How To Buy and Import Jewelry From China

 Why Import Jewelry from China?
We get a lot of questions from our jewelry import customers. Two of the top questions we are asked by importers are:

How do I find the right places to buy the best products for my store?
If we can help them buy and import jewelry from China to their respective countries.
The thing is, there are many different styles of jewelry; from minimalist to luxuriously complex stone settings, to classic and trendy.

Also, there are many Chinese jewelry manufacturers, factories, as well as wholesalers.

All of these factors contribute to the questions we get from our import customers, some of which include how to identify and screen jewelry accessories that match their positioning, how to negotiate prices with a factory or wholesaler, how to make quality inspections, and how to arrange for the right shipping company and shipping schedule. If you’re not an experienced professional, these questions are bound to drive you to your limit.

Why jewelry is good market niche?
Jewelry is suitable for men, women, and children.

It has no seasonality, but during seasonal dates, the demand usually becomes more vigorous. People will always need to buy jewelry to enhance their lives, thereby increasing their demand, and making the market more sustainable.

Recently, some of our business customers provided us with the opportunity to introduce our products to other retail platforms. This had to do with integrating new and suitable products into popular retail platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Shopify. In fact, we’d like you to know that jewelry is a good market niche to dive into. It is very promising because of its small weight, unique styles, high value, and sustainable, changing fashion trends.

Why China is the best place to source jewelry?
China is one of the most important jewelry bases in the world. The China jewelry industry has gained a steady growth in the past decade. This has made the market become the first, largest jewelry market in the world.

Years ago, the trends and standards of Chinese fashion jewelry may have been different from what was experienced in other parts of the world. This is because back then, silver and gold jewelry were the only types of jewelry loved by the Chinese. Therefore, jewelry makers created their pieces with only these materials. And wholesale stores sold only jewelry made from these materials too.

However, we now live in a different era. Times have changed. The Chinese jewelry market is now made up of a wide range of jewelry crafted from different materials. That is why many retailers and wholesale shops are looking up to China for their jewelry products. By the time you finish reading this step-by-step guide, you’ll be able to buy and import jewelry from China all by yourself.

Finding the best suppliers in China to buy and import jewelry from
The Chinese jewelry market is endowed with quite a number of the best jewelry factories, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.

The inability to negotiate prices and identify quality products are two factors that can cause you headache.

Keep reading to uncover the best ways to identify a competent supplier, negotiate prices, avoid problems, buy your products, make your payments, and import and ship your products.

What kind of jewelry can you import from China 
Below are the materials from which Chinese manufacturers make their jewelry and the type of jewelry you’ll get from wholesalers:

There is gold, silver (S925), platinum, and diamond.

However, you can also get jewelry made from gold and silver alloys, as well as trendy accessories made from copper, aluminum, zinc alloy, 304/316L stainless steel, titanium, and zirconia.

All of these help the jewelers in creating and selling jewelry accessories that are good value for money.

That’s not all though:There are jewelry products made from freshwater pearls, gemstones (rubies, sapphire, emeralds, and opals), precious stones, semi-precious stones, natural stones, beads, and crystals.

A number of them are even made from quality materials like Swarovski, wood, coconut shell, and seashell.

The creation of jewelry from these materials provides jewelry importers with a versatile choice. Although these types of jewelry have no precious stone or metal, they are known for their trendy designs and patterns.

The jewelry types you can find in this category include rings, bracelets, necklaces, chokers, earrings, pendants, men jewelry, women jewelry, children jewelry, findings, and many more.

 

Finding the best jewelry supplier in China who has the capacity to handle your order quantity and requirement

So far, we have provided you with the types of jewelry available on the market.

You now know what you’re looking to buy and import.

The next step is knowing the right way to source for the best products and find the ideal suppliers.

First off, you need to know where your potential suppliers are. It doesn’t matter whether they are factory, manufacturers, or wholesalers. Having this knowledge will make you a very proficient jewelry importer. That is why we’ll provide you with the best tips on finding the best supplier to buy and import from.

