The Christmas Flower Must-Have for Your Retail Store

If you haven’t started thinking about the holiday season and what products you’re going to fill your stores with yet…what are you waiting for?!? It’s already October, and the smart shoppers are already getting their holiday buying started. I asked my friend Candice Pepe, over at Nygala Corporation, if she can offer some insight on some good selling products for the holidays and any tips she had for retailers and consumers this year. She gave me some good feedback.

Candice writes:

Even in the dead of winter, Poinsettias are colorful and full of life. It’s no wonder they’re the most popular flower during the winter/Christmas season. You can be sure to pass rows of them in the snow, blooming on front porches, under Christmas trees, and beautifully arranged inside homes. Artificial poinsettias are a must have!

When it comes to supplying the very best selection and helping your customers to find great ways to use them, here are some useful tips so you can be the poinsettia retail expert in your area.

Ways customers use Poinsettia bushes and picks:

• Stick some long stem poinsettias in the ground along a house or entryway for a beautiful winter garden look without all that hard work. Glittery assortments will glisten with the snow giving an exquisite appearance.

• Companies large and small use flowers to decorate around offices and public spaces during the holidays.

• Picks and bushes can be inserted in hollow parts of a Christmas tree to give it a fuller appearance. It’s a great secret trick for Charlie Brown trees.

Poinsettia Display in Nygala's Showroom

• Strategically stick or glue in some poinsettia flower heads in a homemade wreath.

How to choose t he best Poinsettias:

• Look for high quality textures like satin and velvet for an authentic and luxurious look.

• Make sure you’re loaded with the most popular colors: burgundy, red, white

• Get more bang for your buck. Some suppliers skimp on the amount of flower heads on one bush. Go with the wholesaler that’s going to give you the most out of your inventory. When a customer is faced with choosing a bush with more or less flower heads, they are usually going to go with the one with more.

• To have the best selection of Christmas flowers in town, have basic and unique choices. Special effects on flowers, like glitter, metallic finishes, fake sparkly snow, berries, and hand-wrapped stems will make your assortment become a true “find” for any consumer.

• Have the accessories to match. Greenery and branches are the finishing touch to any holiday flower arrangement or decoration. Some popular choices include, metallic leaves, fern, hollies, pine branches, and frosty berries.

It’s getting even closer to the winter holiday season so schedule your delivery for Christmas flowers today before stocks run out!

Visit FLOMOUSA.com for top quality artificial flowers or call 1-800-445-5936 to request a catalog.
Se habla español

Nygala Corp.
698 Route 46 West
Teterboro, NJ 07608
Tel: 201.288.6400

TopTen Wholesale Report: Party Supplies Are Part Of The Plan!

What’s the worst thing that could happen at a holiday party? Okay, there’s a lot that can go wrong… but from the perspectives of the retail and wholesale specialists that are supplying their customers, the worst thing could be missing an opportunity to provide the best products for the occasion, at a price that makes it easier to build the sale.

I’m talking about wholesale party supplies from Toptenwholesale.com, of course. We at TopTen would like to remind you that there is a crucial and vital side of party planning that is best served by those who offer the right supplies to those fearless, fun-loving customers who are going to be hosting a holiday bash for their guests and loved ones this year. This goes beyond simply bringing them the hottest merchandise that is making all the headlines now… it should also be taking into account the need for those less-glammy articles like napkins, plates, dinner ware, cups, bowls, and so much more. In fact, the buck doesn’t stop with eating utensils and clean-up goods… I mean, what about the foods themselves? There’s a lot of bulk foods and easy-mix recipes out there that will satisfy any party-goer’s palate, without putting the party-planner in the poor house!

Here’s another point to consider: most holiday shoppers are forced to go in and out of multiple stores, in the search for the perfect mix of costumes, accessories, party supplies, and gifts. Why not offer everything they need, under one roof? You online sellers should be jumping up and down right now, because it couldn’t be easier for those in the e-trade to line up a few good suppliers and vendors who can get the goods you need dropshipped directly to your customers. Actually, it doesn’t mean the ones with brick-and-mortar venues are left out in the cold, since a large – and rapidly-growing – number of shop keepers are also hosting fully-outfitted online stores as well, in an effort to build a potentially huge customer base, while being in touch with the more tangible realities of the consumer market. Best of both worlds, if you ask me.

