Every year, thousands of startup companies turn to China sourcing in this factory of the world. However, not all Chinese partners are good to work with as some place quantity over quality, some are devious in their dealings, and others are simply too difficult to work with. Due to the number of hidden risks involved, it is prudent to follow specific guidelines when seeking China sourcing partners.

Following are some tips for finding good China sourcing suppliers.

Online Directories – Beware of partnering up with Chinese suppliers based solely on picks from online directories. Most of these websites do not effectively screen the companies before accepting them and suppliers usually have to pay a fee to be listed which doesn’t give the websites much incentive for ensuring their authenticity.

Background Checks – If you find companies online, or from other sources, ensure that you run background checks on them.

Request References – If a China sourcing company is legitimate then they will not hesitate to provide several customer references at your request. Once received, ensure that you check them out and find out the details of their experiences with Chinese partners. Companies that hesitate or do not provide references should be avoided.

Request Samples – Always request samples of products from any China sourcing companies you are interested in. The quality of the samples will reveal a great deal about their quality control measures. However, don’t rely solely on samples as most companies will send their very best, but still could supply you with shoddy products.

Visit Factories –If possible, you should personally visit the factory. On your visit, you should tour the factory, inspect various products for quality, take note of working conditions, as well as ask any questions you might have. If you cannot do it personally, hire a QC professional to do it on behalf of you.

Monitor Partners – Don’t make the mistake of taking a Chinese partner relationship for granted. The companies you partner with should be closely monitored, especially small factories which often do not have effective managing systems in place. Every shipment of goods should be inspected for quality as many suppliers will send quality products the first several shipments and then fail to control the quality later on. Get involved in production process as early as possible.

Refuse Subcontracting – Subcontracting should be avoided. Many China sourcing factories will subcontract orders to raise their profits, but have no control of the quality so it usually suffers greatly. A clause stating the prohibition of subcontracting should be included in your contract.

Employ Professionals – In order to get the best results, it is recommended to employ the services of professionals who specialize in assisting with China sourcing.

China Sourcing Agent

Elksourcing：Benefits of Working with a Verified Sourcing Company

Apr 10, 2021 Elksourcing by 露露

Nowadays, there’re so many B2B websites like Alibaba, Global Sources, Made-In-China, etc, it’s so easy to find factories for your sourcing needs. In fact, it’s TOO EASY! So, you will find dozens or even hundreds of factories, so you will be puzzled, who is the best factory to work with? It’s very difficult to verify them, quite often, you end up with working with a lousy factory, and suffer in quality, time, even money!

Therefore, lots of sourcing veterans recommend working with a verified China Sourcing Company, what’re the benefits?

1. Trust. This is the most important thing in business, especially when dealing with suppliers in ten thousand miles away. It’s safe to work with a China sourcing company which has been officially verified.

2. Better communication. Factories are strong in producing goods, but usually they are not strong in communications, as they lack of English speaking talents and the experience of dealing with foreign buyers.

3. Better payment terms. China factories usually work at slim margins, they cannot afford any risks in payment, that’s why they always ask for 100% TT before shipment. However, sourcing companies have more funds in business and better way of controlling risks, so they can offer better payment terms.

4. Better quality control. Sourcing companies will inspect goods during production, and before shipment, usually, their QC staff are more professional and independent from factory, so the quality can be better monitored.

5. No limit of product categories. They can work with many factories in China so as to provide you a vast range of products. This allows you to source different products and ship together in same container. You don’t need to find many suppliers to contact with and build relationship again if you plan to import different products, save lots of time and hassles.

6. Small MOQ. They work with factories flexibly. By using various sourcing channels, they can find domestic sources that you are hard to reach.

7. Easy to get samples. Most of them are willing to send samples because they are easy to get samples from factories.

8. Quicker lead time. When necessary, they can choose alternative factories who have better production capacity, so as to be flexible in lead time.

9. Smooth export process. As sourcing companies are experienced in export, they know export process very well, so the whole process is smooth and under control.

China Sourcing Agent

Elksourcing：Finding Buying Agents in China Something You Should Know

Apr 10, 2021 Elksourcing, sourcing agent by 露露

When your business of importing from china grows, you need to find a buying agent to help you, but it is not easy. You do not know how and where to find an agent. There are questions such as should you sign a contract with them? If yes, what clauses to put on the contract? How can you tell if they are trustworthy? To use a buying office or a buying agent?

