During my work as a sourcing agent, I’ve heard of so many importers find it difficult to work with their China suppliers. Actually, cultivating a stronger relationship with a China supplier isn’t as hard as it seems. Here are three tips for stronger supplier relationships:

1. Pay on time

This first tip for stronger supplier relationships should go without saying. Still, there are importers from all different backgrounds and industries that fail to pay their China suppliers by the agreed time.

Factories run a for-profit business. Like importers, they have concerns about if and when they’re going to be paid. They prefer to maintain positive cash flows. And, perhaps most importantly, they rely on steady, dependable payments from customers in order to pay for their own suppliers for components/parts needed for production. Defaulting on payment to their suppliers could lead to a full stop in their operations.

Setting clear and reachable payment terms

Any payment terms you agree to should be confirmed well before placing the order. If you foresee that you might have problems meeting your obligations, it’s best to work out favorable contract terms before signing a contract. Being open and honest about payment early on allows the supplier to plan more effectively and helps build trust.

If something unexpected happens and you cannot pay your supplier, reach out directly and inform them of the situation. Don’t make the mistake of waiting for your supplier to contact you about an overdue invoice. Your supplier will be much happier to get a call or message from you letting them know:

• You’re aware of the outstanding fee and

• When you plan to send payment.

Once you’ve established a credible relationship with your supplier, you can discuss more favorable payment terms for your orders so that late payment becomes a less frequent issue.

2. Communicate frequently, openly and directly

Communicating with China suppliers is one of the most common challenges importers meet. But what some importers don’t realize is that the way they communicate is often more to blame for misunderstandings than any language barrier.
Visit the supplier early in the relationship

It’s not always going to be necessary for you to visit your China supplier. But it never hurts to meet your supplier representative face-to-face at the start of working together. Getting to know the people that will be fulfilling your order helps to build rapport which is definitely better for stronger supplier relationships. Even if you can’t personally meet suppliers, you might want to consider sending a trusted agent to visit on your behalf.

Don’t rely on email alone to communicate with your supplier

So many importers rely on email alone to communicate with their suppliers throughout the transaction. Few importers utilize more sophisticated tools for communicating effectively. There are far better ways to get in touch with your suppliers where a discussion or lengthy explanation might be needed. A phone call, for example, is simple. But it’s surprising how many importers don’t bother trying to get their suppliers on the phone.

There are also messaging apps available for voice calls, video calls, text chat or some combination thereof, including:

• Skype

• QQ (mainly used in Mainland China, but more and more widely used internationally)

When it comes to explaining product requirements or other detailed aspects with your supplier, email often leads to back-and-forth correspondence to clarify points. It can easily take several days or weeks to reach an understanding. Phoning or video calling your supplier contact lets you address any translation or technical challenges in real time with more reliability. It also helps to use an app for communication that’s popular where your supplier is based.

Keep your supplier in the loop

It’s important that a supplier is informed right away of any changes involving a product’s design, shipment date or any other factor related to production. Communicating any changes to production quickly, just as those related to payment, helps suppliers prepare and adapt better. Even if you think more changes are coming but are not confirmed, your supplier will be able to respond to your needs if you keep them in the loop. Doing so leads to stronger supplier relationships.

3. Manage reasonable expectations

You’ve probably experienced disappointment at one time or another. Maybe your supplier “over promised” by agreeing to ship your order on April 1st and then “under delivered” by delaying until May 1st. Or maybe you thought the factory would be using higher quality components then what ended up in your product.

No one likes to be let down. So, set realistic expectations, and manage your own expectations with manufacturers is a way to stronger supplier relationships.

Manage expectations for product quality

You can often learn a lot about the quality of a product by looking at the factory that’s manufacturing it. A low-end factory that makes cheaper products probably isn’t going to produce a high-end product for you at an acceptable level of quality. You need to be aware of what your chosen supplier is actually capable of producing and set your expectations on that basis.

