“Every e-commerce seller was competing for the same products.”

We went from factory to factory, begging each one to send us whatever products they had in stock,” Bai said. “Shenzhen and Yiwu cities manufacture our products, but those factories stopped operating. (Charles Zhang/Marketplace)Īt the start of last year, when China locked down most of its economy, Bai scrambled to get his overseas orders fulfilled. E-commerce vendor Bai Haitao, who uses the American shopping platform Wish, tells Marketplace it has been a roller-coaster year for his business. There were so many points we were on the brink of closure,” Bai said. “The stress has been massive this past year. raising its postage rates has knocked Chinese sellers like Bai, who are already reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a seemingly small change like the U.S. Its top-selling items are cellphone holders, robot vacuums and earrings. and Europe under the name Vastsee via the American shopping platform Wish. He has since switched to e-commerce and sells mainly to the U.S. “The client paid me bit by bit every year. One client took 10 years to pay off an invoice,” Bai said. In China, it is very common for clients to delay payments. “A lot of my projects were with government departments or state-owned firms. He used to sell LED lights to big construction projects in China.

Prior to 2020, the biggest challenge businessman Bai Haitao faced was getting paid on time.

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