Here are 6 things you should keep in mind when selecting an agent:

1. Trust is everything

I think you would agree with me that to work with an agent, trust is important. Ideally, you need someone who is competent and reliable.

How can you tell if your agent or representative in China is trustworthy? In many cases, first impressions can misguide you. You can do some online research to see if there are any comments and feedback about them. Give them some trial tasks to gauge their performance. You can generally understand their work ethic by working with them for a few times.

2. Contract versus verbal commitment

Some buyers think a contract is not important so they work with buying agent and suppliers on verbal commitment, binding by morality and virtue.

We have a buyer in the US, for whom we act as a buying office. This client does not pay attention to their contracts. Unfortunately, their supplier delivered low quality products, and when their products failed to pass three quality inspections, the supplier refused the fourth inspection.

When we asked our lawyer to help, he asked to see the quality standard we had agreed to in the contract, which we did not have. The lawsuit is still ongoing. Without a properly written contract, an easy lawsuit becomes complicated.

My suggestion is to sign a detailed contract with your buying agent irrespective of how good your personal relationship is with the agent. Ask the help of a lawyer to draft and review the contract.

3. Buying offices versus buying agents

Buying offices normally have experience in more industries while buying agents often specialize in certain areas such as apparel and electronics. If your sourcing projects cover many industries, it might be better to use sourcing offices. If you deal with one product, you could work with individual agents.

Also, if your project is relatively big, it might be better to use a sourcing office as you will need many sourcing experts to work on your project at the same time.

Buying offices are normally legally incorporated companies, so if they breach the contract, you will have somewhere and someone to chase after.

A sourcing agent is often a one-man show. If bad things happen, the person might disappear. So relatively speaking, buying offices are more reliable than agents.

Agents might offer low rates compared with buying offices. For small buyers, a reliable agent might be a better choice.

4. Hidden commission

It is a public secret that many sourcing agents get a commission from suppliers. But this means your buying agent and supplier become allies. The agent will not push for the best price for fear that the supplier will not happily give him/her the commission. The agent might turn a blind eye to quality issues, might not recommend the best supplier to you, favoring instead a supplier that gives them the best benefit.

You pay your agent a decent service fee but the person presents to you a made-up sourcing report — the price is not real, the factory presentation is biased and the best supplier is disregarded. All these problems are caused by hidden commissions.

These commissions are so common that suppliers often offer to give them to agents without them asking.

So how can you make sure your sourcing agent will not betray you by taking a hidden commission?

First, you should sign a contract with your sourcing agent clearly stating that active or passive hidden commissions are not allowed.

Second, contact other suppliers randomly and see if you get a lower price for your product.

5. Hire an expert, not a secretary

There are thousands of products global buyers are buying from China, and each product is different. Sometimes it takes months or even years to understand the production mechanism of a specific product. A competent sourcing agent should be a product expert. If he/she does not know the product, he/she will not know how to plan quality control, will not know the costing, and cannot negotiate the price properly. He/she might not even know where to buy product.

That is why Li & Fung only hires sourcing experts with more than 10 years working experience in certain industries. The experience gives them the knowledge of quality control, price negotiation, product research and development. They can deliver a solution.

6. Communication is often a problem

First is the language. You should make sure your buying agent speaks your language well enough to understand your emails, and to draft and review an English contract. They should also be familiar with the product in your language (parameters, specification, parts and components, etc).

You need a buying agent who is well prepared to hit the ground running. If you are looking to build a long-term relationship with your agent, ideally the agent should be proficient in speaking, as in many cases, email is slow and you will need to call him/her to speed up the process.

But as a matter of fact, generally Chinese people do not speak English well, so for important matters, it is better to send an email to make sure your agent understands you, and will not miss your key points after the phone call.

The efficiency of communication is an issue to look at, especially when there is a time zone difference. Your agent should reply to your emails promptly. Instant messengers can be used to speed up communication while text messaging can also be used for urgent contact.

China Sourcing Agent

Elksourcing：What Can a China Sourcing Agent Do for Your Import?

Apr 8, 2021 Elksourcing, shipping and tracking upload by 露露

With international e-commerce booming up recent years, more international buyers import small orders of different goods from various Chinese suppliers, the international shipping cost from individual suppliers is extremely high if all the packages are shipped internationally separately every week.

