Recruitment is by invitation only for now, but the Chinese vendor community already appears excited about this new channel. A factory owner surnamed Wu, who operates an Amazon store selling nail clippers and other goods, said he has yet to receive an invitation to join Haul and was told to wait until at least year-end, but he is keen to get his products listed there.
At a recent event in Foshan in southern Guangdong province, dozens of cross-border merchants, including Wu, listened to tips from “Amazon business development delegates” – agents who are tasked with teaching Chinese vendors how to target overseas shoppers on the platform. Launched on November 13, Haul has started sending invitations to select “high performers” who already run stores on Amazon, one manager said.
On the other side of the Pacific, Amazon is aggressively promoting Haul to US consumers with steep discounts and guaranteed seven-day delivery for 75 per cent of the orders. As the holiday season kicks off, the site has introduced a 50 per cent discount for all purchases made by US customers through Haul.
All products on Haul are capped at US$20, with the great majority priced under US$10. Some products are sold at lower prices than other platforms. One iPhone 15 case with Christmas design costs US$2.99 on Haul, while a similar one is priced at US$3.28 on Temu.