Up until now, I have explained how to find a good supplier and what terms to negotiate from the get-go. But this is not enough. Buyers who are new to China often make a mistake: they trust their suppliers too much. How to keep leverage … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 5: Negotiating With Chinese Suppliers: The Terms you Need to Discuss
Chinese suppliers are good at detecting which purchaser is inexperienced. If that's the case, and if you are dealing with dishonest suppliers, they could think that they will be able to take advantage of you. Therefore, it is … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 4: Second Choices vs. “Never Again”
This is the 4th post in our "sourcing from China 101" series. By now I’ll assume that you have verified a few manufacturers. One of them will be your first choice, and, hopefully, you will have a couple of “backups”. But, what is the … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 3: How to Verify a Manufacturer
If you have followed the advice about identifying potential suppliers in part 2, you may have found a few interesting suppliers. The next step is to confirm that they told you the truth and that they are reliable. Even if you place … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 2: How to Identify Potential Chinese Suppliers?
Now I am assuming that you have decided to source in China by yourself, but how to identify potential Chinese suppliers who will do a great job? One key point I want to communicate is this: you need to follow a process. You CANNOT browse … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 1: Do You Need a Sourcing Agent?
A few years ago I wrote a 15-part course that was sent automatically, lesson by lesson, to interested readers. These days, such autoresponders are a thing of the past and we will switch to something different. But, rather than ditching … [Read more...]
List of 15 Great Plastic Injection Mold Fabrication Companies in China
High-pressure plastic injection molding is one of the most common fabrication processes. Tens of thousands of factories in Ningbo, Shenzhen, and many other places have at least a few presses running near-continuously. If you develop your … [Read more...]
Purchasing from China: Sourcing agent, DIY, or another way?
People sometimes ask if hiring a sourcing agent in China is necessary for businesses that want to start buying products there. While it is an option, there are pros and cons which we'll outline. We also give you other options, who they're … [Read more...]
Archives of Useful Articles about Buying & Inspecting in China
I listed the useful articles I published between 2009 and now. This page is long! Feel free to keep scrolling to choose the categories and articles that interest you, or hit the links just below to quickly skip down to their respective … [Read more...]
6 China sourcing articles worth reading
Sometimes I read a really good article, and I think it will be of interest to importers. I may send a link to it or re-tweet it... or simply forget it. To avoid forgetting about the best articles I come across, I am going to save them … [Read more...]