Wholesale guide 2025: tutorial for beginners
- •Global wholesale market guide for beginners
- •Tutorial on bulk purchase: how to start your wholesale business
- •Popular wholesale market recommendations
- •Common fraud and prevention measures for wholesale businesses
- •How to build trust with suppliers
- •Expanding global wholesale business with Airwallex
- •Frequently asked questions
Wholesale business presents a field full of potential, especially in Hong Kong where wholesale activities span across both local and international markets. For newcomers, mastering the operational procedures and steps of wholesale business is crucial.
Wholesale operations involve more than just selecting products and finding suppliers to establish a stable supply chain. They also include practical aspects such as managing payments, cost management, and other operational tasks that directly impact the efficiency and stability of a business's wholesale operations.
Global wholesale market guide for beginners
Government statistics reveal that Hong Kong's wholesale industry garnered a total revenue of HK$283 billion in 2023. The evolution of eCommerce and logistics technology has rendered wholesale market operations increasingly flexible, particularly in cross-border trade, offering more business opportunities for enterprises. Hong Kong's advantageous commercial environment, efficient logistics services, and robust regulatory framework provide substantial backing for wholesale business expansion.
Hong Kong's wholesale market covers diverse sectors, with electronics playing a pivotal role in global trade. Fashion apparel and beauty products boast extensive consumer bases in both Asian and global markets, while the household goods sector demonstrates growth potential alongside improving living standards. Key trade routes for the wholesale sector include mainland China, Southeast Asian markets such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and European and American markets.
Simplify international payments for your wholesale business
Tutorial on bulk purchase: how to start your wholesale business
Step 1: choose the right products
The first step in starting a wholesale business is selecting a product with market demand to ensure competitiveness.
Market demand: understand popular products in the market by conducting market research.
Supply chain stability: choose products from a stable and quality-controlled supply chain to avoid shortages or quality issues.
Step 2: identify the right suppliers
You can find suppliers by attending trade shows, visiting wholesale markets, and exploring major online platforms. When choosing suppliers, pay attention to the following aspects:
Credit and reputation: inquire about the supplier's company background and history to understand the quality and delivery capabilities. Choose reputable suppliers to reduce risks.
Sample inspection: before placing bulk orders, request samples from the supplier to check if the product quality meets your requirements.
Pricing and terms: confirm the supplier's pricing and delivery terms.
Step 3: establish a stable supply chain
Once the suppliers are confirmed, the next step is to establish a stable supply chain, including logistics arrangements, warehouse management, and payment methods, to ensure the steady development of your business.
Popular wholesale market recommendations
Wholesale tutorial for South Korea
South Korea is a large-scale wholesale market in Asia, known for its highly reputable electronic products in the global market, especially smartphones, tablets, and more. Additionally, Korean cosmetics and fashion apparel are extremely popular worldwide, making importing such products locally a great choice.
Some individuals may give up on the Korean market due to language barriers. To address this issue, you could consider hiring a translator to assist with communication with suppliers. Various translation tools are also available in the market to significantly reduce language barriers between Hong Kong and South Korea.
Tutorial for bulk purchasing using Taobao
As a large-scale eCommerce platform in China, Taobao offers a wide range of wholesale options. You can utilise Taobao's filters and keyword search function to identify products with high ratings and sales volume. Also, you can screen reliable suppliers based on seller's credit ratings. To ensure a stable source of goods, it's essential to establish good relationships with sellers and ensure smooth logistics arrangements. If cross-border shipping is required, it's advisable to choose reliable international logistics services.
Other Mainland wholesaler markets
Apart from Taobao, you can also source products from other channels in mainland China. Here are some representative wholesale markets:
Guangzhou White Horse Apparel Market: Guangzhou White Horse Apparel Market is one of China's largest clothing wholesale markets, offering a wide range of fashionable clothing, household items, and footwear.
Chinagoods.com: Chinagoods.com is a renowned wholesale market for small commodities, featuring various daily use products, accessories, toys, and more.
Huaqiang North Road Commercial District: If your wholesale business focuses on tech products, you can opt for the Huaqiang North Road Commercial District in Shenzhen, which offers a variety of electronic products and accessories.
Simplify international payments for your wholesale business
Common fraud and prevention measures for wholesale businesses
In wholesale business, common fraud tactics include counterfeit suppliers and false product quality guarantees. To prevent fraud, you can take the following measures:
Verify supplier identity: conduct background checks and choose certified suppliers.