Now let’s talk about the actual party supplies themselves… in spite of the media’s best efforts at bumming us out with the economic news headlines, the truth is that there are new opportunities and never-before offers for the wholesale market, due to the dizzying nature of the export/import industry, and once-successful companies looking for new ways to bring themselves back up to speed. You should be looking for those deals! Here’s a quick checklist of things to keep your eyes open for:

• Disposable napkins are a must, but have you seen the ones that are near-linen quality? This comes at an affordable cost, and gives your party a little touch of elegance that conventional paper napkins might not.

• Dinner ware was always a no-brainer, but now the companies that were making institutional-use plastic forks, knives, and spoons are struggling with a sagging economy. This could be the time to connect with them.

• Bulk foods to the rescue! I’m not even talking about making that obligatory trip to the local “warehouse” savings club, so you can add a few family-sized bags of corn chips to your sale. I’m talking about the companies that were supplying the entertainment and sporting industry with large-volume foodstuffs, who are going to be needing a helping hand this season. Your customers will be thrilled to see that you’ve found the goods for them.

• Tell your customers to think big… and cover their tables, and maybe even some furniture, with disposable table covers. It will spare them the headache of dealing with spills, and it will give you something to add to your arsenal of smart holiday party supplies!

• Look for the extra-special touch, as some party suppliers are offering customized and unique products like huge outdoor banners, signs/displays, and even smaller disposable paper and plastic goods that have custom messages at the customer’s request.

As you can see, there’s a lot of planning to do… and it won’t get done by itself. However, you can always make things easier by starting with a search on our site, and using my party planning points as handy reference. Good luck, and please let me know if I’ve left anything critical off the list, by leaving your comments on this blog!

TopTen Halloween Costume Trends for this Season

The reports are coming in faster than you can say Jack O’Lantern! There’s a huge buzz over what Halloween costumes are going to be named as the hottest and most exciting contenders this year, and all of you in the wholesale and retail biz should be listening! This year has seen enough bad news to make anyone’s head spin, and I’m getting the feeling that Americans want to have a good time this Halloween, without paying any heed to the economic crisis, dipping US Dollars, or global financial policies that flip over faster than a Tarot Death card.

Ooops, there goes the economy… but hey, Halloween’s here!

Come on, it’s time to smile again, even if it is only for one night… but oh, what a night it will be! We’ve seen a huge source of inspiration from various Hollywood movies in the past year, political satire (both funny and terrifying), and even some huge celebrity news that makes it easier than ever for the holiday consumer to cook up a Halloween costume that sizzles. Check out Toptenwholesale.com for more wholesale Halloween costume ideas.

Here’s a quick TopTen List of Halloween Costume Trends for this Season that will give you a few ideas to get your shelves and Internet inventories stocked up for a massive season in 2009!

First of all, this seems to be the year for the guys. Sorry girls, but I actually can’t remember a recent Halloween that has made it so incredibly easy for the men to pick a costume that will get a few good laughs. With everything from the sci-fi genre; to the superhero category; to the theme of politics and world events… the boys are going to have it easy when it comes time to pick something up for the party. Just make sure you retailers and wholesalers make it even faster and easier to buy them, since men are notoriously impatient and topical about shopping.

Of course, the women have their usual pick of cute or sexy costumes… and a bunch of new ideas to try on for the night! Sure, some of the ladies out there could take a shot at being Sarah Palin for the night, or maybe (yawn!) Britny Spears…but a point to consider is the fact that men are getting off the hook easy this year… so women can splurge a little extra holiday budget on a really special costume that is clever, funny and elegant! The National Retail Federation reports a rise in average costume spending of about USD20 from 2001-2008, but maybe this year will be the one to see a faster climb, as the girls get serious about their hot look for the season.

Kids are a big market with a lot of potential to boost holiday sales, simply because parents are going to be more focused on making this a memorable experience for the whole family. Help them out by offering Disney-inspired classics, as well as some more modern twists on outfits that draw from whatever mom and dad are wearing. Maybe a whole family of mafia mobsters? A family theme could be the ticket to success, as you build a bigger sale by offering a one-stop solution to your buyers that they can’t refuse!

Pets are people too, remember? At least they can look like people, if you choose one of these crazy pet costumes that mimic little legs and feet, creating an illusion of a dog-faced munchkin with funny clothes on. Yeah, I know… I wouldn’t do it to my pet, either. However, there are more than a few people out there who would! Don’t let them go elsewhere for their pet’s get-up.

