Tea Lover’s Inquiry: May I ask if the hand-picked Lishan tea on XX Shopping Channel is real? Hand-picked spring tea, buy 3 get 1 free, and it even comes with a tea set, all for just NT$2,600. If it’s real, doesn’t that mean I overpaid when I bought from you before? The money I spent with you on 600 g could buy me 2.4 kg on the shopping channel with change to spare!
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The Truth About Lishan Tea Prices
Liao Chang Xing: Hello Ms. Hsu, thank you for writing to us. The quality of Lishan tea varies depending on the grade, season, yield, and altitude, which naturally affects the price. The most important thing is that the tea suits your taste; otherwise, no matter how expensive it is, it’s not worth it.
Back to your question. Hand-picked spring Lishan tea, buy 3 get 1 free, plus a tea set, for a total of NT$2,600. That works out to roughly NT$800-plus per 600 g. To be honest with you, we have been working with Lishan tea for 15 years, and we have never seen a wholesale price anywhere near this range. Lishan tea is grown at altitudes between 1,450 meters and 2,520 meters, and generally, the higher the altitude, the higher the price. In recent years, the cheapest wholesale price for Lishan tea has been around NT$1,600 per 600 g. This is for hand-picked spring tea, and winter tea is even more expensive. Anything below NT$1,600 is simply impossible unless it’s autumn tea, summer tea, or a batch that went wrong during processing.
From a cost perspective, Lishan tea priced at NT$800 per 600 g on a shopping channel is really quite impossible. Fresh Lishan spring tea leaves cost over NT$200 per 600 g, and it takes 2.4 kg of fresh leaves to make 600 g of finished tea. That means the raw leaf cost alone is NT$800, not to mention the rent for the tea factory, hiring master tea makers, and packaging and shipping costs. Selling it for NT$800 per 600 g literally means losing money on every single package—it’s all for nothing.
▲ Due to low yields and high prices, market prices for Lishan tea frequently exceed NT$3,000 per 600 g.
Based on the market reality in 2022, the wholesale price for hand-picked spring Lishan tea starts at around NT$1,800 per 600 g at the absolute lowest. And that’s just the wholesale price for lower-grade products. Just think about it: if wholesalers buying in bulk have to pay NT$1,800 per 600 g just for their cost, is it possible they would sell it to consumers for NT$800 per 600 g?
That’s definitely not possible. In fact, Lishan tea is currently in high demand not only among Taiwanese tea merchants, but also in mainland China, Japan, Europe, and the US. There is simply no way anyone would need to resort to price wars to attract buyers. Lishan tea at NT$800 per 600 g on shopping channels is just something to laugh off—don’t take it too seriously. If you want authentic, genuine Lishan tea, you’re much better off sticking with Liao Chang Xing. We guarantee 100% authenticity.
Lishan Tea Price FAQ
Is Lishan tea sold at tea shops for NT$3,000 per 600 g actually real?
Anything that’s too cheap is fake, but expensive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s real either. There’s just too much fake Lishan tea on the market!
The tea shop claims it's so cheap because they are direct sellers from Lishan tea farmers.
Let me put it this way: even if you stood on the streets of Lishan holding a sign offering to buy from farmers at NT$600 per 600 g, you wouldn’t find any. Authentic Lishan tea is a seller’s market.
PTT Tea Lover Inquiry: Are there any cheap Lishan teas?
Aside from batches ruined in processing or affected by pests and diseases, your top choice for affordable Lishan tea would be autumn tea. The quality of Lishan autumn tea is not bad at all, and when the weather is good, Lishan autumn tea can even rival spring or winter teas.