NONGLUCK THAI WOOD - SHOP RELATED TO KHT KAUFHAUS THAILAND - ON JATUJAK

WHAT'S THIS POST ABOUT?

This post focuses on buying goods in Thailand, on Jatujak. It will cover mainly the part of handicraft items but can be applicable for other goods, too. It can be used for other markets as well. We do not claim that all items are cheapest on Chatuchak. There are more specific markets all over the town, such as clothes at Pratunam or computer equipment at Saphan Lek. We will publish soon further posts about general purchasing in Thailand and on the internet. It will however try to give you an impression about our shop on Jatujak Market that we operate as Nongluck Thai Wood as well. We hope to give you good advice what to look for if you purchase handicraft articles.

JATUJAK MARKET

Imagine the largest open air market in the world. Imagine over 8,000 shops. How can you find orientation? Technically, you can't! There are so many different articles that it seems impossible to write a complete detailed description. Therefor, we will focus in this post on introducing you to the area of the handicraft goods. You can find also our shop Nongluck Thai Wood in that area. 

So, let me make first some markting in our own interest before we proceed. As we have already told you in previous posts, we have two shops on the market distributing wooden products. The biggest advantage to go shopping at our shops and not at our internet online shops is definitely the variety of our items and the product palette. There are only a few items that we offer you online but not in our shop. Shopping on markets is basically a full sensual experience. You can see, smell and touch our products. Here, you can assemble your own personal choice of wooden items. Here, you can get a close relation to the articles that you want to buy. Bargaining as well can be big fun if you do not see it too seriously, but rather as a kind of entertainment

Nongluck Thai Wood & Kaufhaus Thailand Philosophy!

Our attitude to life has not been influenced by the selling on the market but it influences our appearance in all life situations. We will always try to be friendly. Some suspicious minds may take our smile as a marketing strategy. This is not the case, we just do not like negative people. Smiling keeps healthy and it is attractive. One of the highest values in our lives is to be kind. There is a direct connection between Thais looking young, keeping themselves young and their ability to smile. Who doesn't know the Thai smile? Who doesn't know its magic? Everything is only a question about having the right attitude towards life. Unfortunately, there is an influence of western culture and stress on Thai life. So, Thais do not smile as often anymore as a few decades ago. Well, however, there will be always and everywhere people who just can't be, and probably don't want to be, happy. Personal contact is incredibly important for us and a smile can open doors and create contacts. This is part of generally fundamental logic for us! Of course, we do not know if you will ever come back to Thailand. So, why should we smile only out of business interests? We want that people feel good in life. Shopping at our place will hopefully provide a bit of sunshine. Further, there is out of our perspective no better advertisement for a country than friendliness, honesty and hospitality. We do not only sell our articles at our shop, we represent a part of our country - Thailand. However, that does not mean that we will give in too easily as well. As everywhere, you can't behave as you wish in our shop without caring about our emotions. In the case that some unfriendly, rude, bad mannered or ignorant people enter, then we will let them know that they have gone too far. We are sellers not garbage cans that you can treat like a Soi dog! We do not have many problems with Europeans, far from it. We like Westerners but I do not want to sound like a racist. Therefor I will not tell you about the origins of most trouble makers. There are some people that think that Thailand and Thais have to endure everything only because they bring their money to our country. We will not bother anybody to buy something at our shop. Sometimes, people are just shopping because they want to experience the culture. We do understand that! Therefor, we will not directly approach you as soon that you enter our place. This does not mean that we do not care. We just do not want to bother you. So, please, do not feel neglected if in the first few moments nobody of us is speaking to you.  I started also traveling in South East Asia a bit shy and did not want to be hassled all the time. There were moments in the past that I entered a shop and was very interested in the things. Some sellers however jumped promptly on me and this was a shock. So, sometimes I went out of shops which had exciting things. The approach of the seller offended me with his too direct approach. We try to avoid this setting. But, I think you already know what I mean. We, at Nongluck Thai Wood, wish that our customers have all the time that they need. Of course, if you ask us a question, we will try to care as kindly as possible for you and your inquiries. We do not like hectic and stress and follow the Thai ideal of Sabaii Sabaii. This is the art of enjoying to relax. One of the reasons by the way that has kept me satisfied for such a long time in Thailand. Just no stress! The high value of patience is too often misunderstood in the modern world. If you take your time, everything will turn out to your satisfaction! This basically sums up our philosophy. Is it hard to handle? Don't worry, it took me years to get accustomed to the slow, peaceful and calm lifestyle. Fortunately, I am together with an extremely tolerant and generous woman who has let me the time to get used to it and finally becoming a master of Sabaii Sabaii.