Another essential consideration is that stricter product quality standards, coupled with a relatively small order size, can deter a supplier from working with you at all. You need to weigh the value of your purchase order and the relationship you have with your supplier against your standards for quality. If your supplier considers you a “tire kicker” that makes unreasonable demands about quality, they may see you as a time waster.

Lastly, larger factories tend to have more established quality management systems than smaller factories. This usually means you can expect fewer quality headaches. That does NOT mean, though, that you should expect the factory to be perfect. No matter how good a factory is, defects are almost always unavoidable in some number. Learning how to handle product defects is one way to ensure stronger supplier relationships.

Offer a forecast of production milestones

Planning production is not easy when there are many different variables outside of you and your supplier’s control. But it’s often helpful to offer your supplier at least an approximate forecast of when you expect major production stages of your order completed. You might use a Gantt chart, for example, to observe different production milestones and check in with the supplier periodically to monitor progress.

Providing a forecast of production milestones also helps your supplier prepare materials, labors, and equipment in advance. It’s wise to clarify a reasonable shipment date so that components are at the final assembly point when they need to be, especially when your supplier uses sub-suppliers. You’ll have stronger supplier relationships if you consult with suppliers about what’s achievable before any backpedaling or disappointment later.

Conclusion

Indicating to the supplier that you care about the relationship is a step in the right direction to improving it. But just saying you care is not enough. Time and well-placed effort are ultimately what create strong supplier relationships.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：Common Mistakes Made by Importers

Apr 7, 2021 Elksourcing, sourcing by 露露

During my experience of helping business people sourcing from China, I’ve seen many mistakes that importers made when sourcing from China. Below are 8 most common mistakes:

1. Using PayPal

Almost all beginner guides will tell you, only choose suppliers who accept PayPal. We say otherwise. There are a couple issues when it comes to using PayPal. You’re required to pay service fees. This can end up costing a ton and ruining your profit margins. A lot of guides will explain, PayPal is great for that added piece of insurance. The problem with this, if you’re using PayPal as a piece of mind to know your supplier can’t run away with your money, then you have not been vigilant enough with your sourcing. You should never choose a supplier unless you are absolutely confident they are capable of performing to your qualifications.

International Trade is an industry that is older than all of us. PayPal disrupts the system. Maybe this is my old school mindset coming into play, but a supplier is going to have a hard time taking you seriously if you demand PayPal. PayPal for international trade tags you as an inexperienced buyer who can easily be taken advantage of. Regardless of your buying power, it is important to act like you know what you are doing, even if this is your first purchase from China.

In the long run, PayPal isn’t going to help you. You’re buying from China, and because of this, you’re expected to conduct business with Chinese business understanding. A true business in China is built on trust and relationship. Using an American processing company notoriously known for favoring the buyer over the seller, and holding/confiscating funds for unknown amounts of time, is not going to help you in your efforts of extending the olive branch.

2. Neglecting Compliance

Regardless of your import country, there are product laws that extend much further than getting past customs. When buyers don’t fully understand the product they are importing and all the necessary rules and regulations that go along with said product, serious issues can arise at any part of the life of the product. As the importer, it is your duty to import responsibly and legally. While a common issue is not understanding the necessary certifications to get past customs, resulting in fines or seizures, another overlooked mistake is further compliance with various government agencies and entities protecting buyers, products and the environment.

3. Not sourcing forwarders

Not all shipping prices are equal. The shipping industry is large, competitive, and as ‘out to get you’ as any industry looking to make a quick buck off small, inexperienced importer. Just as it is vitally important to obtain product quotes from various suppliers, it is just as important to obtain quotes from forwarders too. If you don’t already have a strong relationship with a logistics company, or understand the cost structure of various ways of shipping, the best way to ensure you’re not being quoted an over inflated price is by shopping around.

