Buyer guides
Buyer guides
Guides for commercial buyers
Each guide answers one question buyers ask before they order: how custom work is made, how a public buyer tenders for it, what it costs to land. Each one links to the products it covers.
Commercial Christmas lights and displays
Guides on commercial Christmas lights and displays
GuideStarting a Christmas light installation business: what to buy, where and when
The kit an installer buys, when to order it, whether to buy from US stock or by the container from China, and what commercial clients ask for.
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GuideMall Christmas decorations: the plan, the approvals and the order date
What a shopping center has made to fit its spaces, who approves each piece before it goes up, and when to order so it lands before install.
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GuideHow a custom Christmas light display is made, from sketch to container
The steps from a sketch to a crated, lit steel display, and what the factory needs from you at each one.
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GuideHow to import Christmas lights from China: the tariff line, the duty and the landed cost
The tariff line, the layers of duty, the freight and the paperwork, with the import-tax line from our own price lists.
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GuideBuying municipal Christmas decorations: the RFP, the spec and the order date
When to issue the RFP, what to put in the specification and the price schedule, and clause wording a city can adapt.
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Wholesale event supplies
Guides on wholesale event supplies
GuideTypes of crowd control barriers, and which one each venue needs
Five different products are sold as crowd control barriers. Here is which one a parade route, a stage front, a queue or a parking lot needs, and where steel fits.
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GuideHow to start a glamping business with domes: permits first, then the order
For a landowner or campground putting in several domes: what the county, the state and the fire marshal settle first, and how that shapes the order.
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GuideNFPA 701 paperwork for tent fabric made in China
What a fire marshal can ask to see for a tent top or sidewall, who signs each paper, what goes on the label, and why California asks for something else.
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GuideHow to start a party rental business: what to buy first and where to buy it
What a new rental business buys first, when a US wholesaler is the better route, and how tents, chairs and barricades share one container.
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GuideTent sizes for events: how many guests fit, and what the fire code counts
How the fire code counts the guests under a tent, standing, in rows or at tables, the exits each count needs, and which footprints a fleet should own.
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Custom merchandise for attractions and venues
Guides on custom merchandise for attractions and venues
GuideGift shop merchandise in your own design, and how to order it a season ahead
Which gift shop items are worth making in your own design, what each one needs before it ships, and how to order the range a season ahead of opening.
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GuideHow a stuffed animal is made, from your mascot drawing to your gift shop shelf
The steps from your mascot drawing to a plush on your shelf: the pattern, the samples, the lab report and the run, and what the factory needs from you at each one.
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GuidePlush toy testing, paperwork and labels for your gift shop's own design
Who does each job when your own plush is made in China: the lab report, the importer's paperwork, what the broker files at entry, and the sewn labels.
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Sourcing
Guides on sourcing from China
GuideContract manufacturing in China: how a custom order runs
How a custom order runs with us, from your drawing to your door.
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GuideWhen factories in China close for the New Year, and how to plan around it
When factories in China stop and restart for the New Year, the 2027 dates, and how to plan a custom order's sample, run and sailing around them.
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GuideOEM vs ODM: who owns the design, the mould and the sample
OEM and ODM side by side: whose design, mould and approved sample each one leaves you with, what you send the factory, and where private label fits.
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GuideT/T payment: how to pay a supplier in China, and what to check first
How a T/T works, what the deposit and the balance are each tied to, and the checks to make before money leaves your account.
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Send the product, the quantity and the date you need it. We reply within 1 business day, and the quote itemises the landed cost.
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