Adi Asulin lives in a fabulous apartment on the top floor of a seven-story building in the Israeli town of Ra'anana, north of Tel Aviv. The entry hall is long and light. Windows open onto an enormous balcony, which wraps around three sides of her home. The decor is fresh and white.

"It's all made in China," Asulin says.

Not just made in China. Nearly everything — the floors, the lighting, the furniture — she bought in China on a 10-day shopping spree.

The day after Asulin and her husband got keys to the place, she got on a plane to Guangzhou, in southern China.

"An adventure!" she says.

The big appeal was the price.

Asulin bought everything for the bathrooms on her 10-day shopping trip to China except for the tile, which came from a Palestinian factory.

Asulin bought everything for the bathrooms on her 10-day shopping trip to China except for the tile, which came from a Palestinian factory.

Emily Harris/NPR

"Forty, sometimes 50 percent off the prices in Israel," Asulin says.

The savings add up the bigger the job. Her new apartment had been a rental and needed a lot of fixing. But buying plus remodeling seemed beyond the family budget.

From a friend, Asulin heard about Israeli companies that arrange trips for individuals to buy directly from Chinese factories. She signed up, getting tickets and booking hotel rooms for herself, an architect and her dad for advice.

Once on the ground in Guangzhou, the trio was guided by the owner of the Israeli company and local staff. Their first stop was a flooring factory bigger than Asulin had ever seen — half the size of her city, she says.

"And I can choose whatever I want," she says. "Different colors, different materials, different prices."

The factory was organized by style: marble in one area, dark wood in another, colored linoleum somewhere else. For Asulin, it helped to have done a lot of planning and measuring before she arrived.

She loved having the time to focus exclusively on shopping — and finish most of it in a short time. She says this made the remodel much easier for her, a 37-year-old working mother of three.

"If I was buying everything in Israel, it was after work, with kids, afternoons and every weekend," she says.

Flying to China instead of letting Chinese products come to you is not the approach for everyone. Nurit Gefen, an Israeli interior designer, went on one China shopping trip with a client. She will not go again.

Gefen says it is the entirely wrong way to create a home.

"When you build a house, it's like pregnancy. You have to think about it, you have to dream about it," she says.

Plus, there are significant financial risks, she says.

Everything Asulin bought in China, including the lights and flooring in her entryway, had to be partially paid for upfront. There are no refunds and no returns in this niche fly-to-buy industry.

Everything Asulin bought in China, including the lights and flooring in her entryway, had to be partially paid for upfront. There are no refunds and no returns in this niche fly-to-buy industry.

Emily Harris/NPR

"When you go to China, you have to buy everything in advance. Before you know the colors, before you know exactly what you want," Gefen says. "And you can make mistakes when you buy things in advance. And you can't exchange it afterwards."

Partial payment in cash is often required upfront. Israeli newspapers have run horror stories of people who were ripped off on China shopping trips.

Still, they go. And Israelis are not the only ones doing their shopping directly in China. Israelis in the business say it's popular among people from a number of places, including Russia, India and the Gulf states.

Economics professor Daniel Levy of Israel's Bar-Ilan University says this service began because of structural problems in the Israeli economy. Israel started out socialist, and he says many practices of centralized control still affect the economy today.

"We don't have what you are used to in the U.S.," he says, "everybody trying to offer the best deal, which brings about greater efficiency and lower prices and happy customers. That's not what we have here at all."

This shows up most dramatically in grocery bills in Israel. Protests over the cost of food shook up Israel's elections last year. A 2011 parliamentary report showed that just two companies controlled more than 80 percent of the domestic cheese and yogurt production.

But weak competition also affects imports, including nonfood items like flooring and furniture.

Shai Safran heads Basini, an Israeli company that takes about 10 customers a month to China to buy everything they need for home remodels or building. He doesn't have a big showroom in Israel. He just treats factories in China as his own.

"Like my stores are the factories in China," Safran says. "I don't need 50 workers; I don't need inventory. I can save the cost of the business in Israel."

Even with his fee — for his contacts, logistics and know-how — Safran says he still beats the prices offered in Israel.

But that could change over time. Israel is building two new private ports and is hoping to reduce import costs in part by banning labor unions. A contract for the first port was signed last month — with a construction firm based in Beijing.

Emily Harris is NPR's Jerusalem correspondent. Follow her @emilygharris.

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

If you've ever built or remodeled a home, you may have spent a lot of time driving around to showrooms, comparing drawer handles or surfing the Internet for the best prices on bathroom tile. For Israelis, a niche market has emerged, and it takes them a lot further than their local stores. As NPR's Emily Harris reports, Israelis are flying to China.

ADI ASULIN: Hi, nice to meet you. Welcome to my house.

EMILY HARRIS, BYLINE: Adi Asulin opens the door to her recently remodeled apartment in Ra'anana, north of Tel Aviv. We're in a long, light hallway. Windows open onto an enormous balcony.

It's beautiful.

ASULIN: Thank you. It's all made in China.

HARRIS: Two big square ceiling lights in the hall even have Chinese writing showing. Asulin bought almost everything for this house on a ten-day shopping spree in China.

ASULIN: The lighting, whatever outside furniture, inside furniture - everything.

HARRIS: The day after she and her husband bought the house, she got on a plane to China. The first shopping stop was a flooring factory bigger than she'd ever imagined.

ASULIN: Like half of my city was the one company of floors. And I can choose whatever I want like different colors, different materials, different prices.

HARRIS: Not only Israelis were shopping. Asulin saw customers from Russia, India, the Gulf States and China. It was a bit overwhelming, she said, and not for everyone. But she'd loved having time to focus and getting all the shopping done at once.

ASULIN: If I was buying everything in Israel, it was after work with kids, afternoon and on the weekend, and it probably will be more than 10 days.

HARRIS: Even though she had to pay part in advance and could not return anything, price remained the big appeal.

ASULIN: Forty - up to 50% off the prices in Israel.

HARRIS: Offsetting even the cost of plane tickets, a hotel and food for her, an architect and her dad to advise. Economics professor Daniel Levy at Israel's Bar-Ilan University says Israel started out socialist, and many practices of centralized control still affect the economy today.

DANIEL LEVY: So we don't have what you are used to in the U.S. competitive markets really where price competition is fierce and everybody is trying to offer the best deal which brings about greater efficiency and lower prices and happy customers. That's not what we have here at all.

HARRIS: This shows up most dramatically in grocery bills. Protests over the cost of food shook up Israel's elections last year. A 2011 parliamentary report showed that just two companies controlled more than 80% of the domestic cheese and yogurt production. But weak competition also affects imports, including nonfood items like flooring and furniture.

SHAI SAFRAN: Right now we're looking at solid surface Corian bathtubs. This kind of product is very high-end product.

HARRIS: Shai Safran flips through catalogs from Chinese companies. He runs Basini, an Israeli company that takes about 10 customers a month to China to buy everything they need for home remodels or building. To save them money, he says he just treats factories in China as if they were his own.

SAFRAN: I don't need to make in Israel a big showroom. I don't need 50 walkers. I don't need inventory. And I can save the cost of the business in Israel. Like, my stores are the factories in China.

HARRIS: Even with his fee for his contacts, logistics and know-how, Safran says he still beats the prices offered in Israel, but that could change. The Israeli government is trying to break high import costs by building two new private ports where labor unions won't be allowed. A contract for the first was signed last month with a construction firm based in Beijing. Emily Harris, NPR News, Jerusalem. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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