Plan Ahead

Order early, or miss the season

Goods take 45 to 75 days to reach you. Most traders work this out the year after they have already missed it.

When to order, so your stock arrives in time

Goods take 45 to 75 days to reach you — production, sea freight, then clearing at your port. So the right time to order Ramadan stock is months before most traders have thought about it. Below is the last safe day to place each order.

1Find your season Each one shows the day you must order by, counted back from when selling starts.
2Read what we recommend What sells, how much to buy, and the mistakes that cost people money.
3Send it to us The form at the bottom. We confirm the deadline for your own port and quote the goods.
Air freight only

Kenya — Jamhuri Day

Selling starts 12 December 2026

Air freight only now Sea is no longer possible. Air can still make it if you order within 23 days, by 17 November.
Kenyan flags, hand and car Bunting and banners T-shirts and caps Wristbands and scarves Face paint Vuvuzelas and noisemakers

What we recommend

  1. Flag colours must be exact. Send the factory the official colour codes, not a photo from the internet
  2. Ask for a printed sample photographed in daylight before the full run — screen colours lie
  3. Printing adds seven to ten days on top of normal production. Count it in your lead time
  4. Schools, county offices and churches buy in bulk; approach them in advance rather than waiting for walk-ins

Independence Day, 12 December. The same stock also sells for Mashujaa Day in October.

Order for this season
Air freight only

School year opening — Kenya and Somalia

Selling starts 5 January 2027

Air freight only now Sea is no longer possible. Air can still make it if you order within 47 days, by 11 December.
Backpacks and school bags Exercise books and pens Lunch boxes and water bottles Uniform shoes and socks Geometry and stationery sets

What we recommend

  1. Bags sell in the two weeks before term, not during it — late stock sits until the next term
  2. Stick to plain colours; licensed cartoon designs are seized at some borders
  3. Buy one carton as a sample first if the supplier is new to you
  4. Ask for carton dimensions, not just weight — school bags are bulky and fill a container fast

Order before the Chinese New Year shutdown or your goods sit in a closed factory for three weeks.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Ramadan

Selling starts 8 February 2027

Order by 25 November 2026 31 days left if you ship by sea.
Dates and date gift boxes Prayer mats and caps Lanterns and decorations Cooking pots and serving dishes Abayas, thobes and hijabs Water jugs and tea sets

What we recommend

  1. The biggest season of the year for most of our clients — order early and order deep
  2. Prayer mats move in volume and the margin is thin, so buy at the quantity that gets the real price
  3. Lanterns break in transit unless they are packed properly; pay for the extra foam
  4. Split the order: the fast movers by sea now, the top-ups by air in the last two weeks
  5. Confirm the date every year — Ramadan moves about eleven days earlier each year

Chinese New Year falls close to this window. Factories close for two to three weeks — order before, not during.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Ethiopia — Adwa Victory Day

Selling starts 2 March 2027

Order by 17 December 2026 53 days left if you ship by sea.
Ethiopian flags and bunting T-shirts and caps Scarves and shawls Commemorative pins and badges Banners for shops and offices

What we recommend

  1. The flag has a central emblem, which is where cheap printing goes wrong. Insist on a sample
  2. Small commemorative pins have a very good margin and weigh almost nothing — ideal for air freight
  3. This is a patriotic day, not a gifting day. Buy display goods, not presents
  4. Order with your Ethiopian New Year stock later in the year and share the freight

Marks the victory at Adwa in 1896. Strong demand in Addis and the regional towns.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Eid al-Fitr

Selling starts 10 March 2027

Order by 25 December 2026 61 days left if you ship by sea.
Children's clothes and shoes Perfume and attar gift sets Toys Sweet boxes and gift wrapping Household decorations Bangles and accessories

What we recommend

  1. Buy clothes in the size mix your market really buys, not an even spread across sizes
  2. Gift boxes and wrapping sell out before the gifts do, and nobody orders enough of them
  3. Shoes are the hardest category for a beginner — sizes, widths, returns. Leave them until you have done a few orders
  4. Perfume may need a dangerous goods declaration for air freight. Ask us before you assume it can fly
  5. Ship it in the same container as your Ramadan stock and you pay the freight once

Comes straight after Ramadan, so plan both orders together.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Gu rains — Somalia and east Kenya

Selling starts 1 April 2027

Order by 16 January 2027 83 days left if you ship by sea.
Umbrellas and raincoats Rubber boots Plastic sheeting and tarpaulins Water storage containers Mosquito nets Gumboots for children

What we recommend

  1. Tarpaulin quality is measured in GSM. Ask for the number and do not accept 'good quality' as an answer
  2. Boots sell by size and the mix is not even — ask shopkeepers what they run out of first
  3. Mosquito nets may need a health certificate in some countries. Check before you order
  4. This stock does not expire, so buying ahead of the rains costs you only storage

Prices for rain goods rise in China once the regional orders start. Early is cheaper.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Hajj travel season

Selling starts 20 April 2027

Order by 4 February 2027 102 days left if you ship by sea.
Ihram cloth and belts Travel bags and luggage Foldable prayer mats Unscented soap and toiletries Waist pouches and document holders Umbrellas and cooling towels

