Phase 2 of the 140th Canton Fair runs from 23 to 27 October 2026 in Guangzhou, and it is the week the home side of the fair takes over. Kitchens, tables, shelves and gift boxes: this is where importers, distributors and independent retailers do the assortment work that has to carry them through the next two seasons.
It is also the phase where a careless comparison costs the most. Home goods are easy to look at and hard to specify, and two suppliers can quote the same number for goods that are not the same goods. This is a working checklist for the days that are left, not a description of the show.
What Phase 2 Actually Covers
The official exhibition information lists six category families for Phase 2. Most buyers will need two or three of them, and deciding which two or three before you enter the halls is the difference between a shortlist and a stack of catalogues.
- · General ceramics: tableware, decorative ceramics and porcelain for household use
- · Household items: cleaning tools, storage, laundry, bathroom and general home accessories
- · Kitchenware and tableware: cookware, food containers, cutlery, drinkware and serving pieces
- · Home decorations: textiles, mirrors, wall pieces, artificial flowers and candle holders
- · Festival products: seasonal decorations and holiday collections
- · Gifts and premiums: promotional gifts, packaging and corporate gift sets
Those six families sit next to each other but they do not share a buyer. A gift distributor who spends a morning in ceramics will usually lose the morning.
Why Home Goods Punish Loose Specifications
An electronics buyer can settle most arguments with a datasheet. A home goods buyer has to settle them with a physical sample, because the variables that decide whether a product sells are not printed on any label: the weight of a bowl in the hand, the glaze on the rim, whether a lid seals, whether the carton survives a pallet stack.
That is why a low unit price is the weakest piece of information on the floor. It tells you what one factory will accept for one interpretation of your product, and it says nothing about the second and third interpretation you will receive when you ask three suppliers to quote the same item.
Comparing Quotes That Can Actually Be Compared
Before you request a price, fix the specification in writing and send the same document to every supplier. If two quotes differ and you cannot say which variable differs, you do not have a comparison, you have two numbers.
- · Material and grade: the exact body, glaze, fabric or coating, not a generic category name
- · Dimensions and weight: finished size, packed size, carton weight and units per carton
- · Packaging: retail box, inner box, master carton and any barcode or label requirement
- · Quantity and Incoterm: the same order quantity and the same delivery term for every quote
- · Sample and tooling charges: listed separately, so the unit price stays comparable
Ask every supplier to split sample charges, custom packaging, mould or tooling cost and export handling out of the unit price. Mixed into one number, they make a cheap quote look expensive and an expensive quote look cheap.
Documents, Identity and the Part Buyers Skip
Home products carry fewer technical approvals than electronics, which makes buyers relax too early. Food contact materials, child safety rules and destination labelling still apply, and they differ by market.
- · Who you are buying from: the exhibitor may be a factory, a trading company or an agent, and the contract should name the entity that will actually ship
- · Food contact compliance: cookware, drinkware and storage that touch food need documents for the exact material and the destination market
- · Test reports: check the model, material and date on the report, not only the certificate logo
- · Labelling and origin marking: confirm what the carton and the product must carry before production starts
None of this is exotic. It is simply the part of the conversation that happens after the sample looks good, which is also the point where most buyers have already stopped asking questions.
After 27 October: What the Follow-Up Should Contain
The halls close, the samples go into a suitcase, and the order is decided in the four weeks that follow. Ask for reference samples from the shortlist, compare them against each other rather than against the catalogue, and put the comparison in writing.
A useful follow-up message contains five things: the specification sheet, the requested quantity, the destination port, the target delivery date and the inspection arrangement. Suppliers who answer all five in one reply are telling you something about how they will handle the production.
FAQ
Should I attend Phase 2 for home products or work it remotely?
Both work, but they answer different questions. Attending lets you handle the product and judge the finish, the weight and the packing quality. Working remotely through the official exhibitor and product channels is enough to build a shortlist and request comparable quotes, provided you order samples before committing to volume.
What should a home goods quote include before I compare it?
Material, dimensions, packed weight, units per carton, packaging version, order quantity, Incoterm, lead time and any test or certification cost. A quote missing any of these cannot be compared with the one next to it.
Is Phase 2 only for large importers?
No. The fair is a business to business exhibition and most exhibitors have minimum order quantities, but many will quote small trial orders through a sourcing partner. The practical limit is usually the carton quantity rather than the size of the buyer.
Turn Booth Contacts Into a Real Order
Phase 2 ends on 27 October 2026. Whether you walk the halls or work them from a desk, the value of the week is decided by how precisely you specify what you want before the quotes arrive.
Easy Buy China works with overseas retailers and distributors from China's main export hubs through our sourcing and purchasing service. If your range overlaps with the small-commodity side of the market, our Yiwu market sourcing guide covers the channel that sits next to the fair.
Contact us with your category list, target quantity and destination market, and we will tell you which part of the week actually matters for your range. For the full phase dates, category map and registration steps, see the Canton Fair autumn 2026 guide, and for the inspection side, the pre-shipment inspection guide.