Introduction for shoppers

Now, after having pointed out our philosophy, let's get it on with a guide how to buy things in far away countries. Of course, there are differences between countries so it is mainly about Thailand. Sometimes, I am getting really annoyed about all these bestselling travel guides. These books are definitely excellent in some parts such as describing sights, explaining routes and some about hotels and food. However, about shopping, particularly on Jatujak Market, they are rubbish! Well, they are utterly garbage as well about other things that are part of Thai lifestyle, but this is not the point. The Jatujak Market is completely wrong depicted by these books. I do not know about the intention of these writers who describe the shops on Jatujak. Their agenda remains unclear but they are not accurate and generalize just too much. I think the research that they have put into it was probably some kind of brainstorming in drunk conditions. Otherwise I have no clue how they can come up with some of their assumptions. I blame these books to destroy the relationship between any decent shop owner and his potential customers. It might be a hidden agenda to defend and protect traders that rip off customers, but I hope not. Just to say it directly to you, if a sales person gives you a 30% discount on a single item then this trader still rips you off! Any honest business person on Jatujak Market will not try to rip you off.Therefor it will never be possible that he gives you a discount of 30% that easily! That was eventually a bit fast, so let's get into more detail.

A classical example experience

Already in 1993, on the night bazaar of Chiang Mai, I tried to close a great deal. Initially, the sales woman was very kind and told me the price of 1600 Baht for an original hilltribe jacket. I had read in travel guides that it was possible to bargain the price down to the half. I followed the advice and went first ten minutes away and returned then to the shop. However, I was surprised that the sales woman decreased the price only slightly to 1500 Baht. I considered that as strange. I had expected a reduction to 1300 or 1400 Baht. Asked for a price offer, I suggested 600 Baht. If you want to bargain the half of the price, you have to propose first less of it. Now, the sales woman looked at me as if she had just seen an alien. She was obviously starting to get out of balance. This made me feel not that good anymore. I proposed quickly a new price offer at 900 Baht. She was cursing in Thai. I fortunately did not understand. She informed me then that her lowest price was 1300 Baht. I was still not satisfied and had the ignorance of the stereotype backpacker. I told her generously that 1200 Baht were okay. She was pretty annoyed but agreed on the price. She told me angrily that the only reason that she gave it to me was that she wanted to close her shop. Man, I must have really bargained her ass off! I must have really been an excellent bargainer! It was not directly as the travel guides wrote to get on any article easily 50% off. However, 25% or 400 Baht was already a lot. After I had paid and received the jacket, I left the shop. The sales woman shouted after me that I should never dare to come back. Now, that was also not my plan. So, why should I care? In retrospect I am still ashamed that I displayed such a behaviour. I made a good deal, indeed. But looking back, I was very rude. So, please try to understand the sales people. There are only some people with the intentions of ripping you off. Particularly, try to be kind

So, you really want the best price?

Reading the heading of this paragraph, you might think 'yeah. what a stupid question'. Now being serious with you, did you ever get anything valuable easily? I mean, except maybe a Russian mail order bride? Please, forgive me my sarcasm. So, clearly, logically you are just dreaming if you think that good prices are dropping automatically into your shopping bag. If you seriously want THE best price, then that can be as well frustrating. What is the best price for you? The cheapest deal? The lowest money for item? Then, you just make another mistake in your life. I was fortunate to meet an unconventional business man from Germany. He is pretty successful in the most things that he gets his hands on. I learned from him a big part about 'the best price is not always the cheapest'. His philosophy is to deal with nice people, not wasting any time for 20 cent more or less. This helps as well and to have a halfway trustworthy relation to the seller. So, let me rephrase. Do you always want to have the cheapest items? Okay, if your answer is yes, then you missed just the point. However, then you might gain most from the following explanations.

