So the new Standard and Basic Membership system went live at the end of last month. Whew!!! It has been such a stressful time, so much to take care of!

Happily it went without a hitch and the number of Standard members is rising (more slowly than we would have hoped but we’ll give it time).

Just to recap on the differences, Standard members (they pay a small membership fee) can post up to 50 Sell Trade Leads, 50 Products, unlimited Buy Trade Leads and unlimited Partner Trade Leads, have an extended company profile including more contact details. They can also post Documents and appear higher in lists and search results. It all serves to make their company and products a lot more visible to Buyers and, we all hope, will help increase the volume of international trade these members enjoy.

For the time being Basic members can post 2 Sell Leads, 1 Partner Trade Lead, Unlimited Buy Trade Leads, 2 Products and a Company Profile. This subscription level is free and is really aimed at Buyers.

Those of you who are considering subscribing might be interested to know we’re running a promotion until the end of this month - 33% off the first quarter’s membership fees!

Love this, it really puts things in perspective!

Sadly nobody on the trade portal is selling trips to Arcturus and beyond but if you’re interested in making a go of it yourself why not buy some nitromethane?  The trade lead details sound pretty technical but apparently one of its uses is as a rocket propellant.

Take a quick scan through the trade leads and you’ll notice the large number of Chinese companies selling shoes - mainly sports shoes with big brand names. Here’s one such trade lead.

I couldn’t help thinking about them whilst I read ‘A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers‘, a book that’s recently been published, written by a Chinese woman - Xiaolu Guo.

It’s a romantic comedy about a young lady whose parents run a shoe factory in China. She’s sent to England to learn English and we get an amusing look at how she grapples with the differences in language, custom and her new found sexual freedoms. Well worth a read.

Interesting to learn that 50 years ago South Korea’s main export was human hair. How times change! Electronics is obviously far more lucrative.

These days, whilst most human hair comes from China, a lot comes from the Indian sub-continent. A large quantity of Indian hair, which is valued because of its European like texture, comes from temples - Hindus shave their hair off as a sign of religious devotion.

But did you read about all those girls and women in India who have been forcibly having their heads shorn to make weaves and extensions?

You may think it’s not a great hardship but in most cultures long and healthy hair is valued as a thing of great feminine beauty - so not very pleasant for the poor ladies concerned.

Of course none of this would happen if not for the huge worldwide demand for these hair pieces. Pop stars, models, the rich and the famous all want to look even more glamorous by attaching strands of hair to their natural locks. Many black hair styles depend on the use of hair extensions. Think of all the wigs that are used, whether for vanity, medical or religious reasons.

There’ll always be a need for hair pieces and until the artificial ones match the quality of the natural there will always be some poor woman walking around bald.

There are a variety of human hair products and trade leads on the trade portal (though none of them are from India they are all from China). Take a look:

Long 100% Human Hair
Human Hair
Human Hair Extension

People and governments everywhere are becoming more aware of the harm we are doing to the planet by our over-consumption and waste.

At the same time the rising cost of energy is making consumers take a harder look at their energy demands and usage habits.

These two factors play a part in the growing interest in renewable energy and energy saving products, especially in the west - the EU for instance is committed to increasing the use of renewable energy sources.

Anyone marketing such products is surely on to a good thing. Glancing through some recent trade leads two catch the eye:

• Energy saving street lights, from a trader in Macedonia, which apparently save upto 60% of energy costs
• Wind generators (350w - 20kw), from a couple of traders in China, - one of them also has wind-gas hybrid and wind-solar hybrid generators (useful for times when the wind is still)

We’ll be keeping an eye out for other examples of green products.