Wholesale Camping Supplies from China: Everything You Want to Know is Here

Wholesale Camping Supplies from China: Everything You Want to Know is Here

In recent years, wholesale camping supplies from China has become increasingly popular. Camping supplies are a very popular category in outdoor products, encompassing a wide range of products.

Whether you want to buy camping supplies wholesale for everyday use or wholesale them for your business, this article will help you a lot.

This article will tell you everything you need to know about the following points:

Where to find suitable Chinese suppliers online?

How to clarify manufacturers or trading companies in China?

Private label solutions for your camping gear products?

Before reading this article, please note that we will not share our customers' design or product information. All product photos are from Google and Amazon.

1. Classification of camping and hiking products
Most of my clients ask me which camping products they should import from China. I usually give them some practical suggestions based on their current situation.

If you have e-commerce experience and marketing skills, you can choose the most popular camping products that are in high demand. However, if you're just starting an e-commerce business, I recommend choosing some new or specialty items.

I've created the following table, which covers the camping and hiking categories and is based on Amazon's category classification. You can also visit Amazon's best sellers to find other camping products.

2. Where to find suitable Chinese camping equipment suppliers online
Sourcing on Alibaba for your business
When it comes to finding Chinese suppliers, most importers usually think of Alibaba. After all, it's the largest B2B website in China. Many people are always confused and dizzy when searching for factories. There are so many suppliers on the site. You need to be able to identify outdoor equipment manufacturers and trading companies.

When looking for a camping equipment supplier, there are some tips you should know. Typically, many factories have a single production line, forcing them to specialize and not produce multiple products. Therefore, one company cannot produce multiple types of outdoor products.

For example, a few factories may produce tents and sleeping bags. They may also produce other outdoor gear. If you find many product categories in a store on Alibaba, it's usually a trading company.

In fact, some factories, in addition to producing their own products, also purchase other products from abroad and sell them alongside their own. Therefore, you should ask a few more suppliers to do price comparisons.

For example, a factory that specializes in the production of sleeping bags will also purchase other products such as tents and beach umbrellas from abroad.

In this case, the factory is equivalent to a middleman. As a result, the sleeping bag produced by the company may be cheaper, but other products purchased from abroad won't have the best possible price. Therefore, you'll have to ask other factories to compare prices.

Sourcing on DHgate, Express and other sites
Do you want to buy camping equipment at wholesale prices from China, but not for business? For example, your company organizes outdoor activities and needs to purchase dozens of camping equipment products. You may also need to purchase some outdoor products as gifts for employees.

In this case, you can go to DHgate and Express to find some online stores. They have small order quantities and the products are also quite rich.

If you want to import your camping gear from China for commercial purposes and want to maintain a good long-term sales relationship, I would not recommend purchasing from DHgate or Express.

This is because it's very difficult to guarantee that the quality of the products you buy will be the same every time. Most of them are intermediaries, who buy from different factories or trading companies. They also can't guarantee that the quality of their products will be the same every time.

In another situation, if you purchase 300 tents at wholesale prices on Alibaba, there's no problem. However, if you also want to purchase 300 tent buttons to resell with buttons, and your supplier doesn't have the buttons, you can ask your tent supplier to help you purchase 300 buttons from other sources.

However, they may also reject it because the order is too small. You can then go to DHgate or AliExpress to purchase them yourself and send them to your supplier. Let your supplier help you package them.

You may have heard of some scams that make you doubt the safety of DHgate and Aliexpress. Therefore, check everything about Aliexpress and DHgate before using them.

3. Where are the camping equipment manufacturers in China?
Camping equipment offers a wide range of products. Several factories in China are also located in different regions. I'll share information about camping and hiking equipment manufacturers in China with you.

Guangzhou and Quanzhou: outdoor clothing, footwear, and bags
Guangzhou is the main production location for clothing, bags, and luggage. Some of the high-quality, affordable outdoor clothing and quick-drying garments are also popular with foreign consumers.

Quanzhou clothing is primarily focused on outdoor leisure wear. It is a distribution center for outdoor jackets, quick-drying pants, hiking shoes, and more.

Ningbo: Outdoor Equipment
If you're looking for camping equipment and stoves, Ningbo is the place to go. It's the most comprehensive outdoor equipment distribution center in China.

Shenzhen: Outdoor Lighting, Knives
It is a distribution center for outdoor lighting and tools.

Yiwu: Most categories of camping equipment
Yiwu has the world's largest wholesale markets, where you can source most camping gear products. There are between one and five sections in the Yiwu market, and camping gear is mostly found in sections two and three. Many Chinese and foreigners believe that the quality of products in the Yiwu market is poor. This idea is not correct at all.

The truth is that wholesale camping equipment suppliers in the Yiwu market come from various cities in China. Therefore, you can purchase tents, sleeping bags, trekking poles, and other outdoor equipment produced in different parts of China.