There are indeed ways to get the cheapest items but this needs a lot of work. The question is only if it is really worth to waste so much of your time for it. I hope you have understood my critic on the travel guide books. As I said they do not describe the truth. Further, they support the trader who wants to rip you off more than the honest business man. I invite any travel guide writer to discuss with me selling on Jatujak or even in Thailand! However, they are pretty good in other things such as describing you the way to Jatujak Market! Now, your purchasing trip or hunt for the cheapest price should not even start on Jatujak. You have to bring a lot of patience and time and start looking around on other markets such as Khao San Road, Lumpini Night Bazaar or eventually Patpong. Most of the sellers on the above mentioned markets buy on Jatujak and sell it then at more touristic locations. If you are far away from Jatujak Market then you might even want to buy there instead of traveling all the way to Bangkok's North, to the last Skytrain station. However, it is rather a rare occasion that you get the cheapest price at one of those markets. Now, there is a misconception about Jatujak which also derives from the travel guide books. Jatujak is not a retail but a wholesale market! If you do your shopping on Jatujak, then you will see that some shops really give you a discount of 30%. It is doubtful that you got the cheapest price at these shops. If a shop was 50% more expensive than a concurrent than they, of course, still make more profit by giving you this huge discount. Now, was it really worth it? How low is your salary per hour in your country? Just think about your time and effort in money. Then you will understand the least money for an item is just not the cheapest price!

Would you need some more details? Retail!

There are reasons why you can't expect huge discounts in retail. Our profit through wholesale and export accumulates approximately 80% of our total profit. Only 20% we make through retail. Customers who buy only one piece are in a dwindling minority. Therefor, please understand, we hardly give you any discount if you buy only one item. However, we try to sell in the best interest of customer satisfaction. We still give you a minimal discount of maybe 5-10% if you ask kindly enough. Our prices have been for years now some of the lowest for comparable wood items on Jatujak. We are still happy for every customer who wants to take his small piece of Thailand back home. We love every customer equally independent from the volume of your purchase. If you take only one small coffee spoon or you take an entire set of massage tools or kitchen utensils does not matter for us. However, please consider the value of your purchase. If one piece costs only 20 cents or 20 pennies, do you really want to barter for a reduction of 5 cents? I mean, please understand, we are no beggars but traders. Would you really waste your time for the amount of 5 cent? So, it is hopefully obvious, please do not be ridiculous! Sometimes, we might be so bored that even such a barter can be entertaining but that is usually not the case. 

Well, you were interested in wholesale?

Wholesale has of course more chances than retail. Buy more get it cheaper, that easy. We give you of course larger discounts It is not unusual that we give you a discount of 20% if your total price is 500 Euro, Pounds or Dollars. In the case of wholesale, we however, hope for a peaceful business relationship. So, you make yourself life easier if you are peaceful, calm and patient. Trade will always be done from two sides. Do not expect that we will keep our cool and be calm and friendly if your approach is insulting or rude. In some countries it is a sign of business if you are frontal and tough but that will help you in Thailand not at all. We can on the other side warn of sales people that seem to be a bit dodgy because they don't seem to be honest. Usually they do really not propose you good deals! Better if you keep away from such sales! This does not mean that you have to perceive us as friendly. Not everybody will like my wonderful stepdaughter or my super kind sister-in-law. People are different, in your country and in Thailand, too. I can only promise you that we will try our best to satisfy you as a customer and give you highest respect as a person. Then of course it will be easier to get to a good deal.

Can there be problems with article shortage and delays in delivery times?

We can provide for you most articles in any quantity in the duration of two to three weeks. However, there are certain times that you have to plan with longer waiting times. In April, around the Thai New Year Songkran, most Thais are not working. Then, unfortunately, the delivery periods can be extended of two to three additional weeks. The same is the case during the times of harvest. Most of our friends and family members are, besides being producers of wooden items, farmers. Therefor harvest time is a very intense period of the year. In the case that you wish to be our customer, we will not tell you any lies or stories. We are very much interested in transparency and honesty.  Therefor, we will tell you directly at the time of your order the approximate handling time. We do not see any benefits in giving you false information. This would be contradicting with our desire to extend continuously our customer base. We are not interested in making only the fast cash. After 12 successful years on the Jatujak Market, we have a reputation to loose if we are not honest with our customers.

Sounds nice. Can you give us any suggestions what to buy now?

This depends on if you are interested in retail or wholesale. If you are interested in souvenirs it is different than building serious business based on our products. So, I will write separately about it.