Babies can add to the fun if you don’t mind leaving the party early… or maybe your customers want to leave the party early? There’s no better excuse than telling the host that they need to put the baby to bed, and this could be a strong selling point when people are scratching their heads over what to do if they can’t find a babysitter.

Plus size woman’s costumes are bigger and better! Choices are extremely diverse, as the manufacturers are gearing up to supply everybody with their Halloween faves. Plus-size costumes have steadily been increasing their market share over the years, and those shapely girls want to have fun with cute and sexy outfits just like anyone else. Make sure you keep a good variety on your display, and be the go-to supplier for outfits that flatter and show off the best parts of a plus-size woman’s curves!

For those who just want to be scary, the horror genre has been cranking out a lot of good material to work with. Besides the usual spinoffs of movies, there will be a great opportunity to give your customers some pointers about horrifying everyone with the standard issue stage blood, face paints, and creative designs that are hitting the shelves.

Pop culture icons are the big theme of the year! I’m not even going to try to list off all the celebs and people of fame – and infamy – that can be added to this collection, but I’ll give you a hint: Michael Jackson will be the undisputable king of the Posthumous World Tour this year, as will Patrick Swayze, and other loved celebs that get another night in the spotlight as their fans commemorate them.

As usual, political figures are caught in the cross hairs! I’m not even talking about when they open their mouths and say something stupid, I’m talking about the opportunity for your customers to be the hit of the party by lampooning any one of our fearless leaders. This could be the scariest Halloween ever, with Obama, Bernanke, Greenspan, and most likely truly frightful resurrections of George Bush Jr coming up In the form of face masks and outfits that simulate high-end business suits without the taxpayer-supported price tag…

Accessories are a must, and they will boost your overall sales with a great add-on and up-sell feature that could mean the difference between numbers… and great stats for the year end. Impulse buys are seriously high during this holiday, so make sure you are offering the right goods towards the end of the sale.

Make sure you’ve got the goods when your customers are browsing your store or site, and you definitely want to make sure you’re not the one to let an easy sale slip past you this Halloween! The only ones who will win this year are those who offer the choices people are demanding, and the ones who don’t have the costumes and accessories on hand… may end up losing the shirts off their own backs!

Top10 Blog: Afraid to Look for Wholesale Halloween Products?

Halloween was always a time of DIY for me, ever since I was a kid. Part of what made this holiday one of my all-time favorites was the feeling of anticipation, and the rewarding sense of accomplishment I would get after I found some crazy and creative discount item or costume at the local dollar store or wholesale store that made my friends drool with envy. Come on, admit it… you were just as bad as me, egging everyone on with hints and vague descriptions of what you would dress up as, or show up with at the party.

I was only 5 years old… and already a little devil.

Part of the fun was always in digging up the crazy stuff that nobody else could find, and sometimes I really envy the kids today who have access to the Internet, and can find stuff from parts unknown to make their costumes with. There’s an unbelievable amount of awesome gear out there, and it’s not limited to the online sellers, either. Dollar stores and local discount shops are full of hidden treasures, and the recent economic hard times have even made the appearance of rapidly-disappearing seasonal stores a common occurrence these days.

But wait, I’m all gown up now… I don’t need to worry about getting the coolest costume any more. I’m not concerned with finding a gross-looking fake severed limb or plastic skulls, and I definitely don’t care about looking for the gags and novelties that make my Halloween escapades more of a trick, rather than a treat…

Check out the amazing black balloons behind me!

I’m a proper adult now, and that means I need a bunch of fake body parts! Lots of candy and treats! A whole truckload of novelties and party items… because now that I’m all grown-up, I’m the one who’s having the Halloween party!

Party planning requires a good deal of… well, party planning. It’s important to be the early bird, if you want to offer the best deals on the hottest Halloween goodies to your eager customers. You’d better believe I’m chomping at the bit, getting ready to make this the best year ever for a night of fun and experiences to remember! Remember… I live in China, where Halloween is viewed with little more than mild curiosity… so you shouldn’t leave your customers in the dark! Don’t be afraid to offer a dazzling variety of discount holiday goods, because this time only comes around once a year… and I’m terrified that you’ll miss the fun holiday sales opportunities, if you don’t start looking for the best wholesale and retail strategies for moving those hot Halloween goods now!

