On November 6, Trump was re-elected as the new president of the United States.
Yiwu small commodity bosses who relied on betting on “new presidential merchandise” in the US election seemed to have collectively lost their voice this time.
back toIn 2016, Yan Tao’s Amazon store suddenly received a wave of sales. He was in Yiwu at the time and sold decorative balloons for various celebrations.
The sudden burst of orders made Yan Tao busy. At the same time, he realized that most of these orders were for balloons with the English letters “TRUMP”.
At that time, many Yiwu sellers had the same experience as Yan Tao: Sales of Trump-related small commodities continued to explode, which was completely different from the situation in the American media and polls before the election. It was not until November 9 of that year that the election results were announced and Trump won the election. Yan Tao recalled:“It seems like we have unintentionally participated in history.”。
and“Yiwu General Election Index”It also entered the public eye for the first time, and the city on the other side of the ocean actually became a new election indicator. In fact, most of the U.S. election-related products that Americans buy for the candidates they support, such as flags, baseball caps, T-shirts, and rubber masks, come from Yiwu, the capital of small commodities.
In 2020, sales of Trump support products have once again surged. Some Yiwu merchants even started preparing for the election as early as 2019, producing a large number of Trump support flags and other products, while there are almost no large quantities of Biden support products. Order. Based on the last experience, Yiwu sellers happily predicted that “orders will not be faked.”
But it turns out that Yiwu cannot predict the US election.
This year, Yiwu sellers have become much less enthusiastic about the US election. Yiwu bosses feel: “Making money is more important. “
So, they are playing something new this time.
01
They are still selling products that are 16 years old.
At the end of October, Yan Tao walked around Yiwu Trade City and found that most of the products related to the election were Trump.
In the United States, the correlation between support products and election results was discovered by a store owner as early as the 1970s. Steve Ferber is the co-owner of a collectibles store in Arizona. It has been selling merchandise related to the President of the United States since 1973, especially election related merchandise, and it has been more than half a century. After entering the e-commerce era, they also began to sell on independent websites and e-commerce platforms: Amazon and eBay.
Faber observed that this phenomenon first began to appear in 1976 when Reagan was running for president. Moreover, in the past 11 general elections, this phenomenon has only shown a negative correlation twice: the first was Al Gore in 2000, and the second was Hillary Clinton in 2016.
In other words, during the 2016 election, at least in Faber’s store, sales of Hillary-supporting products were higher. This was very different from the situation in Yiwu at that time, although a large number of election-supporting products in Faber’s store came from Yiwu.
In fact, since the 1990s, Yiwu has begun to produce peripheral products for the US election.: Flags, baseball caps, T-shirts, masks, etc. But it was not until the results of the 2016 general election came out that Yiwu finally emerged from the circle.
Perhaps due to the “reverse indicators” in 2020, Yiwu sellers no longer predict the results this year.Although Trump’s peripheral products are still hot-selling this year.
The owner of a flag shop in Yiwu International Trade City said that the small flags with Trump’s photos on sale in the store are samples left over from the 2016 election.
Yiwu seller Lucy also thinks thatThere is no necessary correlation between the sales of Trump products and his approval rating: “Most of the Trump products in Yiwu now are left over from his first election.In fact, Trump’s product sales are high mainly because he has so many products.”
02
“Trump is too cunning”
In the four years since he was not president, Trump has not been idle, nor have Yiwu sellers:No time to prank Trump.
In the Trade City, Yan Tao can still see a product that he saw in 2016 and that impressed him deeply. This product is obviously not used by supporters to support Trump: it is a Trump cartoon image. Toilet brush, and the bristles are Trump’s “hair.” “I remember that this toilet brush was very popular on Amazon at the time, but later the platform refused to sell it, saying it was infringement.”
As a domestic e-commerce platform in the United States, Amazon in the United States does not allow it to be sold, but it cannot prevent this product from becoming a hit. Lucy runs a daily necessities production factory in Yiwu. She told Qiwhale: “We have been selling this Trump toilet brush for four or five years, mainly through cross-border e-commerce sellers who come to buy goods from us.And it’s not just during the general election, it sells very well every year.”
