how to source chinese suppliers

MRTULES

RoboRat wrote: »

As somebody who regularly sources from China and Pakistan I can tell you that you may be better going within the EU for smaller quantities.

Both of the above are good for large consignments and even smaller ones but you can get caught up in red tape and suppliers can often add their own cut to organising delivery. I have found the best price is to pay FOB and organise the shipping yourself, your shipping handler can look after the customs clearance and this is something you need to factor into your pricing.

Also, once you go large scale be sure to work with a QA team on the ground unless you are satisfied that the quality is right.

I use Alibaba and DH Gate but its a myriad of ****e and takes some time to get what you are looking for.

Hi and thanks for the above advise. Is there an EU equivalent of aliexpress?
Thanks

zsha

Thanks, Id like to know that too is there an EU site like ali express.....Obviously ebay and amazon, but is there more??

RoboRat

You could try alibaba-europe or wholesalepages.co.uk.

To be honest, it depends on what you are sourcing really. I find searching the product description can help. It can be tedious but worthwhile.

RoboRat

DenisOakley wrote: »

One of the key things you need to learn is how to purchase effectively from China? Generally you get that experience from working for someone else or doing it yourself. For a business the supply chain is critical and when you start out you generally have an idea and no experience.

So you start off looking for ways of reducing risk? What are your main risks? Loss of money; poor quality goods; slow delivery.

SDo start off with a number of small suppliers. Sure the costs are going to be high - but as a startup you very rarely compete on price because you don't have the economies of scale. So using small suppliers you build up your experience and the strength of your supply chain. Then you slowly move over to bigger and bigger suppliers to drive down the cost as you gain experience.

For ways of doing this use intermediaries. I've used Ebay, Alibaba and Mudah to get this to work. But it is not like ordering on Amazon and expecting it to be as simple!

Read this anybody who is interested in importing as this is an issue that I have encountered. I sourced a supplier - tried about 6 different but wasn't happy. Found one guy, seemed to be spot on and put all my eggs in one basket.

We had an issue with the first delivery and 20% of the stock failed. He agreed to replace the stock and then threw his toys out of the pram. Turns out he just wanted a piece of the market and this was his out, he was using us to get established.

We had built up a really good rep and sold out of stock quite soon and now we are sourcing another supplier and going through the process all over again, all whilst losing the market share we had fought so hard to establish.

We fcuked up on our supply chain and its a lesson learnt for us. We have managed to keep the flame alive because we really nailed our customer service and also managed to expand into different lines which were being sourced from another supplier but we have lost a considerable amount of business because we were naive.

In short, always have back-up so this doesn't happen to you.

SeanSouth

I buy about twenty containers a year from China and have been doing so for the past twenty years and I can tell you now it WILL turn your hair grey. I much prefer to deal with the USA or within Europe. I wouldn't advise anyone to buy cold from a chinese factory.

If you must buy from China, then you need to specify your product down to the last screw

For example if I'm buying an office chair, I would specify :
1) That the five star base must be made of R grade Nylon and be compliant with all EU and US standards
2) Ditto for the armrests and castors
3) The gas lift should be made to EU standards and have a min/max height adjustment of X/Y
4) The cushion on the seat and back should be X thickness and of Y and Z standard and be flame retardant to standard ABC
5) The fabric should be of XYZ strength and abc quality and XZT colour
6) Any screws need to be L length and B diameter etc etc

If you do not buy your products to a detailed specification, you will not be successful. Unspecified products will be offered at low prices but will contain the cheapest possible components and will not be marketable in Europe. Never allow a Chinese factory to decide on the quality of component that is used in the product. The buyer must remain in control of that.

Finally, if you decide to buy from China, buy the very best you can get. Dont make the mistake of buying on price. This is a fatal and common mistake which always ends in tears. A very low price in China always means low quality. There might be a nice picture that looks exactly the same as its german counterpart
but thats where the similarity ends.

Also try to avoid electric goods or goods with complex moving parts. Stick to simple products and specify specify specify.

If you dont know your business and your products inside out, a chinese factory will see you coming three thousand miles away and you will be punished.

Always look for products to comply to standards and only then talk about price. You must get down to component level and discuss each individual part that is used to make the product. This way it can work but never works that fluidly to be honest