China Wholesale Electronics on the Rise, Part 03

This is the final installment of the three-part story on the 2009 Hangzhou Electronic and Information Fair. In the previous two articles, I’ve given a few of my perspectives on the upcoming tidal wave of Chinese electronic design entering the arena, and some of this is going to make a real difference to all end-users in the following months.

Now for the wrap-up: here’s a little video showing some cool stuff that I saw at the 2009 Hangzhou Electronic and Information Fair…

(click the picture to see the video!)

So what can you do to make the most of this period of change and innovation? Well, I’m sure you’ve heard someone say something once or twice about the fact that there are those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened, right? If you want to be the first one on that list, I suggest some of these handy little strategies, which I’ve neatly arranged into a TopTen list of points to consider in the new China wholesale electronics market:

• Forget everything you think you know about the PRC. For better or for worse, this place changes too darn fast… and if you come across some nuggets of wisdom that you decide to accept as truth and hold onto forever, you will be surprised – and most likely disappointed – with the outcome. Keep researching… and research some more after that.

• Made In China will start sounding a lot less funny in the future, as the world begins to see some really good products coming off the assembly lines. You’ll either be one of the guys enjoying the rewards of moving along with the enormous progress… or you’ll be stuck in a deep, dark hole of denial.

• Sleep less, do more. Benjamin Franklin said “there will be sleeping enough in the grave”… and he wasn’t even living in the Information Technology Age! I don’t recommend you run yourself ragged by not sleeping enough, but at least don’t watch TV anymore. You’ll find China’s long and sordid history to be stranger than fiction, and it will provide invaluable insight into what drives the country’s thought process today.

• Everything old is new again. You probably grew up with computers, VCR / DVD players, CD players, video games, digital watches, big color TV sets, etc… while those who were born in China before 1990 didn’t. You should remember that when dealing with your new partners, as they will have a much keener awareness of how excited the youth market gets over electronics. Look towards the entire Asian gaming industry if you aren’t sure what this means.

• … on the other hand, you shouldn’t be surprised to realize (after reading the point above) that the level of expectation in Asia is much higher for the performance and wow-factor of new electronic products, since most of the kids here grew up with the stuff we saw in lengthy (often awkward) development over the past three decades.

• Forget everything you know about consensus and majority vote. In China, decisions are made by the leadership, and that’s that. Speculation doesn’t always follow logic or trends, and part of what makes China such a great place for the risk-takers is the fact that it can present an opportunity at the drop of a hat… as long as you don’t mind navigating mine fields.

• Let sleeping dogs lie… because the best part of huge corporate entities in China is in their amazing inability to deal with progress or innovation at the street-level. You say the big manufacturers and distributors are unable to satisfy demand from a specialized niche market? You should probably do it, and you’ll probably do it better than they can.

• Everyone’s in search of Superman… the government bodies and administrations are always looking for somebody to come in and champion their cause, so it’s pretty easy for smaller companies to get the funding they need… if you’re willing to play the game. Nothing is for free, and you’ll have to adapt to the cheerleading and CPC-friendly hype if you hope to get your foot in this door. Might not be worth it, in my opinion… but it pays to watch the ones who are doing it, to get an idea about some hot new branding campaigns or industry buzzwords that will be useful to you.

• Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… and one hard-and-fast rule in the China market is that your ideas will be ripped off in a matter of days. This makes the big companies cringe over IPR and legalities… but doesn’t faze the small ones who have a strategy in place. For some, there’s no better way to get a push in the right direction than by allowing your competition to copy you.

• Speaking the language is important, if you’d like to keep from getting burned. It’s no secret that businesses will act upon whatever advantages they can take to keep you in the dark. You can at least try to make it harder for them to pull a fast one on you in China, by learning some Mandarin or Cantonese. Of course, you’ll be faced with some local dialects as well, and that could mean extra time reciting phrases out loud to yourself during your daily commute, in the shower, or during the elevator ride up to the office. Yes, you’ll look like a freak to those who see you… but you’ll be glad you did it when the less-scrupulous Chinese business ‘friends’ are grinning with delight as they plot your demise right in front of you! You’ll be smiling right back, knowing that the joke’s not on you.