4. Showing your size

A common mistake new importers make is assuming Chinese suppliers have the same vision they have of their small but mighty startup. Chinese culture works much differently than western culture. In China, everything bigger is better. Because of this, some suppliers will refuse to work with importers who are clearly of small size because it is assumed, the more amount of employees you have, the bigger your warehouse, the nicer your car, dictates your businesses success and buying power. When in reality, for the west, this is far from true.

When creating on online buying profile, it is important to exaggerate just enough so Chinese companies don’t quickly discard you as insignificant. Instead of explaining you’re a small startup, build yourself up so when they quickly glance over you and your website, they have trust that your purchases won’t be a one and done deal.

5. Expecting the sales person to be organized for you

Mistakes in production happen, and they happen a lot when you assume the sales person is the one taking all the notes for what you intend to purchasing.

Make sure everything is 110% understood, clearly written down in an organized fashion, and confirmed multiple times by the supplier.

6. Assuming you can ship defects back to your supplier

It is illegal to ship defective goods into China. Chinese customs will seize the goods. The cost alone would eat up profits because you’d be expected to cover all shipping costs. There are easier and less expensive alternatives to look into, such ask supplier for some percentage of free replacements, get a certain percentage of refunds from supplier, and so. Most importantly, you should always find a trustworthy QC to do pre-shipment inspection for you, so as to find out defects in China, problems are much easier to be fixed by China suppliers.

7. Assuming the factory is going to follow Western business customs

Many buyers assume that because they are messaging factories from the comfort of their own computer screen, that they are not doing business in China.

By not taking the time to learn about Chinese business culture, you’re doing yourself a great disservice. Your understanding will be recognized and greatly respected if you can adopt to Chinese business customs.

8. Not building a personal relationship with your supplier

The suppliers you are speaking with are not faceless drones taking you order, they’re actual people. A great way to build a relationship is to also build a rapport with these sellers.

Chinese business is fueled on relationships. Any personal relationship you have with someone at the factory you intend on using continuously, will allow you to greatly excel your imports.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：Why Chinese Suppliers Ignore Your RFQ?

Apr 6, 2021 Elksourcing, RFQ, supplier by 露露

It happens often, you, as a buyer, after hours or days searching on Alibaba, has found a promising Chinese supplier, and sent out a RFQ (Request For Quotation). The next day, and next few days, you check your mailbox but nothing happens, you have not heard back from the Chinese supplier at all.

Why Chinese suppliers ignore your RFQ?

When sending the RFQ, do you fall in below bad situations which quenching the fire of the supplier motivation?

1- Wide-open RFQ shows you do not know what exactly you look for.

These broad inquiries are heavy on generalities and low on specifics.

If the supplier is responsible and not too busy, they may come back and ask the buyer questions, in hopes to nail down some specifications.

Otherwise, the supplier simply puts your RFQ in low quality category and ignores it.

2- No indication of time frame.

An indication of time frame would be letting the supplier know, “Why they are quoting?”

For example:

“If all goes well, we hope to start sampling next week.”

“We hope to bring the order next month if all goes well.”

But without any time indication when the quote is sent, you’ve basically asked your supplier to shoot a quotation into the wild blue yonder of cyber space.

3- Unrealistic price negotiation from the beginning

This is when the buyer, in hopes of being professional, gives a target price to the vendor.

The trouble is, this target price forgets the basic rules of mathematics.

It’s not good for the supplier motivation if your figures look like you think their margin is coming from some alternate universe.

If you are going to provide a target price in your RFQ (which I recommend by the way), then make sure you are in tune to some of the basic pricing parameters of your product.

Giving a target price – good

Giving an unrealistic target price – bad.

4- Poor mouthing your own inquiry or client

The buyer, when speaking about their own client, may say something along the lines of:

“They’re really pushing us for pricing and being annoying. We just have to send them something.”

Or when a supplier asks for more detail, the buyer says “I don’t know, we’re not really sure, this job isn’t going too well…”

The buyer, in their internal frustration for whatever reason, express disdain for the project.

Well, if you’re not motivated for the project, guess who else will not be?