These tips have to do with three (3) essential jewelry importer types:

Importer Types
Types of Importers
Type 1 – Importers who have specific style positioning or specific design requirements
These importers have a clear positioning on the type of products they want and the audience they want to sell to. We’ll divide the importers in this category into five types:

Small and medium-sized buyers:

Foreign jewelry trading company and wholesalers. Their customers are mainly local jewelry stores.
The foreign importer who has an Amazon, eBay, or Shopify store. Or have their own brand website.
The foreign original jewelry shops, craft shops, tourist souvenir shops, spas, essential oil stores, yoga mala, promotional gift shops, or other functional effect stores. These stores usually have jewelry as part of their products.

Large buyers:

Big supermarkets abroad, such as Target, Disney, 99CentOnly shop, and One Dollar Shop.
The popular fast fashion retailer and famous brand jewelers, such as H&M, Zara, Fossil Jewelry, etc

If you fall within the first three buyer categories, you are likely to have specific product designs, that is, particular designs you would like to buy and import. Now, you may need just a small amount of each model, let’s say a hundred of each design. You obviously wouldn’t want to contact a large jewelry factory or trade company. This is because you can’t afford the MOQ of these companies. Therefore, the best thing to do is to find a small factory or small trading company to buy from. You need to ensure that they can also handle small orders in a flexible manner.

Small medium suppliers
These medium/small trading companies or manufacturers will get the raw material from the market. Then they entrust the production to a small jewelry studio or an electroplating factory. And if your product has to do with hand-weaving, they may send the materials to a village where the people are majorly into handmade work, which will lower labor costs. Suppliers also have the ability to offer this solution given the fact that it’s very flexible and can be easily customized.

Small suppliers

Handmade Workers

As an importer from the first three categories above, you can also visit the Chinese jewelry wholesale market. This includes the whole markets in Qingdao, Yiwu, and Guangzhou. Below is a brief overview of the differences between these three wholesale markets:

Qingdao majorly deals in the wholesale of Korean jewelry.

Sino-Korea International Commodity Mall
Yiwu is a commodity market and it’s a major wholesale market for those looking for costume jewelry. There are some stores in this wholesale market that offers small MOQ if they have stock. But most times, the lowest MOQ you’ll be allowed to buy is likely to be above 100 units even if they have stock.

Yiwu Wholesale Market
Guangzhou jewelry market is the dominant one of the three markets. You are more likely to find better jewelry with better quality here in Guangzhou than in any other city. There are also many styles, patterns, and richness to choose from.

Guangzhou Xijiao Building Jewellery Wholesale Market
Jewelry markets in guangzhou
There is Langang market for gemstones and gold jewelry. You’ll find a concentration of sterling silver suppliers in Panyu. Liwan Plaza houses those that deal in natural stone beaded jewelry in Guangzhou. Taikang Road Jewelry Market deals in imitation jewelry.

Stainless steel jewelry such as the popular Figaro chain can be found in the Xijiao Building. And Liwan Plaza is home to many jewelry accessories. Guangzhou is basically the home of the best jewelry accessories.

Semi Precious Gemstone Bead Jewelry
In the early 90’s, many Hong Kong companies chose to set up their factories in Panyu, Guangzhou. This is due to the fact that Guangzhou is a coastal city and is very close to Hong Kong. The factories set up in Panyu were used to produce and process high-end jewelry, which was exported all over the world. This factor is one of the major reasons why Guangzhou is home to the best jewelry marketplaces in the world.

How large jewelry buyers find suppliers:
Now, if you are an importer from the last two categories, you are likely to buy in huge quantities.

You may purchase about 2000-5000 (or more) units of a single item.

As such, you’ll definitely have a strict quality requirement. In order to ensure that your quality requirement is fulfilled, you’ll need a large trading company, factory, or manufacturer.

You may need to go to the corresponding product production base to choose the right trading company or manufacturer.

Jewelry Factory

Jewelry Factory Equipment

Jewelry Factory Workers
Oftentimes, the person or company who wants to import the jewelry will bring in a third-party to help them assess and inspect the factory. For instance, Disney will use to make use of a factory audit report to carefully select their suppliers. This simply means that the suppliers that pass the factory audit report are capable of fulfilling their duties. Additionally, this type of manufacturers usually has a professional design apartment where they develop new and fashion trendy products.