I know it’s a lot to think about… and the truth is that this is only the beginning… but one thing is certain for now: there will be a lot of new chances to expand your visibility in China, if you are willing to do the work. You can either get on this train, or step aside as the competition hops aboard… while they contact their business partners on those sexy new Chinese-made 3G mobiles with open-source software powering their hanzi (written Chinese) character-set recognition text messaging functions. They’ll most likely be downloading a movie at the same time, too.

Don’t know where to begin? Source other global electronic suppliers at these sites today!

China Wholesale Electronics on the Rise, Part 02

Welcome to Hangzhou, China! There was a time – over three years ago – when I couldn’t watch more than 10 minutes of programming broadcasted by CCTV9 (the only English-speaking channel, which was great for a guy who didn’t know a word of Chinese), without seeing at least one sappy advertisement spot for “Hangzhou, the most beautiful city in China.” I guess this not-so-subliminal stuff worked pretty well on me, because I’ve been calling Hangzhou my home for over a year now. Come on, why do you think they call that stuff on TV programming?

While I can’t say that Hangzhou is the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited, I can say that it’s been a good experience so far. One of the things I like is that it has apparently shifted gears in a big way, as the focus has been softened on tourism… and intensified upon the tech industry. This smallish second-tier city is currently one of the few on the mainland with such a high CPC-approved ranking. In a bidding war that makes the Pepsi Challenge look like a schoolyard scrap, local governments of cities and provincial zones are going head-to-head in a mad dash to be named among the chosen ones who will serve as the industrial/information base for China’s emerging global identity in the electronics business.

This brings us to the 2009 Hangzhou Electronics and Information Fair. I attended the show and spoke to several vendors about their wares, in an effort to bring you a little closer to some of the people who are trying to make themselves known in this often chaotic raging tide of changes and developments. There’s a lot of similarities between the shows in the USA and the ones here, and at first glance there doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary… but a closer look will reveal the differences, and those who know what to look for will be ahead of the curve as they find new ways to promote China-wholesale electronics or other types of products in their respective wholesale and retail markets back home.

First of all, it’s worth noting that this show was definitely the place to see small startups and underfunded ground-floor outfits that are looking for some investors to help them develop their businesses. Major players like SAMSUNG, Ebay, MOTOROLA, and China Mobile were also there… but it didn’t seem like they were really trying too hard to impress anyone or make a statement about what they had on offer. It felt more like the industry leaders just had to be there, so they wouldn’t look like they were losing market share to the smaller companies who were pulling out all the stops. Could this be a case of the big ones resting on their laurels… as the little guys nip at their heels, and later grow to overtake them? It’s happened before, and it could certainly happen again.

(click the picture to see the video!)

As you can see in the video, there were a lot of new names amongst the collection of industry giants. Some of the tech on display was not particularly hair-raising, while others made me stop in my tracks, and take a closer look. 3G technology is all the rage right now, and the Chinese companies are hoping to ignite desire in the hearts of hungry consumers over this one… especially since it’s such an irresistibly attractive option for the CPC to replace that aggravating, unruly, and free-speech laden Internet with an easy-to-filter domestic version that beams straight to your handset… from servers that are all plugged into the current censorship protocols. Pretty grim stuff, I know… but while we can’t really do anything about it, the fact is that 3G is getting amazing funding and preferential treatment over all other forms of wireless technology right now. It’s gaining serious traction in Latin American countries as well, and that means that you should be paying attention to it too. If for some reason – let’s say in the USA – consumers are suddenly swept up in the 3G craze, who do you think will be in a position to dominate the market right from the beginning? You got it… that would be China, and select partners in Japan and Korea. You want to get in on that kind of action, or not?

(click the picture to see the video!)

In a brief interview with Troy Meng, CEO of ZiZai Tech Company Ltd., I was able to get some inside info on the cloud-based computing revolution that is just about to unleash itself upon the Internet. Here are a few things Troy had to say:

“This is real cloud-based apps in the China IT area. This technology will change the usage of [the] whole Internet, and let everybody build his own page easily. Basing some operational business models such as ads, blogs, interactive video, etc… this tech will take a bigger share of the Asian market. We can rebuild the protocols of [the] Internet, and make it more dynamic, more interactive, and able to provide more usable statistics.”

“Using this kind of online application tech will put an end to software piracy, and even make popular products like Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and other design software unnecessary. It will also allow people to easily rebuild their blogs with more dynamic content, and users will be able to enter the area of IPTV or mobile TV more easily. This will change people’s way of looking [at] web-based video.”