I want a few items that I can't get on the internet!

Generally spoken, we will not offer any of the larger items on the internet. An exception is during our summer sales. If you want to take articles with you in the plane, then there are two things that should be of most interest. First, the weight will be an important issue for you. Our largest articles have a weight of 500 gram. These are the trays, plates and large bowls. This means in most airlines you have a minimum weight of 20 kilogram. So, it should not be such a big problem. The size is the second issue. However, this usually is applicable only for our long shoe horns and the walking sticks. These, many airlines nowadays let you take into the cabin but will store in a special department, so don't worry. Otherwise, I can basically give you only the advice to buy what you really like. If you want to buy a present, then please think what the person would like most and about the interests of the person. Your friend might like massage, then you can bring him a massage tool. Your mother likes cooking? Bring her some cooking tools such as spatulas, serving spoons or bowls. We are sure you will find something suitable if the person is a wood lover. Something else you might be worrying about are the customs. All our used species of wood are from not endangered trees. Customs in most countries will have no issues with manufactured wooden items. It is different to whole pieces of not progressed wood such as a stem or a branch. We do not sell these items and so we cannot take any guarantees for them as well.

Would you like to trade with our articles?

Welcome! No, we are not afraid to loose online business if you become a trader of our articles. We are always happy if we meet new wholesalers. Everybody can make business with our products. We have customers in France, the United States and on the Maldives. The market is far from being satisfied. There is always place for more distributors of our items. You can sell these products in shops, on markets and at concerts. We just don't do one thing which is giving you a sole trading right for a country or a region. Unfortunately, if you expect to be the only trader in your region then we have to disappoint you.

Another question concerns the customs. We can give you only information about Germany where wooden products are custom tax free but we have to pay import tax of 19%. I have no idea how that is with other countries. If this is your first attempt to export products from Thailand, please contact a cargo agent. Usually, the cargo businesses on Jatujak are quite competitive. I have heard tho that there are better deals if you want to load an entire container on Rama IV and Thonglor Road. I would suggest you to send the articles by ship as by air is outrageous expensive. In the case of sea transport, most cargo agents will tell you of a shipping time of around four weeks. That is far beside reality. You can calculate at least with a duration of six to eight weeks that the vessel needs to your country. Be careful about the cargo agent! So far, we have not met any cargo agent that we would trust 100%. Unfortunately, sending things is a number game which relies a lot on the responsibility of the agent. We have already experienced complete failures where parts or the entire cargo got damaged or lost. Please, use logic by evaluating the situation. No cargo agent accepts articles with failures from the trader. This would be too much of a risk. So, we deliver our articles and then they break on the transport and not before. The cheapest agents don't have to be the worst. There is no 'super agent' who can offer you any guarantee! We usually decide in favour of the cheapest option. There aren't any guarantees and we face the same risks with all companies. So why should we pay more money? It just doesn't make any sense! Some agents may offer you fumigation. Only to get this clear, your wood will not be specially treated. The fumigation means that your load will be put into wooden crates. These crates get the special treatment, not your articles. However, this doesn't mean that your goods will be better protected. Therefor, again, why to pay additionally money?

YOU HAVE DESCRIBED EVERYTHING VERY NICELY BUT AREN'T THERE ANY PROBLEMS AT NONGLUCK THAI WOOD?

We are not perfect! I think a statement to be perfect is ridiculous. The biggest problem that you'll probably have to face in dealing with our shop is communication. My sister-in-law speaks splendid English because she has been years in South Africa. However, as you may know there can be always misunderstandings. Services in other languages we do not provide, except German. I offer you additionally one other service, to arrange business between other traders and yourself as I am fluent in English, Thai and German. But this is not a free service and you'll need to contact me at least two weeks in advance.
There is of course always the cultural misunderstanding. These interpersonal errors usually occur when the body language of one culture is differently to the other. So, please do not compare the behaviour of my sister-in-law and my stepdaughter with western styles. They both have contact with foreigners but are still fortunately traditional Thai.

I hope that you are now interested in dropping by in our Jatujak shop. Further, I wish that I got my advices across and that you have now less problems in doing business with Thai enterprises.  If I was successful then you have now won a closer picture about the perspective of us as sales people. One more final advice, please be patient, try to smile and be kind. This will open you many doors in Thailand.