Small order import is mainly suitable for high-value, low volume/weight goods such as electronic gadgets, flashlights, luxury goods, etc with which the shipping cost occupied only a small portion of the total import cost. Small orders are not suitable for goods like ovens, kitchenware, giveaway and premiums, etc due to the high international shipping cost and thus the low margin space you can keep.

A good China sourcing agent can provide well organized warehouse space to consolidate all the small order boxes and send them all within one shipment within a period of time, the shipping cost will be easily decreased by up to 50%.

Quality control is another big issue, many small order importers don’t take quality into consideration seriously and just buy non-branded goods to sell, this often leads to big loss eventually.

AliExpress for example, is the biggest source for small order purchasing from Alibaba Group, there are millions of suppliers on the platform. From our experience, a very big portion of the products sold over there are not in compliance with the laws and regulations of the importing countries, which can easily cause problems during customs clearance, bring difficulty in marketing and have customer complaints, this includes but not limited to safety (such as CE, FCC, etc), IP (intellectual property), mal-function of products and wrong packaging or labelling.

I’ve been hearing a lot of importers that don’t care about the quality at the beginning just because they were trying to buy small QTY, and later they put the label of “bad quality” to Chinese factories, but quality goods such as iPhones are all made in China! Indeed, Chinese factories can make premium quality products if proper quality control is taken place. Quality inspections cost money, but a reputable and long-term brand deserves.

Basically we strongly suggest our customers to work with manufacturers directly even if the order QTY is small. This should be the right way for importers with long-term strategies. It’s true that most direct manufacturers have much higher MOQ (Minimum Order QTY) for their customers, but in some cases, they can still accept small orders to fill their production schedules if the deadlines of their customer’s orders are not really tight, because they could combine them with other orders. It’s a little difficult to work with manufacturers at the beginning, but it’s still possible to find out. A professional China sourcing agent had a lot more sources that can help to identify the right factories to work with.

International transferring charge is also a big expenditure. In most cases, the supplier would not accept bank charges when the order QTY is small, and this cost may occupy up to 4-8% if you take into consideration of the frequent international transferring in a year, and this even doesn’t count for all the time consumed on these transferring. A reliable China sourcing partner will definitely decrease this cost substantially.

In summary, here is what a reliable China sourcing agent can do for you:

To reduce international shipping cost substantially;

To ensure good quality of the purchased orders and thus create a sustainable and great brand image;

To reduce international transferring cost and improve your fiscal data;

To get constructive support and consultancy on China supply chain management and long-term business development.

China Sourcing Agent

Elksourcing：Why Do You Need a Purchasing Agent in China?

Apr 8, 2021 Elksourcing, sourcing agent by 露露

A good Purchasing Agent plays a very important role in doing business in China, especially when you’re placing a large order: Sourcing and Verifying suppliers, Quality Control, Loading Process Supervision, Goods Consolidation, Shipping Coordination, Business Risk Control, Legal Contract Support and After-sale service.

What is a purchasing agent and why do you need one?

A purchasing agent could be an individual, a group of team or a company, helping companies overseas to import from China. Usually it will be supported by a team of experts in each field: sourcing, verification, order processing, quality control, etc. A good agent can be an extremely valuable asset in your overall product procurement strategy. Here are the main services offered by your qualified China purchasing agent:

I. Keep finding new products and suppliers.

II. Verify, inspect or audit existing suppliers.

III. Price negotiations and Supply Chain Management.

IV. Order processing.

V. Quality Control.

VI. Loading Supervision.

VII. Shipping Coordination and Customs Clearance Support.

Any other service, say, legal contract support, after-sale service support, etc, can be available upon request.

Dealing with Chinese suppliers is very time consuming. Working with a qualified Purchasing Agent can save you much time, cost and energy in China. For example, 90% of the suppliers you met online or at local trade fairs could be trade companies, while the local sourcing specialists can go to the real manufacturing bases to find out qualified factories for you. Apparently the factory price is much more competitive than that of the trader’s anywhere on the globe, by this way you can save more cost in the business.

How to choose a right sourcing agent from China?

I. Ask them for at least 3 client references from your country.

Check them out before any cooperation. Trust is very important, especially for long term cooperation.