5- Letting your supplier know how many people you are against in the bid

“Hey, we’re up against like 30 other companies for this one”.

That says enough.

6- Unrealistic quantity request

Some buyers make the mistake of giving too high quantity scales.

Look, you may order a million units or something like that, but those kinds of inquiries do not usually come to fruition of one emailed RFQ. And unless you’ve built a track record of ordering substantial quantity from this supplier, they may not take you seriously.

If you have a high potential quantity, break that down to a few lower scales in case the large quantity does not hit the pay window.

When sourcing and quoting, be known as a serious client who sends potential business. Show that you value your resources.

Supplier motivation whizzes out like air from a balloon when you request 50,000 units and end up ordering 1,000 units.

7- Complicated item

This could be items require extensive development and items that do not fall into the supplier’s line of expertise.

“Hey, we’re looking to quote a great product that takes lots of development time. But at the moment we’re not sure how many we are going to order. Can you spend some time analyzing everything and then give us a quote?”

These kinds of inquiries usually get ignored.

8- You never close an order

If you inquire over and over but never actually close anything, the supplier is not going to really be holding their breath thinking finally, this is the big one.

You need to be careful not to exhaust your resources.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：12 Common Mistakes of Importing from China

Apr 6, 2021 Elksourcing, importing by 露露

During the daily practice of importing from China, I’ve learned 12 common mistakes from various clients I dealt with. Here are the details:

1. Looking for the lowest price

If you purchase something below market price, you are taking very high risks. Either quality will not be up to your standard, or you are about to get scammed.

2. Letting the supplier ship without checking product quality

Once a production batch is on a boat, it’s too late. Verify quality yourself, or pay for quality inspection services. And do it systematically, at least for the first 5 shipments (after that, you can do random skip-lot QC).

3. Failing to realize that pre-production samples are selling tools

Many buyers who are surprised that samples are not representative of bulk production. But getting an order and a cash deposit is one thing, and manufacturing the goods is another thing! Your job is to check whether production is up to the pre-production sample.

4. Displaying obvious distrust towards one’s suppliers

One of my clients does this. Her suppliers hate her, and they often get into arguments. You need your suppliers (1) to have a good image of you, and (2) to know that you care about them. If not, nobody will look after your production in the factory.

5. Not keeping two weeks of padding in the shipment schedule

There will be delays, with a certainty comprised between 30% and 90%. So plan for it. Bonus: even worse than failing to plan for delays, is pushing the factory to reduce production time.

6. Paying everything in full while one still needs leverage

Some purchasers get a really good feeling about a supplier, and agree to wire 100% of the order amount in advance. Then the manufacturer has no incentive to hurry up or to produce up to the standard. If quality issues are uncovered (and that’s only if they allow for an inspection), the factory might refuse to rework the goods.

7. Accepting to be left in the dark regarding your own supply chain

Do not rely on a middleman, upon which your whole company’s success rests. Qualify the factory, if possible get to know/approve the sub-suppliers. You will make it up many times in the long run. It is so basic, but so many people get this wrong.

8. Forgetting to describe an essential product attribute, or even the entire packaging

If you don’t specify your expectations in detail, a factory technician will take the decision for you, based (most probably) on cost savings. And you will not even be able to protest when you notice it.

9. Hoping that an unsatisfactory manufacturer will get better over time

Per my experiences, it is a bad idea to give a second order to a factory that just produced substandard quality. Rather than rolling the dice (when the odds are 90% against you), nurture a backup manufacturer.

10. Not registering one’s trademark when buying from China

Do you want a competitor to force your manufacturer to stop production? Do you want a supplier to sell your goods on the local market? If not, pls register your IP.

11. Not having a contract

A contract that can be enforced locally is important. There are various strategies to adopt in “non-cooperative” situations, and you can adopt them. For example: “take little steps” (issue small orders at beginning), “verify constantly” (quality inspections) and “use a third-party” (for example, to use a verified sourcing company to monitor your suppliers).

