I'm a long-time lurker of this group, and have deeply appreciated all
the expertise shared over the years. It's been invaluable in my tea
education. Between this group, years of drinking scores of different
traditional teas gongfu cha style, and making monthly pilgrimages to
the many family-owned Chinese tea shops in Richmond, B.C. for lengthy
tea tastings, I've learned enough to act as a local advocate and
educator on the subject of Chinese teas -- an enthusiastic advanced
amateur, but still a long ways from being a true expert!

Somehow this has naturally led to the formation of a local Chinese tea
club of sorts, where we regularly hold tastings for an ever-increasing
circle of friends. We began buying more and more tea until we finally
decided to start buying some wholesale as an extension of my wife's
herbal and craft business so that we could share some decent low-cost
tea with our rural and mostly tea-naive neighbors.

We've found some good wholesalers for medium to medium-high quality
Chinese teas (high-end retailers are abundant, but wholesalers seem to
be another story), which is fine as there is a high poverty level in
the area and few around here can afford $100+ per pound.

We have good wholesalers for English-style tea accessories, so there's
no problem buying tea tins and kettles.

What we have NOT been able to find though, is a good wholesaler for
gongfu cha accessories and yixing pots. The one wholesaler who even
carries such things sells them at prices that match retail up in
Richmond, and with a much more limited selection than the Richmond
shops to boot.

I found a factory in Yixing with incredible prices, but you need to
buy an entire shipping container's worth and since this is just a
hobby business at best that's massive overkill (although if I won a
lottery I wouldn't object to a cargo container of Yixing pots sitting
out back).

Any idea where one can buy wholesale a reasonable quantity of gongfu
cha trays/pots/utensils/etc?

-Charles

On Apr 2, 6:03 pm, Iggy wrote:
I'm a long-time lurker of this group, and have deeply appreciated all
the expertise shared over the years. It's been invaluable in my tea
education. Between this group, years of drinking scores of different
traditional teas gongfu cha style, and making monthly pilgrimages to
the many family-owned Chinese tea shops in Richmond, B.C. for lengthy
tea tastings, I've learned enough to act as a local advocate and
educator on the subject of Chinese teas -- an enthusiastic advanced
amateur, but still a long ways from being a true expert!

Somehow this has naturally led to the formation of a local Chinese tea
club of sorts, where we regularly hold tastings for an ever-increasing
circle of friends. We began buying more and more tea until we finally
decided to start buying some wholesale as an extension of my wife's
herbal and craft business so that we could share some decent low-cost
tea with our rural and mostly tea-naive neighbors.

We've found some good wholesalers for medium to medium-high quality
Chinese teas (high-end retailers are abundant, but wholesalers seem to
be another story), which is fine as there is a high poverty level in
the area and few around here can afford $100+ per pound.

We have good wholesalers for English-style tea accessories, so there's
no problem buying tea tins and kettles.

What we have NOT been able to find though, is a good wholesaler for
gongfu cha accessories and yixing pots. The one wholesaler who even
carries such things sells them at prices that match retail up in
Richmond, and with a much more limited selection than the Richmond
shops to boot.

I found a factory in Yixing with incredible prices, but you need to
buy an entire shipping container's worth and since this is just a
hobby business at best that's massive overkill (although if I won a
lottery I wouldn't object to a cargo container of Yixing pots sitting
out back).

Any idea where one can buy wholesale a reasonable quantity of gongfu
cha trays/pots/utensils/etc?

-Charles

Hey Charles,

At the outset let me say I won't have an answer but I hope that my
reply will offer some help. I can completely understand the desire to
find inexpensive options for a client that does not have money to
burn. I grew up quite poor (monetarily) myself and still to this day
do not squander money or over-indulge even when I can. As a result I
have always tended to be "cheap" and to make do with an inferior
product or exert some effort to make a lesser alternative work. While
I do have a few low-quality items that have held out in the test of
time, I find I treasure my tea items and that settling for less only
ends up costing more and creating clutter in the long run. I'm not
saying you are doing your friends/customers a disservice but it may be
better to make do with some make-shift items first and then offer good
quality items that may cost a bit more for those who want to pursue
it. When money is tight, waiting, saving, and sacrificing to buy the
proper item makes the tea taste even better.

As much as I love some of my first low-quality Yixing for sentimental
reasons, there is just no comparison to a well-crafted Yixing teapot.
The pour times are slow and it can actually make a big difference,
especially to a novice. As with anything, I'm not one who always
demands you have to buy the absolute best to get into a new
endeavor... just the best item for the task at hand at the most
reasonable price. Which generally means somewhere in the middle of the
road.

Best of luck,
- Dominic
http://teasphere.wordpress.com