But these suppliers aren't all actual factories; many of them are intermediaries or trading companies. So, when you talk to suppliers, you can identify whether they're factories or intermediaries by comparing their product prices and their product knowledge.

4. Camping goods exhibitions in China
Some large-scale outdoor exhibitions not only feature popular outdoor products from various categories, but also some innovative and fresh products. If you're interested in fashion trends in camping products, you can visit local exhibitions in the United States or China.

In addition to finding reliable factories and suppliers, you'll also find new camping products or ideas. I'll share two outdoor exhibitions in China with you.

Asia Open-Air Trade Fair
Date: Mid-year (June or July). The specific date will be announced in advance on the official website.

Location: Nanjing Museum

A large-scale professional outdoor exhibition in China, worth visiting.

Canton Fair
Date: Held in spring and autumn every year.

Location: 380 Jiang Zhong Road, Zhuhai District, Guangzhou.

Although the Canton Fair isn't a professional outdoor exhibition, there are plenty of camping equipment products on offer, so you can definitely find good products and suppliers.

Main product categories for outdoor activities:

Outdoor sports products

Bicycles and accessories, Billiards, Shooting, Hunting, Climbing, Ropes, Athletics equipment, Horse riding equipment, Beach sports equipment, Sports glasses, Sports cases and bags

Barbecue tools

Electric BBQ, Gas BBQ, Charcoal Brick BBQ, Grills, Lighting Tools, BBQ Accessories

Casual products for outdoor activities

Swings, hammocks, umbrellas, musical instruments, cheeses and pokers

Outdoor Hiking Items

Backpacks, blankets, air cushions, sleeping bags, blankets, tents and accessories, camping gear and accessories.

For other categories of sporting goods, you can consult: China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair)

Hong Kong International Outdoor Lighting and Technology Exhibition
Location: AsiaWorld-Expo (Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, Hong Kong)

If you're looking for high-tech outdoor lighting products, HK Expo is the place for you. It brings together various suppliers of professional lighting products, so you're sure to find what you're looking for.

Main exhibition categories:

Outdoor and public lighting
Technical and professional lighting
Outdoor advertising lighting
Horticultural lighting
Outdoor lighting solutions and systems
More information: click here

We've taken our clients to most of the large-scale Chinese and international exhibitions over the years and found that most suppliers' products share some of the following common trends.

Camping products tend to be more comfortable.
Outdoor products can also be used in daily life and have a very modern appearance.
Bright and vivid colors.
Moving towards versatility and high technology.
We found that almost every brand made an effort to incorporate the best technology into their gear, not just in the electronics but also in the fabrics, zippers, and designs of their camping gear.

The above trend summary is for your reference only. If you'd like to learn more about outdoor industry news and trends, please visit this website: gearjunkie.com.

5. Private label solutions for your camping equipment products
Functionality and quality are very important when it comes to camping gear products. There are many camping gear products in this series.

If a customer buys tents from you and thinks they're great for use, then sees a water bottle with your logo on it, they'll buy it without hesitation because they trust your products. Therefore, if you want to build a long-term business and develop your own product line, branding your products is very important.

Branded products always mean they're high-quality and reliable. People are willing to pay more for a branded product. And it's easy to spot among many competitors.

There are several private label solutions available for most outdoor products:

Solution 1 Printing
Advantage: Save time and budget

Application: Fabric

Cost: The supplier will typically charge a mold fee for screen printing the logo. The mold fee is around $20/color, and the printing cost is around 6 cents.

MOQ: No need to purchase a MOQ to print logo, just pay the minimum charge.

Screen printing is a traditional and one of the most widely used methods for printing on a variety of materials, from T-shirts to fabrics and even wood. It involves creating images using a type of stencil process.

Solution 2 Embroidery
Advantage: Higher quality and will not scratch

Solution 3 Laser engraving
Advantage: It looks more natural and high quality than printing and will not fade or scratch.

Application: Metal, glass and also organic materials such as leather and wood.

Cost: There's no fee for the mold. You'll pay about 10 cents each, depending on the size and quantity of the logo.

Solution 4 Logo molding
Advantage: The logo looks very natural

Application: Metal, glass, plastic, silicone, rubber, etc.

Cost: A new mold or replacement is required. Creating a new mold costs $500 for metal/glass, and at least $1-2,000 for a plastic mold.

Solution 5 Woven label
Advantage: It looks higher quality than printing the logo on fabric.

Applied: Textiles

Cost: $0.1–$0.3, depending on size and quantity. The label provider typically has a minimum charge of around $30.

If you'd like to learn more about private label brands, we've also published related articles previously:

11 solutions for private labeling your products
Find a private label manufacturer and supplier for small businesses
This is the next step...
Now it's time for you to express what's on your mind:

Would you like to select the camping equipment or other products category to start your business?

Or maybe you want to learn more about wholesale camping equipment from China.

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below or contacting us to help you wholesale or customize camping products from China.