12. Trying to manufacture small quantities in China

It will usually push you in the arms of small trading firms that deal with small workshops. The result in 90% of cases: quality disasters and/or long delays. But there is a solution, if you can purchase non-customized items: produce them in coordination with a non-competing importer. Hard to pull off, I admit, but worth giving a shot!

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：How to Enforce Your Quality Standards in China?

Apr 6, 2021 Elksourcing, quality by 露露

How can importers establish a quality standard, and then enforce it? Here are 4 proven ways to handle your suppliers in China.

1. Insist on getting a “perfect” sample

Whenever possible, you should have a perfect sample (i.e. a prototype that is conform in all points to what you want to receive) in your hands before production is launched. The best practice is to get at least two samples, and send one back to the factory with your signature/stamp on it.

This is the most basic way to establish your quality standard. The difficulty will be in the enforcement.

In China, in General, factories know that sending very nice samples is what helps them get orders. These perfect samples (prepared by experimented technicians who take their time) are usually better than what can be made in mass production.

Suppliers simply assume that the buyers know it. And in any case, a buyer who has wired a 30% deposit and is in a hurry to ship usually accepts this situation. Many factories count on it.

How not to fall in that trap?

1. You should avoid at all cost to settle the payment before the quality of bulk production is approved (either by yourself of by an inspection company).

2. You should write a note about what has to be EXACTLY similar to the perfect sample (e.g. the overall outlook, the color, the function, etc.) and get your supplier to sign it.

3. You should make a list of the differences that you can live with (see next part).

4. Check early in the production cycle. If you can afford it, send either one of your technicians or a third-party inspector in the factory. When? During production, as soon as finished products get off the lines.

This way, you will notice if the factory is not respecting your quality standard. And you will have time to negotiate a solution with your supplier.

If possible, the factory can avoid the same problems on the products that are not in the process yet. And they can rework (or reproduce) the output that you have rejected.

2. Define tolerances wherever applicable

Sometimes it is not realistic to expect a very precise result. For example, garments are generally made by hand, so there has to be a tolerance for measurements (example: 15cm in S size, +/-1cm). In this case, the objective is the comfort of the garment.

Another example: for juvenile products (toys, children clothes…), it should be impossible to pull small accessories off with a force of 90 Newton of less. If you have no idea about the safety issues surrounding your products, you can get in touch with a quality control firm.

Once you have approved some tolerances, put all your specifications on paper and get your supplier’s signature on them. You have already done half the work to establish and enforce a relevant quality standard.

These specifications will naturally become the inspection checklist when time comes to verify quality.

Sometimes it makes no sense to give a tolerance, of course. Here are two examples: “hard disk drive should be 120 GB in capacity”; “red color is Pantone 1664”. In these cases, your specification is clear and precise, and the supplier should follow it.

3. Set a limit on the proportion of defects

A defect is an issue that you cannot accept on all products.

In the aeronautics industry, manufacturers have to guarantee near-defect-free products. But for consumer goods such as toys or apparel, such a high quality standard is neither realistic not necessary.

The different types of defects

Some defects are worse than others:

Critical defects might hurt the user;

Major defects are not acceptable by most buyers in stores (e.g. large stains) or might cause problems in the supply chain (e.g. unreadable carton barcodes);

Minor defects can be tolerated by most buyers, but only in small quantity.

How to set a limit on the proportion of defects?

The quality control industry uses the same statistics (derived from a US army standard), when it comes to checking consumer goods.

All inspectors, and virtually all factories and traders, are familiar with the contact of AQL (Acceptance Quality Limits). In clear, the AQL is the highest proportion of defects that you can accept.

For most product categories, the AQL limits are usually the following:

0% for critical defects

2.5% for major defects (or 1.5% for relatively valuable goods)

4.0% for minor defects (or 2.5% for relatively valuable goods)

As a buyer, you have total freedom in setting these limits. But you are advised to discuss this from the beginning with your supplier, and to get their written agreement.

