Many people fear finding suppliers that turn out to be scams when importing from China. Whether you’re exploring an online marketplace, an online vendor directory, or visiting a trade fair or wholesale market, you’ll need to keep an eye out for the few bad apples.
In this post, we discuss your sourcing options and recommend the best way to find a reliable supplier for long-term relationships.
1. The Canton Fair
China’s largest import / export convention is held twice a year and covers virtually every industry that makes physical products. It is so large that it runs in three phases:
1: Electronics, machinery, building materials and chemicals
2: Consumer goods, home decoration and gifts
3: Textiles, recreational products, office supplies, footwear, medical devices and health products
The Canton Fair is HUGE. Find the exhibitor list and your booth location on the trade show website in advance to save time and energy.
The same suppliers participate each year, so the novelty is missing. Don’t expect to see innovation either – companies with a newer design or feature can show prototypes and only look for dealers rather than OEMs or private label brands.
In bemetech we can help you visit this fair.
2. Yiwu Market
Yiwu Market in Zhejiang is open all year round. It has 40,000 stores and it should be on your radar ONLY IF you want to get bags, shoes, textiles, watches and accessories at low prices. This is because the market is heavily skewed towards buyers in India, Africa and the Middle East. If you want toys, cosmetics, or medical devices, you should look elsewhere.
Here, the prices can go down as much as you like, but the quality will go up or down accordingly. If your target market is highly segmented and you sell on multiple channels or distribute to other sellers, Yiwu Market may be an option.
Some sellers use Yiwu as a supplemental supplier to their existing suppliers when their stores are empty and they need fill products.
Yiwu wholesalers work with factories in Zhejiang and Jiangsu. One advantage is that you can buy ready-to-use products on site or ship them to your location in bulk.
If the products you want are not ready for sale, make sure you are clear about your quality requirements so that your supplier can order from an appropriate factory. Disputes over price will only result in the factory using cheaper materials, resulting in downward adjustment of quality.
Agents are not responsible for checking quality control in factories.
You will come across fake products on the market. Any famous brand you see in a Yiwu store is probably a knockoff. It’s not to call Yiwu, but it should have a place in your sourcing strategy only for equivalent products at low prices.
3. 3B2B markets
Your search for Chinese suppliers can begin online. Alibaba, Made in China, and Global Sources are popular websites for finding suppliers and manufacturers in China. As always, you will need to be careful about a few things to avoid getting scammed in these B2B marketplaces.
Resellers can advertise as manufacturers, which isn’t a big deal if you’re looking for cheap toys, clothes, accessories, and electronics. For products that need to be manufactured to specific technical requirements, only one manufacturer will do so.
So if the product you are going to sell is made using a manufacturing process like metal stamping or plastic injection molding, you will need to verify the supplier’s capabilities up front. These websites rate their vendors, but nothing is 100% transparent.
For example, vendors who become Alibaba premium members with an annual fee can earn gold vendor status, which increases their visibility on the site, but means nothing when it comes to ethical behavior and quality levels. .
So the vendors that get the most exposure on Alibaba – the ones that may show up when you search for their product category – still need to be scrutinized.
4. Sourcing agents
A China sourcing agent is ideal when you need products manufactured to exact technical specifications. China-based agents visit factories to closely inspect quality controls. Once you have given the green light to mass production, the agent will visit the factory again to inspect the raw materials and even check the quality of the first batches.
Sourcing agents can be helpful here as well, ensuring the supplier is on the same page as you before production begins.
When you partner with an agent, you get comprehensive support throughout the sourcing process. If you want to get it right the first time and build a long-term relationship with your supplier, hiring a sourcing agent is the right way to go.
5.Google
A Google search for Chinese suppliers may seem like a logical first step for new Amazon sellers. Chinese providers have commercial websites and a social media presence. They generally have generic names like China Direct Supplier or China Wholesale Market on social channels.
Some of these providers may be agents offering to help you find providers.
As mentioned above, many of the supplier websites in English are merchants rather than manufacturers. If you find a site from a manufacturer that looks genuine, go ahead and ask questions. You can get a quick quote, get a sample without long waiting, and find yourself on a plane to China for a factory tour.
Search using product or location-specific keywords, such as “Langfang Furniture Suppliers” or “Shenzhen Electronics.” A Google keyword search is also a quick way to find relevant supplier pages on B2B websites and directories.
6. Baidu
Most Chinese use Baidu, and you can use a translation tool to find potential customers or see if those vendors are on Google or Alibaba, and follow up on whether they look promising. You can find more corporate details or information, such as whether they have been involved in legal disputes.
7. Companies like us
Our company is located in Hong Kong and China to help you get the best qualities at the best prices. We are your suppliers of products and services in China, we have strict quality control, we always work with the best Chinese manufacturers and we take care of supervising the entire process.
Why contract with us?
Competitive prices: Through agreements with the most important manufacturers, we can improve any offer you have on a product, put us to the test.
Guaranteed quality: We have specialized inspectors who will closely monitor the products, from raw material, manufacturing, to final delivery.
Experience: Like you, we too have been buyers, we understand your needs and we put ourselves in their shoes, so we know how to optimize each of the product purchasing processes.
Personalized treatment: We are at your entire disposal, for anything you need and we can attend you in 4 languages: Spanish, English, Cantonese Chinese and Mandarin Chinese