Clothes in shopping malls are getting more and more expensive, and young people are starting to visit wholesale markets

New Weekly

2024-05-15 17:33Published on the official account of Guangdong New Weekly

作者 | Elise

Edit | Tengyu

Title Picture | (Xinjiang Mao sister) Douyin screenshot

A day at the Guangzhou Clothing Wholesale Market begins with the sound of a trailer delivering goods.

Being in the busy and crowded clothing wholesale market is like a dream core scene: dragging large bags of goods to shuttle between stalls, busy with the circulation of goods; Wholesalers and retailers weave from stall to stall in search of bargain prices; The stall owner replied to the inquiries of online customers while packing and shipping. And the people who entered the wholesale market after it became popular also found a rare happiness.

Guangzhou Thirteen Lines Clothing Wholesale Market. (Photo/Visual China)

Some time ago, Xinjiang Sister Mao posted a video of "I was crazy when I bought clothes in the Guangzhou wholesale market", which received more than 200 million views. It also made Guangzhou's clothing wholesale market rush to the hot search again, and half of the netizens are asking for verification: Is this true? How cheap is the Guangzhou clothing wholesale market?

Sister Mao, who originally came to Guangzhou on a business trip, only planned to stay in Guangzhou for two days, but on the day she left, she accidentally stumbled into a brand discount hypermarket-Wanguo Outlets. Sister Mao was shocked by the discount here: a branded denim jacket with an original price of 799 yuan was finally won by her for 79 yuan. Since then, she has opened the rampant mode of the Guangzhou clothing wholesale market, and has been in Guangzhou for nearly a month: "Guangzhou people may laugh at me for not seeing the world, and the prices in the wholesale market are so cheap that I once thought that the merchants were doing charity." ”

The experience of sweeping the goods repeatedly shocked Sister Mao and the audience off the screen: "I saw a pair of jeans, and the proprietress said that the wholesale price was 18 yuan a piece." I plucked up the courage to ask if I would sell it, and the proprietress said that it would be expensive if it was sold alone - 30 yuan. Sister Mao swept away, the budget of a few clothes in the past, now can be spread to seven aunts and eight aunts, there is no consumer rationality in the face of the ultimate cost performance, Sister Mao later bought clothes and shoes in Guangzhou, so much that you need to use logistics to return to Xinjiang: "Here you don't feel like you're spending money at all, you'll feel like you're making money - buying is earning." ”

With a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan, I dare not buy clothes in the mall

Sister Mao's video shook the unstable three views of many young people under consumerism.

Nowadays, most young people have the impression that "the more clothes in the mall are sold, the more expensive they are", many people only go shopping in the mall and do not buy, blowing the cold air that makes people shiver, their eyes sweep the bright clothes under the light, and the sales behind them are reluctant, and the high price tag hidden under the clothes makes people even need courage to walk into the store to "take a look".

(Photo/"A Cloud Made of Rain in the Wind")

Clothes are getting more expensive, not an illusion. According to China's economic data for the first quarter of 2024 released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita consumption expenditure of residents nationwide was 7,299 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.3%; Among them, the per capita consumption expenditure on clothing was 492 yuan, an increase of 12.4% year-on-year, accounting for 6.7% of the per capita consumption expenditure.

Even Uniqlo, the "middle-class affordable wardrobe" that was once popular with Chinese consumers, is no longer selling. The financial report shows that Uniqlo's performance in the first quarter of 2024 has declined, and they have begun to quietly increase prices in recent years. Decathlon, known as the "affordable supermarket" of sporting goods, announced a high-profile price increase. The children's short sleeves bought at Decathlon used to cost 19.9 yuan, but now the price is 39.9 yuan, nearly doubled.

(Photo/Unsplash)

The once cheap big brands have lost their reputation due to unclear positioning, and the high-end outdoor brand Arc'teryx has also announced an increase in the retail price of brand products across the board, with an average increase of about 20% to 30%. Other sports brands such as North, Columbia, Under Armour, etc., have also increased to varying degrees in recent years.

Consumers are not buying clothes in shopping malls, and foreign clothing brands that are struggling to operate have reduced the number of stores in Chinese shopping malls. The number of affordable fast fashion brand Zara stores in China has dropped from more than 180 at its peak to 87, and the number of similar brands H&M has also decreased by more than 100. There are also some brands that have even withdrawn from the Chinese market for a long time.