In addition to Yiwu, the capital of small commodities, Chenghai, the capital of toys, Shantou, also participated in this fun carnival with toys. This plastic hammer with the image of Trump emits colored lights as long as it is hammered down, as well as recordings of some of Trump’s classic speeches. H, a toy dealer from Chenghai, told Qiwhale that this toy is very popular and “sold out” during the last election: “Now the minimum order is 5,000.”
Among the many small commodities related to the general election sold in Yiwu, Trump also has many more product lines that have been ridiculed and parodied than its competitors.
With just a latex mask, Biden only had a smile on his face. As for Trump’s latex mask, there is a lot to do in terms of hair, eye bags, mouth shape, and expression.“He is so cunning. Regardless of whether he is elected or not, I want to buy a corkscrew made of his mouth.”
And in the United States, people who buy Trump’s spoof products must support Biden or Harris? uncertain.They don’t even have a clear stance on the general election.
This thermally developed mug only has a picture of Trump at room temperature, but once hot water is poured into it, it will show a picture of Biden “kissing” Trump. More than 200 of the $16.99 mugs have been sold on Amazon in the past month.
No matter in China or the United States, ordinary people just want to buy a toy cheaply and have fun.
03
The United States cannot do without Yiwu Speed
“Making America great again” cannot be separated from China.
The Trump team is also actively launching various peripheral products.
For example, there is a Trump Store in Trump Tower in Las Vegas, and there is also an official Trump website online that sells Trump peripheral products. Trump and even Harris, who shouted “Made in the United States,” emphasized that they would only sell products made in the United States during the campaign, clearly rejecting products made in China.
Sellers in Yiwu have also been affected. According to reports, orders in Yiwu this year are 20%-30% lower than during the 2020 election.
Since regular wholesale procurement is not possible, then use cross-border channels.Yiwu bosses sell merchandise directly to Americans from cross-border platforms. The irony is: the “MAGA (Make America Great Again)” hat purchased through Trump’s official channels sells for as high as $40, while it only costs $15 on Amazon and as low as $4 on Temu.
Supporters still have to buy “Made in China” and cannot do without Yiwu.
On July 13 this year, a large number of Yiwu orders were placed again.
After Trump was assassinated, the “World Famous Painting” with his fist raised in the air became popular all over the Internet, and Yiwu merchants quickly sensed business opportunities. On July 14, the day after the assassination, T-shirts printed with this photo appeared on e-commerce platforms. , and there are a large number of orders, and the merchant promises “delivery within 48 hours.”
At that time, some merchants in Yiwu completed finalized proofing and shipment within three hours of the incident. Netizens joked:The bleeding from Trump’s ears hasn’t stopped yet, but the boss of Yiwu has already made the surrounding T-shirts a hit. This is the speed of China.
Although domestic e-commerce platforms quickly removed related products from the shelves, they soon became popular on cross-border e-commerce platforms: Amazon, eBay, Temu, and TikTok Shop. The shipping locations were all shown to be from China. Many U.S. brick-and-mortar stores are also selling it.
Especially in the TikTok Shop, many stores carried this T-shirt live. One anchor sold thousands of T-shirts after increasing the price by $10 from the original price of $14.99. The American Internet celebrity “Hodge Twins” with more than 2.66 million followers on Instagram also sells this T-shirt, priced at $35 each, and claims that all profits will be donated to the Trump campaign.
A few days later, major e-commerce platforms showed that this T-shirt was out of stock, and they could only wait for Yiwu bosses to restock it. Other peripheral products such as mobile phone cases were also released quickly. In terms of absolute response speed and low price, China’s cross-border goods still have an overwhelming advantage.
On November 6, the results of the US election were finally announced, and Trump will once again win the White House. The Yiwu Index seems to be working again.
But no matter who wins, the real winner seems to be the sellers in Yiwu.
Note: Text/Chester, article source: Riding a Whale to the Sea. This article is the independent opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Yibang Dynamics.
