Have you ever seen an overseas chinese person bulk-buying a product such as infant milk formula, skin-care products or luxury chocolate. If so there is an excellent chance you were seeing a 代购, or purchasing agent in action.
What does 代购 mean in English?
Come across the Chinese word 代购 but not fully understood the meaning? Or, are you a mandarin student looking for an explanation of the meaning and culture behind the word 代购？ On this page we will explain the meaning of the word 代购， which translated means purchasing agent in English. We also provide an explanation of where this phenomenon comes from and how to spot it in action.
How do 代购 purchasing agents operate?
代购, or purchasing agents in English, typically work in foreign countries such as the UK, USA, Australia or Japan. The 代购 may live in that country, or be there for a short period for work or as a student.
The first thing they will need to do is create a shop on an online sales platform such as Taobao – which is often referred to as the Chinese Ebay. From here they will look for products in that country that they could sell online and ship to people living in China. Typical products are baby formula, luxury items, fashion brands, soaps and cosmetics from brands like Lush. Other specialities may be foreign books, CDs, or works of art.
The 代购 purchasing agent will take photos of the products and add a profile of the product on their Taobao profile including a price and how long it will take to ship. Obviously the price will also include a fee they set as their own profit margin.
When they sell these products they will simple go down to the store to buy them and then take them to a company that can ship them. In most cities in countries like the UK there are a company that specialise in shipping goods to China.
Why do Chinese people use 代购 – Purchasing Agents
To understand 代购 we first need to explain why there is a demand for foreign products in China.
We are all aware that China has an expanding middle class and in the last couple of decades there has been much more in the way of expendable income among Chinese professionals. For many Chinese the purchase of luxury foreign brands have become a badge of honour. As well as this young Chinese have become much more fashion-conscious and trends and have a huge interest in fashion brands.
Many urban Chinese are also interested in foreign foods because they believe that products bought from the west meet much more stringent food safety standards. Much of this is down to a 2008 case in which a Chinese baby milk formula was found to have caused kidney failure in 6,200 children. Indeed baby and infant milk formula remains one of the most popular products among people purchasing from 代购 located abroad.
Chinese people tend to use the services of purchasing agents to locate and buy unusual or limited edition items that are difficult to find in stock or on the company website. Therefore many fashion-conscious young people may turn to the services of a 代购 (purchasing agent) who will do the job of tracking down the item on their behalf for a fee.
Young fashion-conscious Chinese people may choose to use a 代购 to help them purchase an item of clothing or collectors item by a foreign brand that they follow.
代购 – purchasing agents, an example
Let us look at an example of a situation in which a Chinese person may employ a purchasing agent – 代购.
A student from China from a very wealthy background wanted to buy a jumper made by a Japanese fashion brand called Scalpers. Despite the expensive price tag on the day the jumper was relased for sale, it sold out almost immediately. Although our student was online at the time the jumper was released for sale they were unable to secure their purchase. Therefore they went to several purchasing agents to see if they had the product for sale. After several months one of the purcahsing agents got back to them to say they had located the product. The student then released the funds for the purchase to the purchasing agent, including the service fee and the product was finally received.