"Costume assassins" hidden under the impression of ordinary brands are everywhere. Xiao Xu, a post-95 generation who works in an Internet company, said that once he saw a winter sweatshirt in the mall, tried it on and was very satisfied, and when he saw the price of 1,899 yuan, he was "almost stunned". She found that the retail price of a women's sports tank ranged from 380 yuan to 580 yuan, while the same type of sports vest in the wholesale market was sold for 36 yuan. The sunscreen clothing in the shopping mall often costs hundreds of yuan, and it is also dozens of yuan in the wholesale market.

(Photo/Unsplash)

Xiao Xu summed up a set of contemporary young people's shopping mall process with "just shopping and not buying" as the core: buy a cup of milk tea, interview and wear reviews in Zara, H&M, Uniqlo or UR and put it back, go to TOP TOY to draw two blind boxes, take a few beautiful photos in the coffee shop and go home. Visiting the mall has become an act of killing time, and it is gradually distancing itself from shopping and consumption. "In the past, when I went to the mall, I could buy dozens or one or two hundred clothes. Now the brand often costs thousands of yuan or even tens of thousands of yuan, even if the monthly salary is 20,000 yuan, it can't afford it. ”

In contrast, the essence of the wholesale market is to strip away the filter of consumerism and try to redefine purchasing behavior with the "absolute power" of price.

Hong Kong people who consume in Shenzhen,

Moved to Guangzhou clothing wholesale market

Visiting the wholesale market began to become a special tourism project in Guangzhou, and the number of tourists who came to shop for goods has also increased significantly, and even Hong Kong people who have just come to Shenzhen for consumption have begun to move to the Guangzhou clothing wholesale market.

In the Mingguan Clothing Wholesale City on Changgang Middle Road, Haizhu District, it is still lively on weekdays. Most of the clothes here can be retailed, with an average price of about 30 yuan, and a few stalls are marked "non-negotiable" at the door.

(Photo/Unsplash)

In the mall, there are mothers pushing strollers to sweep goods, college students and tourist special forces dragging suitcases, customers are constant, and the stall owner Ah Zhen has been busy until half past one in the afternoon before eating takeout. Her last customer came from Hong Kong, fancy a short-sleeved top of 39 yuan, was very satisfied with the quality and price of the clothes, and happily closed the deal without bargaining. Ah Zhen said that it is already very affordable to buy alone in stores like theirs, and it is worth it to wholesale: "Our wholesale market is very small, and the scale of the Thirteen Lines cannot be compared, and the reputation is not big." In the past, most of the people who came here to buy clothes were mostly locals, but now many of the Hong Kong people who come here to buy clothes are introduced by relatives in Guangzhou. ”

More people speaking "Hong Kong-style Cantonese" passed in front of Ah Zhen. Starting from 2023, Hong Kong residents are enthusiastic about "going north to consume". According to a report by Hong Kong media Ta Kung Pao, in 2023, there will be 53.34 million Hong Kong residents who will "go north" for consumption, accounting for 74% of the total outbound trips, and each Hong Kong resident will "go north" an average of 7.2 times. Since 2024, the enthusiasm of Hong Kong people to come to the mainland to spend has reached a new height, and the clothing wholesale market, as a new check-in point, has carried new surprises for Hong Kong people.

When Hong Kong native Ah Mi first came to the Guangzhou clothing wholesale market, he seemed to have discovered a new continent: "I thought that the prices in Shenzhen were already very cheap, but later I found that Guangzhou was even cheaper. Most Hong Kong people are still crowding Sam's stores in Shenzhen, and smart Hong Kongers have begun to stagger their time to come to the Guangzhou wholesale market to sweep goods. ”

(Photo/Unsplash)

This is the third time Ah Mi has visited the wholesale clothing market in Guangzhou, and this time she also brought her mother, sister and girlfriends. In the past, I was afraid that there would be no good goods, but now everyone is rushing to form a group: "My most glorious record is that I bought a very good quality short-sleeved shirt for only 15 yuan, less than the cost of a cup of milk tea." ”

Ah Mi said that on the weekend, they visited Taikang Jewelry City, bought a bunch of jewelry and hair accessories, and then walked along Yide Road to Wanling Plaza, bought a lot of gadgets, and finally walked around the thirteen lines, bought a few pairs of shoes, more than a dozen sets of clothes.