4. A quality standard suffers no exception

Let’s say a supplier is late, you negotiate a delay with your customers, and before shipment you notice that quality is less than desirable. You still prefer delivering the products, rather than cancelling the order. So you tell your supplier that he can ship out and next time should be better.

The problem is, the “exceptional tolerance” may become a “hint” for the factory. Count on them to remember that you can accept less-than-perfect products.

Chinese manufacturers tend to have a “can’t do” attitude after an order production has started. Two of their favorite expressions are “cha bu duo” (it’s off, but not by much, so you should accept it as is) and “mei ban fa” (there is nothing we can do about it now, no need to keep pressing this issue).

You should fight their natural inclination. Ask for re-work and re-inspections, even if it costs you 10 days. This type of efforts pay off handsomely in the long term, as long as the factory can reasonable achieve your quality standard (you will have clarified this if you follow the steps I listed above).

If in very special case you have to deliver the products, you must talk with factory people in very serious manner, so they understand you do not accept any repeated problems, if it happens again, you will leave this factory.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：Types of Supplier and Types of Product in China

Apr 6, 2021 China, Elksourcing, supplier by 露露

During my daily work of helping western businessmen purchasing goods from China, I’ve seen many back and forth negotiations between supplier and buyer. But in fact, much negotiation time could be saved and the process could be less frustrating if the buyer could perhaps understand things from the supplier’s point of view before you start contacting them.

Types of supplier

In China as with the rest of the world, this can vary hugely. One supplier might be a factory with thousands of staff and at the other end of the scale you might have a mother of one working from home to try and pay the bills, along with many middle men in between. The difference in China is that it might not always be that clear exactly who you are dealing with. The mother is as likely to tell you that she is a factory as the factory itself.

The truth is that they could all offer as good a service as the other. The crucial thing as far as the buyer is concerned is that this will affect what you can buy and at what prices.

Types of product

This will also have a bearing on who you can buy from and at what unit prices. There are obviously thousands of various permutations, but to keep it simple I see that there are three main product ‘types’ if you like.

1) Off the shelf. These are made in quantity to the same design and as such reasonably easy to source. Many suppliers will sell the exact same product.

2) Off the shelf with own branding. Also made in quantity, these products might require specific branding to be added to the basic model, so will involve extra printing, design, at an extra cost.

3) Bespoke products. These are manufactured to a specific design of the buyer and as such can be harder to obtain and more expensive.

Why do I need to consider this?

If you ask a large scale factory to make you 250 small widgets, they simply won’t deal with you as it’s not worth their while. Yes, they want to make money, but they won’t make much from that order.

Should you ask the ‘mother of one’ to get these for you, chances are she will have the necessary contacts, perhaps on the back of another larger order of say 2000 widgets that she sells on in smaller batches.

Obviously once it comes down to own brand and bespoke products, there is additional design and manufacturing involved which will have a bearing on who you can buy from.

In summary

A supplier will only be desperate to sell to you if they feel it is worth their while doing so. They want to make money, which they are unlikely to do if they are manufacturing small one off orders. If you prove to them you are serious, they will respond accordingly and want to create a long term relationship with your company.

If you haggle on price so much that the base line profit they are making is very poor, it’s likely that both the product quality and the level of customer service will suffer too.

Finally, most buyers are wary of being scammed. Don’t forget this works both ways. More than likely the supplier themselves will have been scammed in the past or suffered at the hands of time wasters. Treat them as if you would treat your own customers, create a business relationship and reap the benefits of a successful long-term partnership.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：What to Do if Your China Factory is Low Standard?

Apr 6, 2021 Elksourcing, factory by 露露

Do you work with a factory in China, and wish their quality standard were a bit higher? You are not alone.

What to Do if Your China Factory is Low Standard? Here are six pieces of advice you can follow in this case.

1. Say it, and write it, to your factory

If you don’t communicate your dissatisfaction, nothing will happen. Here is an example of message you can send:

“The customers who shop in our stores expect a relatively high quality (higher than average). We don’t want them to think, ‘Oh, these products are also made in China’. Either we keep our quality standard up, or we will need to stop purchasing from your company.”