What we recommend

  1. Pilgrims buy in the two months before travel, so your stock must be on the shelf early
  2. Unscented toiletries are a real requirement, not a preference — check every product before you list it
  3. Luggage sells on wheels and zips. Buy one sample and pull the zip two hundred times before you order a container
  4. Foldable mats and cooling towels are light, so air freight is affordable if you are late

Sells to a small number of customers who each spend a lot. Quality matters more than price here.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Eid al-Adha

Selling starts 17 May 2027

Order by 3 March 2027 129 days left if you ship by sea.
Large cooking pots and serving trays Knives and butchery tools Freezer bags and storage boxes Carpets and floor mats Clothes and shoes Charcoal stoves and grills

What we recommend

  1. Big pots and trays are what makes this season — households cook for far more people than usual
  2. Freezer bags and storage boxes move in volume and almost nobody stocks enough
  3. Knives are restricted in some countries; confirm your own rules before you order
  4. Weight the order towards kitchen and household rather than gifts — this is a cooking holiday
  5. Heavy goods, so work out the freight before you agree the price per piece

A longer window than Ramadan, but the goods are heavier. Sea freight only makes sense here.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Somaliland — National Day

Selling starts 18 May 2027

Order by 4 March 2027 130 days left if you ship by sea.
Somaliland flags, hand and car T-shirts and caps Bunting and street banners Wristbands and scarves Car window flags

What we recommend

  1. Car flags sell better than hand flags here — most of the trade is in Hargeisa and Berbera traffic
  2. The flag carries Arabic script, so a sample is not optional. One wrong character kills the whole order
  3. Buy plain T-shirts and print locally if you can; it halves the lead time and lets you reorder fast
  4. This day and Eid al-Adha fall in the same week this year — one container, two seasons

18 May. Check the date against your own calendar each year.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Kenya — Madaraka Day

Selling starts 1 June 2027

Order by 18 March 2027 144 days left if you ship by sea.
Kenyan flags and bunting T-shirts and caps Football jerseys Wristbands Banners and table flags

What we recommend

  1. Order the same artwork as your Jamhuri Day stock and ask the factory to keep the screens — the second run is cheaper
  2. Table flags sell to offices and schools, who order weeks in advance if you ask them
  3. Buy a size mix weighted towards medium and large, not an even spread
  4. This one sells over about ten days. Late stock goes into storage until December

1 June, marking self-rule in 1963.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Djibouti — Independence Day

Selling starts 27 June 2027

Order by 13 April 2027 170 days left if you ship by sea.
Djiboutian flags and bunting T-shirts and caps Scarves Car flags and stickers Banners

What we recommend

  1. A smaller market, so buy a smaller quantity and sell out rather than discounting in July
  2. Djibouti is a port, which keeps your freight cost low — do not over-order on the strength of that alone
  3. Shares a week with Somalia's Independence Day. One shipment can cover both if you plan it now
  4. Ask for the flag in the exact proportions; Djibouti's is unusual and a stretched copy looks wrong

27 June, independence from France in 1977.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Somalia — Independence Day

Selling starts 1 July 2027

Order by 17 April 2027 174 days left if you ship by sea.
Somali flags, hand and car T-shirts and caps Bunting and street banners Wristbands and scarves Face paint Football jerseys

What we recommend

  1. The blue must be right. Send the factory the colour code and reject anything that comes back navy
  2. Car flags and bunting outsell everything else in Mogadishu — weight the order that way
  3. Buy plain and print locally where you can; you can reorder in days instead of weeks
  4. Falls four days after Djibouti. One container covers both markets

1 July 1960. Also sells into the diaspora if you ship small parcels.

Order for this season
Plenty of time

Ethiopia — Enkutatash, the New Year

Selling starts 11 September 2027

Order by 28 June 2027 246 days left if you ship by sea.
Traditional dresses and shawls Flowers and artificial bouquets Gift sets Household goods and cookware Children's clothes Coffee sets and jebena

What we recommend

  1. This is the main gifting and household-renewal season in Ethiopia — closer to Eid in behaviour than to a national day
  2. Coffee sets sell year after year and do not go out of style; a safe first order
  3. Traditional dress needs the right weave and border pattern. Buy a sample and show it to customers before you commit
  4. Order in June and you are ahead of every other trader

11 September on the Ethiopian calendar, 12 September before a leap year.

Order for this season

Want a warning before each deadline?

Tell us which seasons you sell into and we will message you a month before each one closes. No charge, and no sales calls.

Ask for reminders

Order for a season

Tell us which season you are buying for and when the stock must be on your shelf. We work backwards from that date and tell you the last safe day to order.

1

How much do you want us to do?

2

Which season are you buying for?

3

When must it be on your shelf?

4

What are you buying, and who are you?

Our fee $199

This is our fee only. The goods and the freight are separate, and we tell you both before you pay anything.

Nothing is charged here. We reply on WhatsApp with the deadline, what it will cost in full, and how to pay.