They collect second-hand clothes in Shenzhen and sell them to Africa: "They earn more than they do at work."

On the first floor of an inconspicuous industrial area in Longgang, Old Liu was busy sorting old clothes from the warehouse. On the ground covered with rainproof cloth, several piles of clothes were separated, and he threw thin and light women's dresses, shirts, and skirts into the same pile.
"Look, there's still a hang tag hanging here," he pulled up a dress and showed me. "Many girls' clothes are not needed after wearing them two or three times, and they look no different from new ones." As he spoke, his hands kept moving, busy among the piles of clothes.
In the second-hand clothing industry chain, Lao Liu belongs to the frontline and is also known as a "retail investor". He has a tricycle and a van. With these two cars, he shuttles through various residential buildings in Shenzhen to buy old clothes. He rides three wheels near the distance and drives a van if it's far away.
Most of the clothes collected by Lao Liu were sold to sorting factories in tons. A ton of summer clothing is worth six to seven thousand yuan, but the winter clothing market has been average recently, with prices dropping to six to seven hundred yuan per ton.
The sorting factory then sells these clothes to the export factory, which is the most profitable part of the domestic second-hand clothing export industry. Export factories connect with foreign distributors, and summer clothing is mainly sold to Africa, with a portion being shipped to Southeast Asia. A portion of winter clothing will be resold domestically, while a portion will also flow into countries such as Russia.
According to the Second hand Clothing in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges report, in 2021, the import value of second-hand clothing in Africa reached 1.84 billion US dollars, of which China's export value of second-hand clothing to Africa reached 624 million US dollars, making China the largest exporter of second-hand clothing in Africa.
A bright and fashionable dress, to complete its journey across the sea and ultimately wear on a dark skinned African woman, must go through a series of trade nodes in the second-hand clothing industry chain, with a pair of sorting hands, one of which is Lao Liu's.
1、 Every old garment has its place to go
Lao Liu has been in this industry for more than two years, and except for the first three months when he was paying tuition fees, his income has remained stable, which is better than working. "There's always a collection of junk in any era, right?" he said.
Lao Liu's choice of second-hand clothing is somewhat accidental. One morning three years ago, he watched TV. A business model of "Northeast Old Railway" was being broadcast in the financial report. Old Railway opened five stores to buy second-hand clothes locally. Old Liu was surprised in his heart, "Clothes have this purpose.".
Old Liu hesitated and began to study the tricks of this industry in Shenzhen. "With a transportation vehicle, a warehouse, and ten or twenty thousand working capital in hand, basically this can be done.". Collecting clothes from residents doesn't cost much money. Summer clothes cost 1 yuan per kilogram, and winter clothes cost 50 cents per kilogram.
Lao Liu's channels of acquiring customers mainly come from online. He regularly updates the news of purchasing clothes on all conceivable channels, such as Tiktok, WeChat, Xiaohongshu, and 58 cities.