I need 8 blank tiles to make jokers for the set I foolishly bought without first reading the FAQs!
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FAQ 7Q: Where To Buy Blank Tiles
I need 8 blank tiles to make jokers for the set I foolishly bought without first reading the FAQs!
Look. It's going to be hard enough to find tiles that precisely match yours in look, material, and dimensions. I don't recommend making your quest even harder by insisting on blank tiles.
Your best bet is to obtain any extra tiles that match your set, and simply sticker them. See FAQ 4a for places to buy stickers and tiles - also you can read my "tiles for sale" BB and post on our "tiles wanted" BB (click the underlined links or use the nav frame at left).
On our Tiles For Sale bulletin board, see if anyone has offered tiles like yours - find posts from folks who offer various loose tiles for sale, and contact them to see if they have any like yours. Then, failing that, visit our Tiles Wanted bulletin board, and post your announcement about what you're seeking. On the Tiles Wanted BB, read everything at the top -- there is information there about other sources for replacement tiles. To get joker stickers visit our Maj Links page (FAQ 4a) and look in the Commercial Vendors and Suppliers section.
You can access the other bulletin boards and the FAQs via the Site Links in the nav frame at left.
I need blank tiles in LARGE QUANTITIES
I get asked this more often than you'd think. So many entrepreneurs want to make their own sets, or tchotchkes, or whatever, and need blank tiles in large quantities for the purpose.
The answer is very brief. Hong Kong. Dust off your passport, pack a travel bag, and go to Hong Kong. Take a printout of the companies listed in FAQ #7m with you. After a good night's sleep and a nice breakfast of dim sum, open the yellow pages and grab a cab (or if really adventurous, use ferry, subway, travelator...). You could also inquire with these manufacturers (take a printout of this FAQ along with you as well):
How did I get those addresses? I am a member of the Hong Kong Association here in my city. Through that membership, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC or TDC, the premier trade portal for doing business with Hong Kong), sent me the information. www.tdctrade.com/. And how did I get the addresses in FAQ 7m? I went to Hong Kong and looked in the yellow pages.
You can also try "Peggy" Y.Y. Yao's company, AONET.Ltd, in mainland China. The website offers numerous types of sets for sale, and I think they might be able to get blank tiles for you (although I don't think this company is a manufacturer). I'm not sure, but I think English may be spoken here.
To repeat the admonishment atop FAQ 7m:
For the most part, I do not recommend that you try to contact these companies from home, using English, and order merchandise via mail, phone, fax, etc., for four reasons (one more than given in FAQ 7m):
2. Shipping cost. If you buy a mah-jongg set (for example) from overseas and have it sent, the cost will likely be considerable. It can cost more to ship a thing, than the thing costs in the first place! (Depending on its weight and the shipping method.) If you go there, you could just lug the thing home and save the extra expense.
3. How are you going to make sure you know what you're getting? When you buy something from a catalog or a website, you at least have pictures of the item you're buying - and a straightforward item number, description, etc. But if you call a little shop in Hong Kong and order a thing, you can't be sure that the thing will be useful when you get it.
4. If you need a large quantity of blank tiles now, chances are you'll need more later. By going there, you establish a human relationship. And that's very important in Asia - it ought to be more important here in America too. Having done business together once, you may be able to set up future channels of communication via mail, phone, fax, etc.1. Language barrier. Unless you speak Japanese or Cantonese, you might not be able to communicate with whoever picks up the phone or reads your fax.
© 2007 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved. May not be re-published without written permission of the author.
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