Jewelry Design
Negotiating and arranging orders with many suppliers can be a large and complicated project. Most of these suppliers barely speak English. They either don’t speak at all or their English isn’t that great. This may lead to misunderstandings during your negotiations.

Problems are also likely to arise with MOQs, prices, payment terms, as well as delivery options and conditions from suppliers. In fact, you’ll encounter so many styles and quantities of orders. And if you are not an adept, it will be hard for you to manage them without mistakes.

Most times, you won’t be on site for product inspections. And if you choose to have the video recording sent to you, you may receive the part that only shows or guarantees the quality of the products you want to import.

So, what can you do? The best option is to have a good sourcing agent. They’ll help you handle all exportation matters while serving as your representative. To handle every aspect of your shipment, these agents will typically charge you between 3% and 10% of the total purchase value.

Also, you can import jewelry from China through a large jewelry fair. This includes fairs such as the Hong Kong International Jewelry Show, FJA show in Hong Kong, and Canton Fair.

The Hong Kong Jewelry Shows and Internatial Diamond, Gem, and Pearl Show
Together, they create the world’s largest jewelry marketplace. This show hosts two sessions each year. The first is from the end of February to the beginning of March, while the second happens in mid-September. The two fairs come together in order to provide buyers and suppliers at all levels in the industry with a platform to interact. Most China jewelry factories, wholesalers, and suppliers attend this show.

Hong Kong Jewelry show

Asia’s fashion jewelry buyers and suppliers:

Jewelry accessories provide professional buyers who are looking for quality and variety with an enriching and exciting experience.

This fair is the perfect place to meet and buy from people with the same interests as you. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to view the latest design trends for each year, hold meaningful conversations with industry experts, and forge new business partnerships.

In the show, one of the main zone representing mainland China will bring in a vast array of trendsetting products.

FJA
Guangzhou canton fair(CF): every April and October (Phase III)
It is quite important to note that most jewelry factories and china jewelry manufacturers specialize in just one jewelry accessory category each.

This simply implies that if you are looking to import different jewelry accessories, you will have to deal with many manufacturers. In other words, if you want to import beaded jewelry, silver 925, gold jewelry, stainless steel jewelry, pearl, and imitation jewelry, you may need to deal with many suppliers.

This Canton Fair allows you to get all you want in a single place.

Canton Fair
Type 2 – Importers who trade in low cost-stock jewelry
An example of this importer type is those fashion accessory importers who already have a store or shop in the foreign country. Or they simply have a target market they want to expand. Or maybe they want to explore new product directions. These importer types are likely to source cheap wholesale accessories from China, buy the jewelry in bulk, and sell to poor areas or developing countries. A number of African jewelry importers fall into this category.

If you happen to fall into this category too, it is very important that you take a look at the stock jewelry wholesale market in China. This is because there are plenty of low-cost jewelry pieces to be sold in this marketplace.

These jewelry pieces may be leftover products, customized products that were abandoned by customers, wrong but not rejected products, a particular size of product, products considered as spills, chromatic aberrations but doesn’t impact wearing, etc.

You can visit Qingdao, Yiwu, or Guangzhou wholesale jewelry markets to get these products. In Qingdao, most of the imitation jewelry sourced from Korean jewelry manufacturers, and considered as leftover pieces, can be found in Shangdong.

Henan Road, which is parallel to Zhongshan Roan in Shinan District is another great place where you can find a leftover jewelry wholesale market. Many of the jewelry factories in Qingdao are located in Sino-Korean International Commodity City, Chengyang District. You can also get leftover jewelry stock from there. Jimo market is another great place for importers who are looking for leftover pieces.

However, the jewelry stock market in Yiwu, Wuai, Meihu, and Xiawang stock streets are more popular. Many simulation jewelry importers prefer going to these markets to source and import their products. Importers who go to these markets enjoy the benefit of getting their products at a cost that’s ten times lower than the original factory price. Some of these products are even sold by weight; for instance, $4 per kilogram. Yes, that’s correct! It’s not a mistake at all. You can import jewelry from these markets for as low as that.

