Buying bamboo windchimes wholesale for export.
Heading out of Ubud on Jalan Raya Peliatan to the north you run into the wholesale district of Tegallalang. There are rows of shops selling carvings, wind chimes, mosiacs etc.
There are many good deals along this road especially as you become familiar with doing business there. You can buy souvenirs and individual items but it is more set up for the wholesale buyer.
There are also a number of shipping companies along this road as well that are familiar with exporting handicrafts made in Indonesia to all corners of the world.
You can ship by the cubic meter or container 20′ , 40′, and 40′ high cube. The cargo companies can pack in boxes or build crates or ship items loose in the container but then your breakage will be higher.
Usually I ship wind chimes stacked up in the container so more will fit in there. Boxes really cut down on your space. The thing about wind chimes is to develop a relationship with the seller so that you trust each other and you don’t get stuck with a load of inferior merchandise.
Price is not always everything. If buying in quantity you will not be able to inspect every wind chime so you have to feel that the quality is going to be consistent.
No matter where you get them there will be a certain amount of breakage and splits. One dealer I always had good success with is Wayan of Central Bamboo Handicraft. I stopped by today to take a few photos and to talk a little. They have some nice new designs and seem to be doing pretty well. In my experience they have always honored their word and supplied me with good product at a good price.
When I was doing business in Bali I would even pay them in advance and leave the country and the merchandise always arrived in good order. Doing this is not recommended in Indonesia until you have been doing business there for a number of years and even then it is risky.
Sometimes what can happen is a drastic reduction in quality of the finished product so I would highly recommend not paying in advance. It is merely mentioned to indicate the trust I have with these people.
There are many shysters out there so always draw up a contract and do periodic inspections to insure the quality is good.
There are many good honest people in Bali but build the business gradually so you don’t get burnt too bad if something goes wrong.
Always remember that you have to sell the merchandise when you get it home and no one wants to spend hard earned money on crap.
exporting bamboo windchimes
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I am interested in selling more bamboo wind chimes on my site. Do you drop-ship? Where can I see all of your bamboo wind chimes? Do you have a wholesale price list?
I look forward to your reply.
Tom
Hi Tom,
I no longer live in Bali but there are plenty of windchime dealers there.
I suggest taking a trip to Ubud and having a look around to get some first hand experience. The manufacturers that I mention are honest and do a good job. Try to keep up with the latest styles.
The ones with painted designs seem to be good sellers.
dp
Hi dp,
I am going to Bali in Mid-april, and I am also going to makwe some business there. However, I am only a starter. After reading your site, I would probably try the wind chimes first. I want to know the approximate price of the simple wind chime, can you give me some ideas because I don’t want to be tricked by the sellers there??
I come from Hong Kong, nice to meet you here! Your information of Bali and Phillipines are really useful for me!
You can add me on facebook, here is my full name: Yuen Sing Fung Sean.
Sean (in Sabah now) 4-4-09
Hello Sean,
I no longer do this business but will share with you what has been my experience.
small plain 3,000 rupiah
medium plain 5,000 rupiah
very big 10,000 rupiah
nice painted 15,000 rupiah
special 15,000 to 20,000 rupiah
I got a lot of merchandise from Sari Bamboo and Central Bamboo Handicraft.
It was a side line for me and the boys were always spot on with what I ordered. I suggest trying to be there for a hands on inspection to make sure you are getting quality stuff.
I usually went with a 40′ high cube and tried to get 20x retail for what I paid (base price) not including shipping and sales expenses. I didn’t use boxes – just stack them like firewood.
Wayan became a close friend and I was actually able to pay for entire loads in advance and not worry about it until it arrived at my dock.
Do not do it that way at first – pay close attention and watch for sub standard merchandise. You want a sweet sounding product and a clean, crisp, paint job. That is what your customer will want too.
success!
dp
It is very important to have established outlets to distribute your goods. It is much easier to buy than to sell so be selective about what you get and pay more attention to quality than to price!!!
Hello sir
we are produce bamboo mat its very cool its bamboo bed seet
bamboo mat With a breathable, cool, non-stick Khan, not curly, is summer and hot summer cooling season, high quality goods. Mahjong sub-blocks of bright colors, the surface smooth, I feel cool. Bamboo high temperature disinfestation, sterilization, the milling polishing, with the tendon formed by hand thread, the production-making, more than 10 working procedure. As the bamboo heat quickly, the best summer sleeping mat in summer sleep.
Hello yuyanping,
Where is your shop located?
dp
Hello yuyanping,
You can always contact me through this site or through dutchpickle at hotmail
cheers
dp
Dears,
We are sincerely seeking for the agent for our special water bamboo mat which is not only an excellent mat, but also represents our Chinese age-old culture.
These mats are made of ‘mist bamboo’ which is very rare . So the total output is less than 6000 sheets in China every year!!!
We sincerely would like to develop the new market in your country.
Could you please take time to review our website if you are interested in this?
