As information technology in society continues to advance, the options available to people for sourcing are increasing. However, toy purchasers prefer to come to China for on-site sourcing rather than sourcing Chinese goods online.
Coming here to find toy suppliers, without having been to China or having purchased anything from China, can be a great challenge.
In this article I will show you the 3 main ways to find reliable toy suppliers and original manufacturers by visiting China, as well as practical strategies that most professional toy importers use when dealing with toy suppliers and manufacturers.
1. Find Toy Suppliers in China Trade Shows
Regardless of how small or large your business is, attending trade shows is always the most effective way to find offline toy suppliers.
Attending trade shows are either manufacturers or trading companies, so you can always expect a relatively competitive price quote as long as you can meet their minimum order quantity, which is usually around USD 500 to USD 1,000 for a single product.
There are thousands of trade shows taking place in China every year. Generally speaking, there are two types of these trade shows: general trade shows with a wide range of product categories and specialist trade shows that focus on specific industries.
1.1Comprehensive category exhibitions
1.The largest trade fair in China
The Canton Fair is the largest comprehensive trade fair with an incredibly wide range of product categories. The Canton Fair is held twice a year in Guangzhou and has three stages each time.
Various product categories will be exhibited in different stages. And there is a three-day gap between the two different stages, which means that if the products you are interested in are exhibited in different stages, you will have to add extra waiting days to your schedule.
This year’s Canton Fair will take place in April and the toys you’re focusing on will be on display in stages from 23 to 27 April. For a smooth trip to China, plan your itinerary in advance.
2.Other comprehensive exhibitions.
For other trade shows in China you can visit 10times.com or Qufair.com. The former is the best site in the world to find information about trade shows or events. The latter is designed for Chinese only, but you can use Google to translate the site into your language for valuable information.
1.2Specialised toy fair
1.Guangzhou International Toys and Models Exhibition
The 35th International Toys & Educational Products (Shenzhen) Exhibition will be held from 7 April to 9 April 2023 at the Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
At the same time, the 14th International Stroller and Mother & Baby Products (Shenzhen) Exhibition and the 2023 International Licensing and Derivatives (Shenzhen) Exhibition will also be held at the same time. You can find a wide variety of toy products including electric toys, plastic toys, wooden and cardboard dolls, cloth plush toys, educational toys and more.
Time：2023.4.7-2023.4.9
Website: http://cn.chinatoyfair.com.
2.Other Toy Fairs
For other more information on specialist toy shows, you can read this article. Information about some of the most famous toy shows in China you can find in this article:China Toy Expo Complete Guide 2022.
3.Tips for dealing with toy suppliers at trade shows
If you have not attended any trade shows before, here are some tips for dealing with Chinese toy suppliers at trade shows.
Make a note of the minimum order quantity and price of the product you are interested in and his contact details in the middle of the show for future negotiations.
Buy samples of the products before the end of the show, then you may get the lowest price as the sellers are willing to get rid of their samples rather than take them home.
Negotiating the final price and purchase quantity with the toy suppliers after the show is over gives you more time and space to get a lower price than if you place your order on the spot at the show.
2. Find Toy Suppliers in Chinese Wholesale Markets
For those who are unable to attend trade shows or just want to buy a relatively low quantity of a variety of products, wholesale markets with less restrictive product categories and MOQ are definitely worth trying.
The prices offered by toy suppliers in wholesale markets are sometimes even lower than what you would get from a toy supplier at a trade show or on an online platform such as Alibaba.
So, which wholesale markets should you visit in China?
Similar to trade fairs, wholesale markets can be divided into general wholesale markets and specialist wholesale markets, where the sellers are manufacturers or trading companies.
There are wholesale markets in almost every city in China, but over 99.5% of them are not worth visiting as they are aimed at the small volume of local wholesalers.
So, for finding toy suppliers, I would only recommend the wholesale markets in Yiwu and Shantou for you to explore.
1.Visit Yiwu’s wholesale market
Yiwu Market (Yiwu International Trade City) has been identified as the world’s largest wholesale market for small commodities with over 50,000 suppliers of all types of products and is open all year round with only a 15-day closure during the Chinese New Year.
There is no doubt that you can find the best-selling Amazon toys in the Yiwu market.Many global buyers import toys from China’s Yiwu market because of its competitive prices.
You can find 90% of the best-selling small toys from overseas here.
The target customers of this market are 50% overseas and 50% domestic. Therefore, you will find many foreign importers from different countries, many of whom have been living here for many years.
2.Visit Chenghai Toy Market
The traditional wholesale toy market in the Chenghai district -, Plastic City, remains a relatively concentrated market for wholesale toys in the area.
Buying toys from Chenghai manufacturers will help you to reduce costs considerably, save a lot of time and guarantee quality. Making toy purchases in Chenghai is the first choice for domestic and international businesses for toy imports.