II. Choose a right purchasing agent who is near to the manufacturing base of your industry.

In China, almost every city has their pillar industry and each product has one or several manufacturing bases. For example, if you’re buying Fireworks, you can simply go to Liuyang city, which is called ‘Home of Fireworks’ or ‘Capital of Fireworks’, where there are more than 400,000 people directly or indirectly engaging in this business in China. ‘Liuyang-made’ fireworks account for 70% of China market and 50% of global market at present. Another two famous manufacturing bases for this product is Liling, Hunan and Wanzai, Jiangxi, these three manufacturing bases are near to each other. This is the same situation to most of the other products in China. Your agent’s proximity to a certain industrial cluster can certainly help out when things go wrong during production. It may also cut traveling and transportation costs.

III. Ask them for their Business License in China, check them out with local officials or third-party verification service company first before formal cooperation.

IV. Ask them enough professional questions regarding the coming orders in China. Many sourcing agents are lacking expertise about product safety regulations in overseas markets. Keep in mind that in the end, you are going to be hold financially responsible if your products turn out to be non-compliant with the relevant standards.

Importing from China can be a completely different story depending on the product. Certain products are very complicated (i.e. machinery) while others are a fairly easy to get right (i.e. indoor furniture). Hiring a sourcing agent with the right product knowledge is critical and can make the difference between a successful business transaction and a complete disaster.

China Sourcing Agent

Elksourcing：Great Leaders All Share Something in Common

Apr 8, 2021 Elksourcing by 露露

The secret to great leadership does not exist in that cup of coffee you drink every morning–although it certainly doesn’t hurt. Great leaders all share something in common–they have certain habits that they do every single day. Take after them to embody the same characteristics, no matter who you’re leading.

1. Inspire optimism

It can be difficult to always be the person finding the silver lining inside a huge, gray cloud. Even if you’re the only one carrying the burden, keep in mind that after a little while, positive feelings always do catch on.

2. Be genuine

No matter how small the action, great leaders are genuine in everything they do. They are purely themselves, take it or leave it, and they don’t compromise their ideals or core values in an attempt to be liked. They do things because they believe in them; they believe in the words they say, they believe in the people who work for them, and they believe in themselves too.

3. Practice confidence

While we all have our bad days, there are some that require us to continue to buck up and continue plowing forth, even when all we want to do is find somewhere to rest our head. Confidence is something that leaders carry regardless of the environment they may find themselves in. Great ones practice it every second of every day.

4. Communicate

Seeming both accessible and able to speak to those around us is a huge plus for leadership. Allowing yourself to act as someone that is responsible enough to take care of problems effectively–while being compassion and receptive–is great for encouraging people to trust you in every sense of the word.

5. Decide things–and stick to them

In a world where people constantly change their minds about all sorts of things, like which cereal to consume, or whether or not they know someone they’ve decided not to like, it can be hard to find stability to hold onto. Good leaders provide that, however. They are decisive when everyone else tends to waver–a great asset that allows others to become natural followers who easily fall in line right behind.

China Sourcing Agent

Elksourcing：Tips for Visiting Factories in Guangzhou, China

Apr 7, 2021 Elksourcing, factories by 露露

So, you’re planning on visiting factories in China.

By this point, you may have been talking to a couple of potential suppliers for weeks or even months now. You may have narrowed your list down to a few candidates and are starting to arrange meetings and tours of factory facilities. Meeting your Guangzhou sourcing agent and supplier for the first time is a very important part of the sourcing process, especially in China. It is just as crucial a moment for the supplier as it is for you as this first meeting can make or break a business relationship.

This is the time to get a real feel for the people you might be working with in the near future. However, if you’re not prepared for your visit, you could miss out on making the most of your trip. We’ve offered some tips for traveling to China in the past. Here are five tips to help you fully prepare and get the most out of your China business trip.

Tip 1. Inform the factory

An important tip for visiting factories in China is effectively communicating with the supplier beforehand. Throughout all the email correspondence with your supplier or sales representative, make sure to clarify all of the following:

Let the factory know that you are planning a trip to their facilities

1. Provide your schedules to the factory

2. Specify how long your stay in the country will be

3. Indicate the number of people coming with you

4. Ask what time would be most convenient for them

Most importantly, state the purpose of your visit to your suppliers. Emphasize what you would like to see, whether it is the factory floor or their show room. That way they can have everything ready to go and nothing is left out in the time you are there.