Cloud-based computing is another bug in the ear of software developers and web-hosting companies far and wide… after all, there’s a lot to be said for the existence of invisible servers nestled amongst the soft, serene clouds of cyberspace that do all of the heavy-hitting for you… while leaving you free to move around without having to lug an arsenal of hardware – and software – that enables you to get the job done. It will also do wonders for the companies that are vexed by software piracy, as they suddenly find themselves in a position where nobody can rip them off, unless the would-be pirates go to their physical site… and haul away the outfit’s computers in the back of an unmarked van! It’s also going to make pay-per-click advertising a whole new animal, much like the search engines and social networking sites have done. After all, a captive audience is a captive audience, no matter how you slice it into demographic groups or profiles. People who tune in to your network as often as they turn on their PC… now that’s what I call customer loyalty! Companies have been doing it for years, with employee-accessible web portals and proprietary sites… but it’s been slow to catch on with the consumer public. Once it hits, there will be no turning back. How will you use this technology to promote your online business, or your distribution network in the wholesale business?

Be sure to watch for the next installment of this series, as I give you my TopTen list of points to consider in the new China wholesale electronics market, and a little more to think about as we all watch China grow its tech industry, one day at a time.

China Wholesale Electronics on the Rise, Part 01

Taiwan, Korea, and Japan were always recognized for their innovation, quality, and market dominance… while China limped along behind them, making plastic parts that broke. While it’s been a steep ascent for the mainland Chinese electronics manufacturers, it’s not been a very graceful one… but those cheap Chinese electronics that everyone jokes about may become a thing of the past pretty soon, if all goes according to plan. A slow-burning global recession, coupled with some interspersed political instabilities – and even a little help from Mother Nature (most recently in the form of Morakot) — has brought Taiwan to its knees, and kept everyone else quite busy with their own problems. China, on the other hand, has been distributing and redistributing assets in a whirlwind financial stimulus plan of action that undoubtedly makes President Obama seethe with envy. The CPC does things its own way, and it often does those things with ruthless efficiency… eventually, everyone gets with the program, and things fall into place. This is the basic impetus behind the rise of China’s technology industry, and if you aren’t paying attention to the news, then you will be paying money for their goods… while scratching your head wondering why all this Made In China stuff is suddenly so expensive?

Here then, is a little sneak-peek into the early stages of development in Hangzhou, China. The somewhat self-obsessed tourist city is currently listed as the CPC’s top choice for establishing the domestic tech think tank, and it’s already been called home by the fearsome Alibaba for some time now. While hushed questions and surreptitious meetings surrounding the e-commerce giant’s loosening stranglehold on the Chinese B2B market are floating around, the government is happily pumping money into the business, and no punches are being pulled as the tech market is fed and nurtured into a juggernaut milestone in the timeline of China’s rise to power.

Scary stuff, eh? Well, it’s not as bad as it sounds, to be honest. This is still China. Things are not run with the ultra-smooth efficiency of the Japanese firms, and certainly without the creative spark of American tech companies. It will take time for China to get comfortable with its new identity, and in the meantime… this spells opportunity for you, the savvy wholesaler! Time to learn how to say 你好 (ni hao!) and make some friends in China, pronto!

In a three-part series, I’ll cover some of the basics of today’s Chinese tech market from the vantage point of the 2009 Hangzhou Electronics and Information Expo, and what this means to those who are looking for some hot new items that may be of interest to consumers at home and abroad. I’ll be presenting the news here on the pages of TopTenWholesale, and your comments are surely welcome. There are some exciting developments in the works, and all of this is made even more exciting by the fact that China is still trying to get a handle on the delicate art of innovation, which means the companies that are getting lots of generous helpings of seed money from the CPC… are dying to figure out what it takes to make their new creations fly in a world that has already been up to its eyeballs in electronics for the past 30 years. So far, it’s been a lot of ugly high-volume push-and-shove strategies that ignore the consumer’s desire for functionality… and most recently the blatantly overindulgent endorsement of Google China ex-CEO-turned-superhero Kai-Fu Lee… but if you take the time to read between the lines of marketing hype, you’ll see that today’s clumsy and awkward China is a country with a tremendous amount of unexplored human capital. This dormant period won’t last long, as the continued development of the economy and industry will undoubtedly expose and reveal some shining stars amongst a population that leads the pack by a mile.