If you come to China, you won’t want to miss this place. Almost every toy shop has a high wall of boxes stacked in front of it, filled with all kinds of finished toys ready to be shipped all over the world.
A shop owner from Henan told reporters that they mainly do wholesale business, not retail for the time being, and that customers come from all over the country to take goods from them and sell them all over the world.
According to the industrial layout idea, Shantou will focus on Chenghai District to implement the digital transformation pilot of industrial clusters, focus on the backbone advantages of Aofei Entertainment, Starlight Entertainment and so on.
Play the functions of the Science and Technology Innovation Centre of Bao’ao City, the Toy Exhibition Hall and the Toy Association, and focus on solving the problems of weak R&D and design links, the creation of first-class IP, and the insufficient supply of local high-quality raw materials.
Promote the integration of craft toys and digital creativity, develop cross-border integration of new industries, cultivate and grow “toys + cultural tourism”, “toys + IP and derivatives”, “toys + digital creativity”, “toys + intelligent manufacturing”.
By 2025, the toy creative industry will become a US$50 billion industry..
3. Find Toy Suppliers by Exploring Industrial Clusters
1.Why look for toy suppliers in industry clusters?
The methods of finding suppliers by visiting China that we discussed in the article all have a common goal of getting better products and lower prices.
And the more direct and original your source of supply, the more likely you are to get a lower price.
As a result, there are many people who are willing to go out of their way to find the true original manufacturer, and by doing so they can cut out all the middlemen and minimise their sourcing costs.
The toy manufacturers you are looking for should be those who do not attend any trade shows, do not use Alibaba and only sell their products through trading companies rather than directly to foreigners.
As I have said in previous articles, such toy manufacturers are always easier to find in industry clusters.
Because manufacturers producing the same type of product are more likely to be located in the same area, making it easier for them to share a common supply chain and employ workers with relevant experience to produce.
2.How do I locate and explore industry clusters?
One of the easiest ways to find industry clusters in China is to search for your target products on Alibaba and then select the provinces with the most suppliers through the filters.
You then need to pay attention to the first word of the toy supplier’s name. This is either the name of the city in which the supplier is located or the name of the province in which the supplier is located.
Next, try to find the city or province where it appears most frequently and go to the contact page of the relevant supplier to see where it operates.
If you can find a town or industrial area that is frequently listed in the addresses of suppliers, then it is likely to be an industrial cluster for the target product.
Once you have found the industry cluster, you can go straight there and start your journey to find the best original manufacturer. This can be a very time consuming but well worthwhile process.
If you arrive and have no idea where to start, you can always talk to the locals in the cluster for help. If you are willing to pay for this, they may be happy to lead you to even more manufacturers than you had hoped for.
Below, I present to you a few industry clusters for toys made of different materials.
If you are interested, you can visit the local area to explore.
1.Yiwu: small toy wholesale market.
Why can buy the cheapest wholesale toys in Yiwu toy market? Because the toy suppliers here are the toy factory’s general agents, their prices are calculated according to a lot of expenses. So a lot of times, you will find that even if you find the factory, after comparing the price, you will find that the price in the Yiwu market is still lower.
2. Shantou: China Plastic Toy Market.
Shantou Chenghai is the birthplace of all plastic toys, educational toys and electric toys, and most toy factories are located here. There are over 12,000 toy factories and Chinese toy manufacturers here. Whether you are looking for remote control cars, drones, pretend toys, ride-on toys, puzzles, beach toys and almost any children’s toy, you know they are made here.
3. Yunhe: a production concentration of wooden toys.
Yunhe, a Chinese wooden toy city, is located in Lishui City, Zhejiang Province. There are more than 500 wooden toy manufacturers in the city, whose products are exported to more than 30 countries and regions such as Europe, America and Japan.
4.Yangzhou: a dominant source of plush toys.
As the earliest and largest plush toy production base in China, Yangzhou is the “Plush Toy and Gift Capital of China”. Yangzhou is traditionally the home of plush toy design and production, accounting for over 50% of the global plush toy market.
5. Conclusion
Thank you for reading and if this post has been helpful to you, please feel free to share it with others. If you have any questions about how to find supplies by visiting China in this post, or if you have a better way to find Chinese suppliers, please let me know in the comments below.
We are a leading toy company in China based in Ningbo, we have many years of experience in toy production and export. Our product range covers baby toys, girl toys, boy toys, plastic toys, building blocks and so on.
We have an office and a large toy showroom in Shantou. We also have an office in Yiwu. Our factories are located in all major industrial centres in China.
We manufacture our own toys and offer the most competitive prices and the best quality. In addition, we also have several partner factories. We are committed to helping buyers find the best Chinese suppliers at the most competitive prices.
We If you want to import products from China or visit China, don’t hesitate to contact us.