Stock Street
We once asked a shop owner in Wuai Stock Street about his products and how he sells them. He told us that his shop is filled with products from all of China. From Dongguan, Guangzhou, Qingdao, and Yiwu, he picks the best left inventory products from the wholesale markets in above areas.

Most of his accessories are imported by African and Middle Eastern countries. Only a small amount of the jewelries are sold to importers in the United States, Brazil, Singapore, and some other countries. Mexico, Iraq, and other similar countries have become new purchasing powers who are immensely interested in the jewelry sold in these markets.

According to the owner of the shop we visited, he told us that he once took a liking to the inventory products of a certain jewelry manufacturer in China. He bought a lot of his products, including cheap earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, with just 1.6 million Yuan. Assuming he had bought it for the normal factory prices, he would have spent up to 5 million Yuan.

This high-quality and low price factor is the reason why many foreign businessmen crowd the area. “For instance, let’s assume the exw price for a necklace is $1.23/pcs, our sales price will come down to $0.23/pcs. This is why many foreigners prefer getting cheap jewelry from our inventory.”

Leftover Stock

Leftover Stock Necklace
While Guangzhou houses the best fashion jewelry wholesale collection market, we have pointed out that there are many types of jewelry that can be found there.

Additionally, you’ll have to go into each individual Guangzhou wholesales market store that we’ve mentioned earlier. This is the best way to know if they have the best collections available.

Taikang Jewelry Market in Guangzhou
Type 3 – Importers who have no specifics but would like to start up a hot selling jewelry business by importing from China.
The importers in this category are those who have no specifics on what they want. They don’t know the right way to start sourcing and selecting their products. They don’t know the current, hot, and popular styles. If you are an importer in this category, the best way to start is by searching on AliExpress for different jewelries and learning about them.

AliExpress is a very popular platform that is known by many foreign entrepreneurs. It is even considered to be one of the most useful Chinese websites around. This simply tells us the platform is a reputable and efficient one for new jewelry importers.

The best seller section on AliExpress will give you some good information on the best jewelry to import. Another cool thing about this website is that you can import products with lower MOQs. And to top it all, the products are very affordable.

Importers in this category can also import from Alibaba. It is a great way to source for products. Here, you can find suppliers who will sell jewelry accessories to you at cheap prices. One of the most important steps to building a successful online business as a jewelry importer is finding a reliable supplier who can provide you with nothing but the best products.And to make things better, the MOQs for jewelry accessories on Alibaba are now smaller which is quite great for startup importers.

Alibaba
Placing your jewelry order and making follow-ups for your importation business
Once you’ve finally gotten a place to source for your products and found a good supplier as we noted in step two, the next thing is negotiations.

Getting a quotation for jewelry products
The first step is to select the product you want to import. It can be your favorite products or ones with similar designs or styles. Once you’ve done that, check the online platform to get an idea of the quotation and MOQ. If you are at the wholesale market, whether in Guangzhou, Yiwu, or any other place, you can simply ask for the store name card and ask for permission to take a photo of the jewelry while holding the store card or placing the store card beside the jewelry.

What else do I need to know?

Prices are not the only information you need. As an importer, choosing the best supplier should be your top priority. And in order to do that you’ll need to evaluate other information such as MOQs, production lead time, and standard packaging.

While some manufacturers have high MOQs, they have lower prices. But the thing is, if you are a small or medium importer, you may not be able to afford the MOQ. Chinese jewelry wholesalers and suppliers are sometimes flexible. Discussing with them about your plight can make them compromise, especially if you are buying a wide variety of jewelry accessories.

Directly ask for quotations from your selected factories and wholesalers. Ask each and every one of them directly. Create a list or price template where you can write down the prices of each factory or wholesaler.

checklist
For importers who attend the jewelry show, it is best that you first check through the website of the prospective jewelry supplier. This is to help you find every relevant information about their business. It will also let you know where they will be during the show, which would definitely save you time. Given the fact that the suppliers will bring new and trendy products to the show, you may not be given permission to take a photo, even with their name card.

