world for garment stock lots business.