Hmmm… you might want to make that a kilometer.

Dow Superstore Inc. aka www.dowsuperstore.com: Scam Artists, Frauds, and Thieves.

I Have worked for TopTenWholesale.com for about 5 years now and I have handled the online advertising for thousands of clients. Not once have I ever dealt with a situation or a customer like Chris from Dow Superstore Inc., aka www.dowsuperstore.com. This company illegally and fraudulently paid us for advertising using a pay pal account. I want to warn other media outlets and buyers about this company. Pay Pal told us that we should should press criminal charges, so we are. In the mean time, if you are allowing this company to advertise or if you are buying from them, beware because they are scam artists.

Dow Superstore paid JP Communications Inc for advertising through pay pal. Pay pall released the funds into our account and we processed the funds to Dow’s account. We gave Dow Superstore Inc. $1,000 in pay per click funds and we started designing an email for them which cost $800. Services were given to Dow.

A few days later, Pay Pal took money out of our account telling us that Dow was a fraud company and that they did not have any funds in their account.

On July 9, 2009, Dow emailed my company and told me that he sent us $1800 for advertising on Top Ten Wholesale and for our company to design and send an email. Pay Pal cleared the funds and we added $1,000 to his pay per click account and spent hours designing and testing out the email he paid $800 for. 2-3 days later, Pay Pal took the $1800 out of our account and said that the payment Dow sent us was a fraudulent payment. I contacted Dow, and Chris told me it was an error. He then told me that he would have the funds to us shortly and never paid. On August 21st, 2009, Chris told me that he would send us a check for the advertising seeing as that he already used the funds up. Dow never sent the check and he owes JP Communications $1800 for PPC funds spent and time spent on designing, coding, and testing email.

I have had multiple conversations with Chris Dow and one conversation with Jimmy. They both pretended that it was an error and that they would have the funds back to me. On August 21, 2009, I called Chris Dow from www.dowsuperstore.com and he finally picked up the phone. He told me that he would send me a check for $1,000 to start making good on his bill. I was at trade shows most of the month of August and returned on Sept. 2. Dow Superstore did not send the check. It does not take more than 5 business days for a check to get mailed.

If anyone is interested in learning more, I have saved all our email contact so I can prove to you that the owners and others staff members at Dow Superstore Inc. are liars and scam artisits. Here are just some of the email conversations between Chris Dow and myself:

I will call you monday afternoon.

On 8/14/09, Jonathan wrote:

Hello Chris. Please call me and let me know how you plan on settling

your balance. It has now been close to a month.

Thanks you.

—–Original Message—–

From: Chris Dow [mailto:dowsuperstore@gmail.com]

Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 10:01 AM

To: Jonathan

Subject: Re: Chris:

Yes. We are doing alright just these issues with paypal put a damper

on our success. We have things in place and we will be clearing the

invoice soon. I will keep you posted

On 8/4/09, Jonathan wrote:

Tell me about it. The funds are coming out of my commission for being

a nice guy and putting a push on the order so I’m hoping we can get

the funds in asap. This is why we don’t like dealing with pay pal and

prefer cc or check.

What else is going on? How’s business? How long has Dow been around for?

You mainly an internet business or is this new for you?

—– Original Message —–

From: Chris Dow

To: Jonathan

Sent: Tue Aug 04 18:52:27 2009

Subject: Re: Chris

No not yet we will know more this week. I will keep you updated. What

a mess paypal caused us.

On 8/4/09, Jonathan wrote:

HI Chris,

Any word from pay pal yet or have you received your amex payment yet?

—–Original Message—–

From: Chris Dow [mailto:dowsuperstore@gmail.com]

Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 8:04 AM

To: Jonathan

Subject: Re: Chris

I’m going to see when I get those funds from pp or ill pay it when I

get my merchant amex payment.

On 7/29/09, Jonathan wrote:

Thanks Chris. Let me know how we are going to work this out asap

so I can tell my COO.

In short, publisher, buyers and sellers beware. If he is willing to scam a service provider that helps bring his company business, I can only imagine what he is willing to do to people that buy from him. If anyone has any questions about this company, feel free to contact me.