There are two different ways to get a quote and it is best you keep them in mind.

First, you can sit down and have a discussion with the company, factory, or wholesaler. And they’ll give you a formal quotation which you can then put down on the list of the information you need.

For this process, you need to ensure that you have prepared your checklist or template.

The second way involves exchanging name cards at the beginning. After you’ve both introduced yourselves, you can pick the items you are interested in, tell the supplier to take the pictures of those items and send you a quotation by email.

Ensure that you are able to receive emails from them so as to avoid wasting time. When the visit at that store is complete, you’ll have the freedom to visit other booths to make more choices and get more quotes.

Asking for a sample of the jewelry you like 
The first thing to do is show genuine interest in the product right from the start. Then you can nicely tell the supplier or company why you like the product and the number of units you’d plan to purchase after seeing and confirming the sample.

If you’ll need 2, 3 or more samples for different uses, you’ll need to explain what you want to use them for to the suppliers. This is because only one sample is usually given out by a supplier. Asking for 2 or more without a proper reason will make them believe that you want to buy a small quantity at the wholesale price.

Paying your jewelry supplier

Payment
We’ve provided a list of the best ways to make your payments below:

International Wire Transfer/Telegraphic Transfer (T/T)
This is the most common payment method and it’s generally accepted by all suppliers. Usually, importers will pay a deposit after placing their orders or before production. And the payment will be completed later based on an agreed payment term.

Escrow
You pay for everything before your goods are dispatched. But your funds are held by a trusted third-party. The suppliers won’t get the payment until the importers receive their goods. Not so many suppliers like this payment method.However, if you are making use of Alibaba, you may have to use Alipay Escrow. This method is usually used for payments below $5000.

Letters of Credit (LCs)
Larger suppliers and international trading companies readily accept LCs. Simply put, Letters of Credit are a very expensive option. They are often used for large transactions or when a supplier makes it compulsory for their business.

Sourcing Agents and Companies
As we noted earlier, escrow is usually not accepted for many international transactions. However, if you import your products through a local Chinese office, the chances of escrow acceptance increases. The risk becomes lower because the communication is clearer. The sourcing agent will also be able to help you inspect the goods and refuse to make payments if the supplier, factory, or manufacturer provides bad quality products or does things that aren’t part of the agreement.

PayPal
The number of Chinese suppliers who accept PayPal isn’t much. However, the number is growing.

Western Union
Western Union (WU) is widely accepted for small or medium-sized transactions. Many suppliers use it because it’s fast, easy to use, and quite cheap for them.

Cash
Many suppliers love it when importers pay them in cash; Chinese suppliers are no exception. Paying with cash is quite common in China, and cash discounts are available at times.

Conducting quality control for your jewlery products
Once the jewelry production has been completed, the next important step is inspection. You should always keep it in mind that there are risks associated with manufacturing.

Most Common Probelms with jewlery
Lost Stone – This problem is common with beaded jewelry for men and women. It might occur as a result of careless handmade work. For instance, a 108 mala bead bracelet/necklace may be missing four or five beads.
Broken Chain or Link – Metal jewelry importers should pay attention to their products when inspecting them. This happens easily.
Worn Metal – This is bound to happen on jewelry made from stainless steel, gold, silver, and alloy metal.
Wrong Stone Setting – The most common reason why this happens is either because of a wrong instruction or misunderstanding before production. Other reasons include the producer’s carelessness when setting the stone.
Easily Causes Allergies – This is usually caused by the characteristics of some metal jewel accessories. They may include excessive amounts of nickel, lead, and cadmium.
Inappropriate Electroplating – Common problems that occur as a result of this include cracking, dull and hazy deposits in the plating, blistering, and oxidation.

