pgho wrote:With so many shops, are prices very competitive? Better than Taobao prices?
Indeed, prices are very competitive as these are wholesale markets meant for retailers to purchase tea and tea ware to stock up in their shops. I have seen retailers purchase hundreds of teapots to sell. I also saw an American asking questions about exporting products overseas. In most of the shops, prices are not displayed as it depends on how much you buy and whether you are a local.
Taobao is usually more expensive than buying direct because shopowners can give you discounts or freebies if you buy a larger quantity or are a regular customer.
Taobao is cheaper when it comes to:
(a) new mass market tea because some big time wholesalers have decided to go online.
e.g.
http://zmd360.taobao.com/
(b) fake tea, therefore when you see tea priced at a low price on Taobao, it is most probably fake; and
e.g.
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=2255917402
(c) certain tea accessories.
e.g.
http://www.01chaye.com/gallery-2-grid.html
On the whole, if buying tea, one should not use Taobao if possible because:
(a) a connoisseur should always try tea before buying;
(b) there are fakes on Taobao if you don't know what you are buying;
(c) part of the joy of puerh tea drinking is having tea sessions at the tea shop, chatting with the staff, striking a friendship with the tea master, letting them guide us on the journey of puerh and offering us a brief history of time over a lazy weekend afternoon.
That is not possible on Taobao.
However, if you are living in a remote location like Slovenia or Nordrhein-Westfalen, then Taobao is the only way you are going to get certain teas or tea ware, because the U.S. online retailers do not have everything.