Please be kindly reminded the candidates should be familiar with bamboo and have existing sales chain for bamboo products.
By the way,my home town is the kingdom of bamboo in China and we can provide you with very good resource for any bamboo products.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks & regards,
Rocky Lee
Tel: +86 (20) 6191 68 85
Fax: +86 (20) 6191 62 25
Mob: 13178879403
Eļ¼info@bamboo-in-china.com
MSN:longxiang-lee@hotmail.com
SKYPE:longxiang-lee
Longxiang Industrial Limited
B1-403,Yinjinhuayuan
Dashi
Panyu
Guangzhou
511430
China
http://www.bamboo-in-china.com
Dears,
Your info are very useful for me.
I just visited Ubud last month and interested to start my small business in Thailand.
I want to buy wood craft & mosaic from Tegallalang.
I plan to back Tegallalang for first hand shop as you recommend in next month also.
Could you advice me for some good shop for mosaic & wood craft that have good quality with reasonable price?
And if you know some shipping agent with good service please advise the their name and estimate rate to me because I have no idea for this.
Thank you very much for your help
Best regards,
Nadia
Hello Nadia,
I suggest spending a few weeks just looking around the wholesale district of Tegallalang to get a feel for prices and quality. Rainbow Shipping has a good reputation.
It is really a good idea to see what you are buying – rather than ordering over the internet, (especially if you plan to invest heavily in wind chimes). Some of these chimes have such a beautiful clean sound and others sound flat and make a clacking sound.
It is also not a good idea to order from samples, (if you have not worked the supplier before). Sometimes the finished product they offer is of a far lower quality and will be very difficult for you to sell. It is pointless to store a bunch of unsellable product.
I usually shipped 40′ high cube containers using China Shipping out of Surabayah. If you do not yet have your sales outlets in place, I suggest 10′ containers with a good variety of goods to see what sells the best in your area.
Remember that it is always easier to buy than to sell. Sarongs, jewelery, and other goods are also available at low cost in Kuta.
Silver jewelry usually is made in Celuk. The quality is reasonably good and the stuff sells well in certain areas.
Always consider the profit margin. Beautiful, high end wood carved pieces might be difficult to move. You might likely have a better mark up on stuff like wind chimes. (I worked on a 20x markup – this allows for damaged goods and shipping costs to be covered).
For me what worked was to stack the chimes like cord wood – floor to ceiling. Packing in cardboard boxes is time consuming and it wastes too much space. Remember that you might have as much as 7000 to 8000 dollars in just shipping your product. Figure these costs into your business plan too.
Silver jewelery can be taken along as baggage on the airplane. Consider weight restrictions and ship your clothing etc as baggage. It is better security to have jewelry under your control at all time so as to avoid mishaps.
If shipping wood items be sure to use a moisture gage because you don’t want a bunch of splits in the wood when it arrives. Many manufacturers use kilns to dry the wood in the manufacturing process.
Always keep in mind that the buyer will good product or they will not want to part with their hard earned cash.
If you are handling stuff like clothing that will be damaged by mildew be sure to take precautions and use moisture absorbers. Little hints like this can save you a lot of money because no one will buy mildewed clothing – you can get away with a bit on wood items and bamboo.
Remember that your stuff will be in a sweltering hot moist container for 2 months or so before you get to open it.
Methylene Bromide or some other insecticide treatment will be used to kill off insects if you are shipping wood, bamboo, or grass items (straw hats, straw birdhouses etc.) There is no way to get around this because customs will need the documentation.
Some woods used in the tropics for furniture do not do well in European or North American destinations so do some trial runs before investing too heavily in anything you are not familiar with.
I hope some of these tips will be of use to you – just move slowly and don’t 100 percent trust your supplier until you have done business a few times with him and were satisfied with the end result.
Be sure to organize your customs broker in advance in your home country. You can email them the paperwork from Bali and your broker can have everything sorted for you. This is especially important if you are taking product with you on the plane.
cheers
dp
Dears dp,
Million thanks for your recommended. It’s so fruitful for me.
Next trip to Bali I will share my experience to you too.
Thank you again! :)
Best regards,
Nadia
I was wanting to visit Central Bamboo Handicrafts today, but couldn’t find them (very long road in Tegallalang). Can you provide address or phone number?
Many thanks – Debbie
Hi Debbie,
I don’t have another number but there are quite a few bamboo shops on the Tegallalang road that you might want to stop in and get general info about prices etc. I now live in the Philippines and spend little time in Bali – sorry – dp
anyone?
hi everyone. i’m located in Illinois and i have about 300 of so bamboo wind chimes from Bali that my brother in law brought for an exhibition a couple years ago. I’m interested in selling those in a very good deal bargain. anybody interested please email me…..these are really in good conditions and guaranteed from Bali. My brother in law went there and actually hand picked those.
thanks.
hi dp
Nice to meet you we are factroy located in China hunan welcome to my
factroy
ths
best
yanping