How I got it all without breaking the bank

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Every April and October the city of Guangzhou China host the Canton Trade Expo, the largest business to business Expo in the world. Manufactures from all over China showcase products to hundreds of thousands of people visiting from every corner of the world. It’s a three phase Expo lasting almost a month. . . I’ve been attending the show for the last eight years. . . same routine this year. Armed with my list of products the home office has interest in off I went. . .

First day of Phase 1, I happen to see an ice chest that looked like it could be plugged into a cigarette lighter. After further review I found out it was exactly like the type I’ve seen on Overland camping rigs. It can run off the cars battery or setup to run off a 12-volt battery charged by solar panels. . . it was nice but not exactly what I wanted and trying to ship it back home would be a hassle so I didn’t think much of it. . .

I saw five or six more companies selling the same type of refrigerator/ice boxes but all junk except one was nice, actually very nice and rugged. . seems they are the manufacture for the same high-end ones you see on Amazon for a whopping $1,250 with the German made compressor. . . I took note and acted interested but moved on. . The next I was back at it with my list when I took a coffee break. . . I looked thru the window were the small booths in the back were and saw a small one-foot square tent model that looked like a toy. . . looking closer I saw it was a model of the Hard-Shell Rooftop Tent I was looking for. . . They sale on Amazon for $3,000/$3,500. Started a conversation and it turned out that even thou they weren’t there to sale this product they were the actual manufacture. They agreed to send me one for test at the sample price. It also turned out they make the large 270-degree Batwing awning. . . another item in my Amazon Wish List. Now with the Tent and Awning it was making more sense to ship these items home. So I went back and made a deal on the Refrigerator and was feeling pretty good about myself.

The following week at Phase 2 I found a pretty good size suitcase Solar panel that would easily charge a marine battery for the refrigerator. . . .150W with all the converters, cables and whatnot. .

When it was said and done my $6,000 Amazon Wish List was gotten for $870 (tax included) + approximately $500 to ship it home. . . Oh yeah. . . and I found all the products for the Home Office.