Beware of unrealistically low prices: if a supplier's prices seem too low to be true, be more cautious and consider refusing the deal.
Use reliable payment tools: opt for secure payment platforms to conduct transactions and reduce risks. Besides traditional banks, you may also consider using regulated and cost-effective all-in-one financial platforms like Airwallex.
How to build trust with suppliers
Establishing a relationship of mutual trust with suppliers is crucial for business success. You can consider the following points:
Transparent communication: maintain open and transparent communication with suppliers, clearly expressing your needs, expectations, and standards.
Adherence to payment deadlines: whether it's payment or delivery time, keeping promises is the cornerstone of building long-term cooperative relationships. Airwallex, as an expert in cross-border payment solutions, provides convenient and secure payment channels between you and global suppliers. Customers can make fast and low-fee payments through Airwallex, avoiding unnecessary delays that could damage the trust in cooperative relationships.
Commitment to long-term cooperation: establishing long-term partnerships with suppliers enhances trust more than one-off transactions. For suppliers, receiving orders consistently ensures supply chain stability.
GreenPrice is a social-driven retail chain based in Hong Kong that specialises in selling products nearing or past their expiration dates. To facilitate collaborations with suppliers from different countries, Green Price has established a stable payment system through Airwallex. By utilising Airwallex's local payment channels for transfers, the company has managed to reduce transaction costs to HK$2-3 per transaction, effectively lowering payment expenses and successfully overcoming cost challenges associated with cross-border payments.
Moreover, due to the nature of the products, GreenPrice operates on a "small quantity, multiple times" purchasing model, resulting in a high frequency of transactions. Traditional banks often impose limits on transaction frequency and amounts for small and medium-sized enterprises, which poses challenges for Green Price's business expansion. In contrast, Airwallex's international remittance service has no minimum transaction threshold. It provides local payment channels in over 150 countries with support for 60+ currencies, enabling the company to adjust transaction volumes and amounts based on market demands. This flexibility allows Green Price to effectively manage its business needs.
Expanding global wholesale business with Airwallex
Airwallex not only helps businesses save unnecessary costs to reduce operational expenses but also assists merchants and suppliers in building trust, empowering wholesalers to expand their global operations.
Low-cost cross-border payments: By reducing the high fees of traditional banks and exchange rate differentials, Airwallex effectively helps businesses save on remittance costs, enhancing profitability.
Multi-currency support: Airwallex supports over 60 currencies in 150+ countries, streamlining cross-border payments. Making payments through local payment channels also helps alleviate concerns for overseas suppliers, ensuring a more stable cooperation between businesses and suppliers.
Flexible transactions: Traditional banks often impose transaction limits, while Airwallex has no such restrictions. Customers can freely adjust transaction frequency and amounts based on market demands, adapting to various global market requirements.
Enhanced business efficiency: With Airwallex, funds can be credited in as fast as 1 business day. This enables businesses to swiftly complete cross-border payments, enhancing overall operational efficiency.
Simplify international payments for your wholesale business
Frequently asked questions
1. What are the most popular wholesale businesses in Hong Kong?
The most popular wholesale businesses in Hong Kong include electronic products and accessories, fashion apparel, beauty and skincare products, and household goods.
2. What are the steps to start a wholesale business?
To begin a wholesale business, you need to conduct market research, select products and suppliers, and then manage logistics and pricing strategies.
3. What are some common frauds when starting a wholesale business?
Common frauds include counterfeit suppliers offering low-priced goods or disappearing after requesting advance payments. There are also instances where false promises regarding the quality and quantity of goods lead to losses for businesses.
4. How can Airwallex help enhance my wholesale business?
Airwallex simplifies international payments with cross-border payment solutions, allowing businesses to manage global payments and finances through a single account. Additionally, Airwallex offers favourable exchange rates and low transaction fees, effectively boosting operational efficiency for businesses.
Share

Kirstie is a fintech writer at Airwallex, and has built up a wealth of knowledge in financial operations systems. Her background in analytics and product marketing gives her a unique perspective on guiding businesses through the complex world of payments.
View this article in another region:Hong Kong SAR - 繁體中文
Related Posts

Guide for opening an HSBC business account
•8 min