Glimpse Into the Chinese Night Markets…

Hangzhou, China: there is a regular and common phenomenon of vendors who fill the streets at night to provide a thriving, exciting, sometimes illegal, and highly enlivening moment of wholesale at its best – or worst, depending upon who you ask – that should not be a total mystery to those of you who have yet to visit the PRC.

In an effort to bring the news directly to you, I have taken a moment to put together a little video clip of the 10:30pm scene outside of one of Hangzhou’s biggest and most popular retail attractions, the InTime Shopping Center. It’s a large and modern shopping haven for anyone who likes to spend top-dollar (or renminbi, in this case) for name-brand apparel and goods from all parts of the Western world. However, at night the situation is totally reversed, as the factories give their ‘emergency liquidators’ a special deal, and shave off some of that excess inventory at blow-out prices.

Check out my video clip:
Glimpse Into the Chinese Wholesale_ Retail Night Markets

Sales cycles for goods that don’t make it off the rack, or maybe don’t even make it to the distribution points can be interesting. With a population in excess of 1.4 billion, China’s retail sector is a logistical nightmare that often makes the control of goods a very challenging thing to grapple with. Instead of being afraid of it, most vendors simply look for the best and most ‘auspicious’ times to move their merchandise, and it’s only a matter of time before it’s funneled down to the lowest-level outlets for sale and eventual integration into the consumer pool… even if that pool looks more like a raging torrent.

What can you learn from the sellers working the streets of China? It’s not very different from what we do in the USA… because at the end of the day, it’s all about making those closeout/wholesale items move!

Wholesale Sunglasses All Season Long

As many of you know, I live in the sunny state of California, in the city of San Diego, where sunglasses are pretty much a necessity every where you go every day. As I contact new sunglasses wholesalers, I can’t believe it when they tell me that the sunglasses season is over. Snow boarders, skiers, and drivers all need sunglasses. Unless you’re living in Alaska or in Antarctica, the sun still shines every day. With that said, I asked long time customer and friend, Kirk Bacholder from http://www.ctswholesalesunglasses.com what he thought about sunglasses being sold all season long, and here is what he had to say.

The questions was: How sunglasses can be used year-round for protection from the sun?

In the 18th century sunglasses were merely used to correct vision impairment, unlike today, where we use them to block harmful UVA/UVB rays. The first sunglasses were imported from Italy to China in the 1430’s where a tint was noticed on the lens.

It wasn’t until the 18th century when people started experimenting with sunglasses. Up until the 20th century the experimentation of sunglasses led to the realization of the use of sunglasses to help protect our eyes from the harmful rays of the sun. The first pair of “fashion” sunglasses was sold in 1930 on the boardwalk in New Jersey’s Atlantic City; a trend has started. In 1960, sunglasses evolved into many different, unique and fashionable styles with one major purpose, protection from the sun. Sunglasses today are used in a variety of different applications from work, school and recreation. Sunglasses also come in a variety of shapes, styles and colors suited to each one’s particular needs.

So one may ask, how could you use sunglasses year-round for protection from the sun? The answer to this depends on what line of work you’re in and/or what you like to do for recreation. Weather you’re retired or work full time, there is always a pair of sunglasses that will suit your needs anytime of the day and year. Sunglasses come in a variety of styles and tints suited to best fit your needs. For example, if you work outside driving a combine through the field in the summer you may need a pair of sunglasses that have a dark tint to it. On the same note, if you drive a combine at night you may need the same pair with a yellow tint; which brightens up everything around you and keeps the glare out of your eyes from oncoming light. Sunglasses can be used throughout the year in variety of weather and season conditions, even during rainy and overcast days. Harmful UVA/UVB radiation can still penetrate the skin, even during overcast and rainy days, which has been a misconception by many. In the dead of winter sunglasses may be used no only to help protect the eyes from the sun, but help keep your eyes from frost bite; especially while riding snowmobiles. Many Nascar, Indy Car, Superbike and other world renowned drivers/riders use sunglasses in the form of a visor on their helmets to keep the glare out of their eyes caused by the sun. Poker players use sunglasses year-round to keep their facial expressions to themselves in the event of a possible bluff.

Weather you like to go golfing or love race cars, there will always be a pair of sunglasses that will suit your needs; day or night. Sunglasses have become apart of our daily lives and used to help people in a variety of ways. So the next time you’re in a store with sunglasses, ask yourself how you could incorporate sunglasses into your daily routine.

Thanks Kirk.