Tip 2. Set up an itinerary

Locate and group the factories you need to visit by area. Then arrange the trip according to the location and dates provided by the suppliers. Your Guangzhou sourcing agent will help you in this. It is usually possible to visit two factories in one day if they are in the same city. But visiting more than two suppliers per day is ill-advised. Setting up an itinerary will help you be more efficient with your time while on your trip visiting factories in China.

Try to book a hotel that is close to the factory in order to save time on the road. Let the factory know if you would like to have them pick you up from the hotel. Factories are usually a bit out of the way and can be challenging to find, even with directions in Chinese. Most factories would be happy to accommodate and help clients with transportation to and from the factory.

Tip 3. Arrange transportation in advance

When it comes to traveling from one city to another for factories, there are always plenty of options for travel. One thing to keep in mind in China is that it has the largest high-speed rail network in the world. They are known for their efficiency and reliability, unlike Chinese air travel, which is often met with delays.

Depending on the time frame you have, a high-speed train can be a great option for trips like Shenzhen-Guangzhou which will take you about 30 minutes from departure to arrive.

Tip 4. Confirm the details

Make sure to get phone numbers and detailed addresses of your factories in both English and Chinese from your supplier. It is important to be able to reach them at a moment’s notice, in case you are unable to locate the factory or you have been delayed somewhere along the way. Nothing is more frustrating than traveling have way around the world to visit a supplier only to be lost trying to find the factory and unable to contact them.

Tip 5. Ask the right questions

Our fifth tip for visiting factories in China is to have all questions you want to ask prepared ahead of time. This ensures that nothing is left not answered during visiting factories in China. Having a list of questions and expectations for your suppliers will help you get the most out of your visit. After all, meeting face-to-face with a supplier to ask questions and resolve issues related to manufacturing is typically a major reason for buyers making the trip.

And make sure to clearly lay all your expectation on the table to make sure you feel comfortable beginning a long-term business relationship with any potential suppliers with which you haven’t worked.

Conclusion

Visiting factories in China is a major reason for foreign travel to the country. Whether you are a veteran doing these trips countless times or a novice just coming to China for the first time, these are all things you need on your agenda to make the most of your limited time here. Preparation is the most important determinant for success.

China Sourcing Agent

Elksourcing：Procurement Professionals Have 5 Attributes in Common

Apr 7, 2021 Elksourcing, procurement by 露露

During my work in China sourcing industry for about 20 years, I’ve met many procurement professionals. I noticed that qualified procurement professionals have 5 attributes in common.

1. Excellent communication skills

The procurement department often finds itself at the crossroads between multiple stakeholders: suppliers, customers, management, sales, etc. (If you need help identifying your company’s stakeholders, check out this article.) Excellent communication is essential. A procurement professional must be able to express him or herself clearly in writing and in conversation. Of course, a good communicator must also be able to listen in order to better understand the needs and perspectives of colleagues and suppliers.

2. Savvy negotiation skills

This skill goes hand in hand with communication skills. The ability to negotiate doesn’t just refer to the ability to get something at the cheapest possible price; negotiations usually involve conversations about quality, delivery date, future relations, and more. A good negotiator knows how to get the best value from a supplier while still maintaining a positive business relationship. Also, knowing when to take negotiations out of the boardroom and onto the golf course or into a more relaxed, social environment can be a key attribute as well.

3. Ability to prioritize

A great procurement professional knows how to prioritize. In a busy office, there will often be many fires that need to be put out all at once, so to speak. While the ability to multitask may come in handy, it’s absolutely useless if you don’t understand what tasks are more important than others. This skill can be honed with experience, but it may be difficult to teach. Being able to prioritize successfully means being able to efficiently analyze potential worse case scenarios and quickly rank which tasks need to be dealt with immediately and which can be put off until later.

4. Integrity

Integrity is important to many professions, but it is especially important in procurement. Integrity means doing what you say and saying what you mean. Integrity helps professionals become leaders within the company and well respected by those they deal with outside the company. Integrity also implies a sense of reliability; if they say they will get the job done, they’ll do it.

5. A positive attitude

A positive, can-do attitude may be the most important attribute of all since it can’t be taught. Look for someone who approaches problems as exciting challenges rather than tedious tasks and views procurement as an essential component of the company rather than a necessary evil. If they don’t see their job as important, how will they convince colleagues in other departments to follow through with the procurement process?

Category: China Sourcing Agent