(Photo/"A Cloud Made of Rain in the Wind")

Everywhere they went, they kept exclaiming "it's cheap". Finally, I filled four large suitcases of luggage and took the high-speed train back to Hong Kong with satisfaction. Ah Mi sighed: "It's been a long time since I've bought and bought so heartily." You have to pretend that you can afford it when you go to a large mall, and you don't have to pretend at all in the wholesale market. ”

On the giant LED screen of the Wanling Wholesale Market, Mi also saw an advertisement for real estate in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. She wondered if the ad was for Hong Kong people who came here to shop, or for the owners of the wholesale market.

Think of the wholesale market as a business school

Half of the young people who come to the wholesale market want to find a replacement; And half, come looking for business opportunities.

Online e-commerce courses have been flying all over the world for a long time, but practice is the first step. When this generation of young people encounter high-quality and inexpensive things, in addition to buying them, they will also think about whether they can make a small profit.

Xia Mi, a sophomore from Hunan who came to Guangzhou, said that during the May Day holiday, she arrived in Guangzhou without a plan, and various museums were full, so she and her friends went to Haizhu Square to visit the wholesale market, which was unexpectedly fun: "I spent less than 200 yuan in total, and everyone returned with a full load." That night, we began to discuss whether we wanted to sell some small goods and start a business. ”

Since then, Xia Mi has been wandering around the clothing wholesale markets in Guangzhou every day, choosing products from a dazzling array of small shops. She said that she entered the novice village like an entrepreneur, and she didn't know where to start the task - most of the people on the road carried goods, and many people pulled small carts to deliver goods, and she walked through the crowd to find the main line, facing the bosses who have been in the market for many years with a budding attitude, and calmed down and tried her best to get a reasonable result. This is the closest she has come to the real economy as a native Internet generation, and it is also the first time she has seen the opportunities and difficulties of businessmen so truly.

(Photo/Unsplash)

Xia Mi said that many classmates around her are talking about money and entrepreneurship, and she has wanted to go to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou since her freshman year, not for tourism, but to see the wholesale market, Guangzhou's Wanling Plaza, Hangzhou Sijiqing Wholesale Market, Shenzhen Huaqiangbei, to see this seemingly mixed, but tenacious, vibrant place, it seems to be decades of stubborn confrontation with the current consumerist society, time stopped here, so I entered here," I will also be inexplicably enthusiastic. ”

"I think the fact that young people are starting to set up stalls has something to do with their love of visiting wholesale markets." Ah Zhuang, a stall owner with three years of experience in setting up a stall, is a native of Guangzhou, and has followed his parents to buy daily necessities in major wholesale markets since he was a child. Now after work, Ah Zhuang will go to the market with his friends to set up stalls, and occasionally earn more than his regular job.

Ah Zhuang said that many outsiders have only heard that there are 13 banks in Guangzhou, but in fact, there are many small but rich wholesale markets here, hidden in small alleys. For example, opposite Yangzhonghui on Beijing Road, along the archway of Gaodi Street, there is a wholesale street of underwear, and Azhuang's mother has bought him these underwear for as low as a few yuan since he was a child, and the wholesale market has become a carrier connecting Azhuang's past and present. Not far next door is the shoe wholesale market, where almost all daily necessities can be found at a great price-performance price. "Now my friends come to Guangzhou to play, and I take them directly to the clothing wholesale market, and almost all of them are satisfied." Ah Zhuang said.

Guangzhou Thirteen Lines Clothing Wholesale Market. (Photo/Visual China)

As a senior stall owner, Ah Zhuang's best turnover is to earn 2,000 yuan a day, which is much higher than his daily salary. When he sets up a stall now, he will also open a live broadcast at the same time to attract rewards, which is also a money-making channel, and many fans also expressed their desire to follow him to learn how to set up a stall.

Ah Zhuang thinks that if you want to do it, don't worry too much: "Many netizens asked me about the strategy of the Guangzhou wholesale market, and everyone is still very enthusiastic about making money." Usually my advice is to come and take a look first. As long as you take the first step and jump out of the information cocoon, you will win 99% of people who only dream of making a fortune. ”

Proofreading: No ginger fish

Operations: Ono

Typesetting: Chen Yi

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