How to avoid deffective products
Preventive Maintenance
Importers need to clearly tell their suppliers in advance that they won’t accept any defective product. You can notify them by mail, verbally, or even via paperwork. It is very essential that your supplier or factory knows this. For large wholesale importers, you can ask to visit their factory. This will provide you with the ability to inspect their work and environment. A neat and orderly production environment is one of the factors that contribute to the kind of products being produced.
Inspection Advances
Asking for a sample can help importers avoid defective products during mass production.
For larger importers, you’ll need to ask the manufacturers for status reports on production or ask them to send you pictures and videos that depict the middle of the production period.
Engineering and Production Communication
There are times when the problem for customized jewelry is the design. Having a good communication process with the designer, factory, and manufacturers is a very essential step.
What kind of compliance is needed for the importation of jewelry from China
It is quite essential that importers carry out some compliance tests when importing jewelry accessories from China. This is because there are countries and regions who have rules for jewelry importation. Therefore, test reports are very essential to them.

Before European or American high-end jewelry importers place large orders, they are required to provide a test. That is why they usually work with a Chinese testing lab/institution, such as SGS, BV, or Intertek to test the samples and materials. These reports will be directly sent to buyers.

Most jewelry accessories will come in direct contact with the human skin. That is why these tests are divided into two parts; physical and chemical testing.

The physical test includes colorfastness, tensile test, sharp point, edges, etc. While the chemical test mainly deals with the content and thickness of hazardous chemical substances, such as lead, cadmium, and nickel.

Take a look at the table below to have a better understanding of these standards.

Jewelry Compliance 1

Jewelry Compliance 2

Shipping your jewelry products from China 
While shipping cost isn’t the only consideration importers need to make when going into a jewelry business, it is still a primary and determining factor. After all, we are all in this together, and we’re here to help you make decisions that will help you save money as well as make money.

So, below are the best way to import jewelry from China:

EMS Post
If you are importing from Alibaba or AliExpress, and what you are importing is in small quantities (2KG downwards), not of high value, and you’re ready to wait, then EMS post is the best way to go. Regular EMS post, otherwise known as Hong Kong Post can take between 15-30 days to get to the destination country, depending on where you are. You have the option to trace and track it online. But note that tracking information won’t be updated in time. We actually don’t recommend this mode of shipping because it’s usually very difficult to find your products when they get lost during the shipping process.
International Express Courier

If you’re an importer who imports jewelries in small volumes, wants fast updates, and faster delivery time, then International Express Courier should be your go-to service. This shipping method is great for products that are between 21kg and 250kg. Products are usually delivered in 3-7 days. It is a reliable shipping method and there’s no complicated custom process. There’s a dedicated tracking number for each shipment. Therefore, whenever a problem occurs, there’s always a way to resolve the issue.

Air Freight

If you are importing a large product that’s too large for couriers, let’s say a 500kg shipment, air shipment may be the best shipping method for you. Air freight provides importers with a lower cost when compared to what courier companies will charge for large shipments.

This option is not for importers with lighter cargo. The deadlines and security control are tighter, and transit time depends on the airline’s schedule. But you should expect to get your shipment in 2-10 days, which isn’t bad.

Additionally, importers need to know that extra work is involved when your goods get to the destination airport. You’ll have to handle customs clearance and other documentation on your own (unlike with courier companies). This may be a very tough process for newbies.

Air Feight

Sea Freight

While sea transportation can take a very long period of time to be delivered, it can carry a significant amount of jewelry accessories and products. This helps bring down the costs. Transportation period usually takes 15-30 days, depending on the destination. What most expert importers do is to place their order a few months early. Doing this will ensure that they get their shipment early enough for the fashion season. It will also help the importers offset the long waiting period in sea

Sea Freight
Shipping

There are two terms you need to be familiar with:

FCL – Full Container Load
LCL – Less (than) Container Load
You are free to choose the one that works best for you. But there’s a basic rule that needs to be applied before making your choice:
If the purchased products are between 1cbm – 8cbm, then the best choice is LCL.

But if you are a big importer and your shipment is between 8cbm and 15cbm, you can choose either FCL or LCL. It depends on the situation.
Now, if your shipment is over 15cbm, then FCL is your only choice.

Just like with air freight, you’ll have to deal with documentation and customs clearance when you import jewelry from China. Importers also have to take care of the delivery of goods from the port to their warehouse or facility. Shipping by sea is quite economical especially if you are cool with handling the logistics, customs clearance, and other necessary documentation. It is also the best way to handle large, bulk purchases.