Is this in stock?

In the ideal sourcing scenario, you find a product, ask if it is in stock, get a yes, pay, and receive your goods within days. The phrase 这个有现货吗 (zhège yǒu xiànhuò ma) is how you determine whether you are living in that ideal scenario or the far more common one where production lead times, material procurement, and factory scheduling all stand between you and your shipment. It is a simple question with a not-always-simple answer.

现货 (xiànhuò) is one of those Chinese business terms that is both precise and frequently stretched. In its strict sense, it means goods physically sitting in the supplier’s warehouse, QC-passed, packed (or packable), and ready to ship when payment is confirmed. In its stretched sense, it can mean “we have the materials and can start producing immediately,” which is not the same thing at all. Experienced Chinese buyers know to ask the follow-up question 今天能发货吗? (jīntiān néng fāhuò ma? — can you ship today?) to distinguish real stock from aspirational stock. If the answer to “can you ship today” is anything other than an immediate yes, the “in stock” claim was loose.

Chinese factories operate on a spectrum from pure stock to pure made-to-order, and understanding where your supplier sits on that spectrum is critical to managing your own customer expectations. A trading company (贸易公司, màoyì gōngsī) is more likely to have stock or access to stock from multiple factories. A direct factory (工厂直供, gōngchǎng zhígōng) is more likely to produce to order, especially for anything that is not a generic commodity item. When you ask 有现货吗, you are also implicitly asking “are you a stock-holding supplier or a production supplier?” The answer tells you about their business model, not just their current inventory level. A factory that always says yes to stock questions is probably a trading company presenting itself as a factory — which is common in China and not necessarily bad, but worth knowing.

For regular buyers, the stock conversation evolves into a more sophisticated inventory management dialogue over time. Instead of asking 有现货吗 for every order, you move to phrases like 这个型号常备库存有多少 (zhège xínghào chángbèi kùcún yǒu duōshao — how much standing inventory do you keep for this model?) or 能不能帮我备一些安全库存 (néng bù néng bāng wǒ bèi yīxiē ānquán kùcún — can you keep some safety stock for me?). The word 备货 (bèihuò — reserve/prepare stock) enters your vocabulary. This is the language of a buyer who has moved from transactional spot purchasing to an ongoing supply relationship, and Chinese suppliers respond to it differently — with more transparency, because a buyer asking about standing inventory levels is a buyer planning repeat business, not a one-off inquiry.