What businesses buy wholesale in Turkey
Turkish manufacturing is valued for its balance of quality and price, and the short distance lets you reorder often in smaller lots. When choosing a category, look beyond the purchase price to customs requirements: food, cosmetics and children’s products may need extra certificates, and for bulky goods such as furniture and duvets, volumetric weight often drives the shipping cost.
Importers from Azerbaijan most often work with these categories:
- Apparel: women’s, men’s and children’s clothing, outerwear, sportswear.
- Home textiles: towels, bathrobes, bed linen, curtains and tablecloths.
- Footwear, bags and leather goods.
- Furniture and interior products.
- Carpets and rugs, especially machine-made.
- Food products: dried fruit, nuts, confectionery, spices.
- Building and finishing materials, household chemicals, kitchenware.
Istanbul’s wholesale districts: Laleli, Merter, Osmanbey, Zeytinburnu
Istanbul is the country’s main wholesale hub, and most apparel sourcing starts here. Each district has its own specialisation and buyer profile.
Wholesale clothing is usually sold in "series" — a fixed size run of one model. Confirm the series composition and colour options in advance.
- Laleli — an apparel market geared to foreign buyers, including those from CIS countries; many shops speak Russian.
- Merter — wholesale showrooms of textile and ready-to-wear manufacturers, plus fabric and trims trading.
- Osmanbey — wholesale stores and manufacturers focused mainly on womenswear.
- Zeytinburnu — textiles, leather goods and large wholesale trade centres.
Beyond Istanbul: Bursa, Denizli, Gaziantep, İzmir
In many categories the Istanbul seller is a middleman and production happens elsewhere. As your volumes grow, buying directly from the manufacturer pays off.
- Bursa — textiles and home textiles; the province’s İnegöl district is known for furniture manufacturing.
- Denizli — towels, bathrobes and other home textiles.
- Gaziantep — machine-made carpets, plus food products including pistachios and sweets.
- İzmir — textiles and apparel, food products (dried fruit, olive oil) and a major export port.
Buying in person or online through B2B channels
A buying trip lets you check quality first-hand, talk to sellers face to face and compare several suppliers in a single day. For first orders and new categories, it is the most reliable approach.
Once you have settled on suppliers, repeat orders often move online: B2B platforms, manufacturer catalogues, photos and videos over messaging apps. Confirm every order in writing — model, colour, series composition, quantity, price and ready date.
Either way, document your payments and insist on an invoice. Customs clearance requires a document that confirms the value of the goods.
- Before the trip, define your category, budget and approximate volume.
- Keep each seller’s contact details and photos of the models you liked.
- Confirm the series composition, colours and ready date in writing.
- Give the seller our Istanbul warehouse address and your TK number.
- Ask for an invoice for every purchase.
Our Istanbul warehouse and your TK number
After free registration on the site, your online account shows the exact address of our Istanbul warehouse and your customer number (TK-XXXXXXX). Ask each seller to deliver to that address and write the number on every box — purchases from different suppliers are matched to you by that number.
If a seller does not deliver, TuranKargo can collect the goods from the supplier’s address in Turkey. Palletising and extra packing can be arranged when needed. At the warehouse the cargo is received, measured, its documents are checked and the final price is confirmed.
Two shipping speeds are available from Turkey: Express, around 3–5 days, and Economy, around 10–12 days. These are estimates, not guarantees.
Shipping routes from Turkey to Azerbaijan
The classic route for freight from Turkey to Azerbaijan is by road through Georgia. Air, rail and combined options are also possible — TuranKargo chooses the route and transport mode based on the type of cargo, urgency and budget.
Small and medium orders travel as consolidated cargo — several clients on one manifest, priced by weight. For larger volumes, a full truck (FTL), container or dedicated shipment is arranged on request, with terms and price from the operator.
Price is based on chargeable weight — the greater of actual and volumetric weight. Apparel and home textiles usually pack densely, but for furniture, pillows and duvets, volumetric weight plays a big role.
Documents: invoice, certificate of origin, CMR
The document set for imports from Turkey depends on the goods and the transport mode. The details in your documents must match each other and the marks on the cartons. If you buy from several sellers, each one issues its own invoice — keep them together.
The core documents are:
- Commercial invoice: seller and buyer, description of goods, quantity, price, total value and currency.
- Packing list: number of packages, contents, net and gross weight.
- Certificate of origin: confirms the goods are of Turkish origin; in some cases it can affect the customs treatment, so check whether your goods need one.
- CMR — the international road consignment note, issued by the carrier for road shipments.
- Certificates of conformity, hygiene or phytosanitary certificates where required — for example, for food and children’s products.
Customs basics and practical tips
In Azerbaijan the duty rate depends on the HS code, import VAT is 18% of the customs value plus duty, and customs fees also apply. With Transport + Customs ("Cargo"), TuranKargo handles clearance and you see one final amount. The cargo is handed over at our warehouse in Baku.
- Check composition labels before buying — for textiles, fibre content affects customs classification.
- Stay away from copies of branded goods: such cargo can be detained by customs.
- Consolidate purchases from several sellers at one warehouse and ship them together.
- Insist that the invoice shows the real value and an accurate description.
- For seasonal goods, build the shipping time into your plan well before the selling season starts.