Where to buy china clays

[T_Chan]

I'd like to offer custom chips to my customers who buy tables as it's become a common request. However, with the vast array of different types of chips available, I tend to overwhelm the customer with too many options. I'd like to offer a base chip which is a china clay with a custom label (which I'll get from Gear Labels). I really like the mold/chip which is used for the Pharaoh club chips which is also used for a few different other sets. I'd like to know where I can get them unlabeled in bulk. I would probably buy a few thousand of each color and store them until needed. I asked PGI already and they say they don't sell them.

 

[manamongkids]

PGI, best option, IMO. Joe is great to deal with.

EDIT, read the last sentence, whoops. Disregard.

 

[CdnBeerLover]

I think the Pharaoh's Club chips were made for The Chiproom. I don't think PGI was involved with those specific chips.

Other possible options:
PGI 8V chips (search CT for "Aviators' Club: 8V design" for a picture...they are not on the PGI site).
PGI Great Wall China Clays : http://palmgaming.us/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=241
Double Trapezoid ("Milano" blanks) : https://www.brybelly.com/products.php?categoryId=934

 

[MikeNV79]

Palm Imports on Alibaba :
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/clay-poker-chip_106276295.html

 

[CO0LHand]

Yea Alibaba is great for bulk.

 

[Mental Nomad]

Any suggestions for freight forwarders? Or specific vendors to trust for quality goods on Alibaba?

It's not trivial to do the importation yourself.

 

[BGinGA]

Any suggestions for freight forwarders? Or specific vendors to trust for quality goods on Alibaba?

It's not trivial to do the importation yourself.

I've been down that road before with a huge chip order. I strongly advise against it.

- - - - - - - - - Updated - - - - - - - - -

I'd like to offer custom chips to my customers who buy tables as it's become a common request. However, with the vast array of different types of chips available, I tend to overwhelm the customer with too many options. I'd like to offer a base chip which is a china clay with a custom label (which I'll get from Gear Labels). I really like the mold/chip which is used for the Pharaoh club chips which is also used for a few different other sets. I'd like to know where I can get them unlabeled in bulk. I would probably buy a few thousand of each color and store them until needed. I asked PGI already and they say they don't sell them.

First place I'd contact is Trademark Poker, and see if they currently carry any china clay lines (blanks or otherwise). Your easiest option may be the Progen80 line of chips, which are a lower-tier china clay in my opinion (inferior materials, inferior mold), but are somewhat readily-available, inexpensive, and sold with no labels.

FWIW, the mold and spot configurations/colors used for the china clay Pharaoh's Club are only used for that specific chip, and are not available as blanks (unless Jim @ thechproom wanted to place a specific order for pharaoh's mold blanks to his Chinese factory contact, and that would probably require approval by TenPercenter, the chiptalk.net admin/owner). The minimum order quantity is probably much higher than you are willing to buy, however. The last quote I got from China was for 30,000 chips minimum, with price breaks at 60,000 and 100,000 chips.

 

[tigon]

Yeah, it really seems like the buyer puts up a lot of risk with little protection against fraud, problems with shipping or inferior products. I've heard so many bad things about Alibaba that I'm surprised it's been the top dog when it comes to wholesale transactions for the best part of a decade, but you could say the same thing about eBay and personal auctions (except with sellers putting up the brunt of the risk)

 

[Mental Nomad]

I've been down that road before with a huge chip order. I strongly advise against it.

That's exactly the response I was hoping to elicit - but I don't have the personal experience to say it.

 

[MoscowRadio]

Could you do a mix-up of the 4D14 and 8V chips that PGI offers and sell those to your customers? Obviously it's on the Great Wall mold, but that way you could at least offer a couple of different edgespot options.

I almost forgot that solids are an option through PGI on the same mold as well.

 

[T_Chan]

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm going to look into all of the vendors discussed.

I'm not opposed to buying fro Alibaba, but mostly for smaller purchases and nothing that costs too much to ship. I'm ok with purchases of $100 or less, but anything more is too risky for me.

I wish I knew as much about chips as I do about tables.

 

[bchico]

T_Chan, I'm from Toronto but travel to China every month or 2 (I'm leaving on the 25th). If you need help with buying from China I'm more than happy to help out. It would be a good reason to drag the guys I travel with to a chip factory! I have an office with 10 or so sourcing agents. If you're serious about it I can have them work on it for you.

 

[T_Chan]

That would be great bchico. Right now I'm still in the planning stages and can't move forward just yet. I'd like to get some prices and pictures of the types of chips available before I go ahead about considering some orders. I'm also very backed up with tables at the moment to be diversifying into custom chips this month.

 

[bchico]

When you are ready, I suggest scouring Alibaba and reaching out to the factories. Get some quotes and samples. When you narrow down your search I can have my office contact them and get the "locals price"

Nice tables by the way. I'm trying to get our company to buy a table with our logo on it...which I would then steal of course! Hopefully I'll be calling you when an order.