2. Give early feedback

It is the whole purpose of inspections during production: give a warning if the average quality is too low, while the manufacturer still has time to do corrections.

If you only perform final inspections (before shipment), you are taking risks. At that stage it might be too late to rework the goods, you might be in a hurry to ship them out, and the supplier might simply wait until you release the batch.

3. Do not accept low quality “exceptionally”

I have seen this mistake over and over again. Quality issues are only caught before shipment. As noted above, no good solution is found. The buyer lets the factory ship the products, even though they are not satisfactory.

What message does it send to the factory? Will they take your quality standard seriously in the future? Of course not.

A very serious discussion needs to follow. And the following order should be watched extremely carefully. If you don’t do this, you will be disappointed again and again.

4. Define what is a major defect, what is a minor defect, and what is not a defect

It is hard to think of every possible defect. But, for most product categories, defining the 10 most frequent types of defects goes a long way.

Some importers are very organized and write a clear QC checklist. The best practice is to show a lot of photos. For each potential defect, show one photo on the left (photo of the defect), and another one on the right (photo of what is acceptable).

It is quite helpful to inspectors, but make sure they don’t need 1 hour to read this manual! A good target is 5 min.

By the way, this document is also useful to the supplier and the factory technicians. Write “NO” in red or “OK” in green, on the photos.

5. Set the AQL limits (i.e. tolerances for defects) that correspond to your quality standard

Maybe you started with the “standard” AQL limits, and you noticed that too many defects are tolerated? You wish inspectors rejected a batch with a lower proportion of defects?

For example, instead of authorizing 2.5% (for major defects) and 4.0% (for minor defects), you can tolerate only 1.5% and 2.5% respectively. There is no science about how to choose an AQL limit, mostly based on industrial practice.

The drawback is that suppliers generally protest. They argue that 2.5 and 4.0 is the “standard” in China’s export business (which is true), and that tighter limits will be hard to achieve. But after negotiations, it’s very possible that the supplier agrees with you at a middle line: 1.5% (for major defects) and 4.0% (for minor defects).

6. Go and find another manufacturer!

That’s the solution of last resort, in case your manufacturer shows no improvement (which, unfortunately, is likely to happen).

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：How to Evaluate China Suppliers?

Apr 5, 2021 1688 dropshipping service, Elksourcing by 露露

Whether sourcing from China or elsewhere, one of the most important things you as a buyer need to do is to make sure you are working with the right supplier. So where do you start?

Define your ideal supplier. Buyers should first define their “ideal supplier.” This is unique to each buyer and depends on a number of factors, including price, quality, order QTY and lead time.

Define your location. Where factories are based should also play a role in supplier evaluation. While factories in China‘s northern and western provinces have lower manufacturing costs, the quality is often lower, also, they are far from port so domestic logistics costs and lead time could be concerns. Those located along the coast and in the southern region have higher production outlay but the quality is generally better, plus close to port.

Look in the right places. Although nowadays leading B2B websites can help buyers easily find suppliers, many of them offer services to reduce transaction risk as well. But it’s recommended meeting suppliers face to face. Further, always do your due diligence and verify suppliers before working with them.

Do your homework. To find the right suppliers and coordinate production, the best way is to visit the factory yourself. Spend more time on the production floor than anywhere else.

Pick a factory that is the right size for your order. If you are a small buyer at a large factory, you will find it hard to keep their attention.

Make sure you communicate with the suppliers on a regular basis. If you do not ask for updates, you are unlikely to receive them. Be in contact when there is good news to share so that you do not become the “headache client” who contacts the factory only when things are bad.

Build into your budget the costs of a few international trips to the China factory to keep an eye on things and build a good working relationship with your supplier. If you cannot afford to travel on your own or do not want to make the trip, then get an agent to represent you.

Category: How To Import From China