Category: How To Import From China

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：4 Aspects to Look at Before You Import Products from China

Apr 10, 2021 by 露露

Are you looking to importing products from China? Before you proceed with an order and pay the bill, pls look at below 4 aspects, they will help you get into serious sourcing business.

1.Product specifications

Why do you need to figure out the product specifications?

1). Your potential suppliers will have to make an official quotation based on your required product details.

2). In China, there are many quality levels: basic quality, okay quality, good quality, excellent quality etc. You won’t like too much surprise especially on price and quality because of misunderstanding on product specifications.

3). The supplier might want to cut corners where the product requirement is “blurring”. If you don’t confirm with them as much detail as possible, they can be too lazy to mention OR they are more willingly to just let it go.

4). Most suppliers only have the initiative to make an offer if you know specifically what you need in detail. They tend to think you are a serious buyer only when you have specific order needs.

5). To provide specs of what you want to import from China can highly increase the efficiency of the entire import process, especially in the inquiry and offer round.

2. Packaging Specifications

Packaging can be discussed after the sample order in terms of different product categories. But keep in mind to get a basic picture with your supplier about whether the packing is included in the pricing and how the package will be like.

Primary packaging – first envelops your product, usually the smallest unit of distribution

Secondary packaging – the layer outside the primary packaging, can be used to avoid being stolen or group primary packages together

Tertiary packaging – used for bulk handling, warehouse storage and transportation, most commonly packed in pallets

There are many packaging categories in terms of materials, for example, Corrugated Boxes, White Boxes, Cardboard Cartons, Paper Bags and Sacks etc. Different product lines will use specific packaging material.

3. Compliance

How to deal with the product regulations, certificates, standards and compliance?

A. Where – the “go-to” options for compliance information

1). Testing labs (SGS, UL, Intertek etc.)

2). Customs Brokers

If you work with some customs broker for years, and build up a good relationship, you can try to ask and they will likely tell you for free.

B. What to confirm?

Which countries do you want to sell the products in?

USA, Canada, France, UK, Australia etc.

What information to get confirmed?

1) What tests need to be done for what purpose?

2) What is the cost for the various tests?

3) How long will it take to do the tests?

4) More information case by case.

4. Supplier Portraits

It’s necessary to draw your ideal supplier portraits because you might not stick to your standards for what type of suppliers to choose from, along with the long way where you are looking for your right Chinese supplier and might overlook certain important baselines.

Write it down at the very beginning so that you can leverage for the final supplier option and make sure the change (if any) is reasonable instead of being too excited about some too good to be true offers.

Final words

The groundwork is always tedious but it’s definitely worthwhile. It can avoid spending your time on suppliers that don’t well match your needs, meanwhile, you will build a good start on your importing project. It’s just like playing a stacking game. If you don’t stack right and well from the first layer, the blocks will fall and you will have to do it over again.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：Important Sampling Process for Sourcing from China

Apr 10, 2021 , by 露露

When you have spent time to find and verify the good suppliers, and decided to actually start sourcing from China, pls do remember an important process: Sampling. You will need to request samples and manage the samples properly. In this article, I will share you some good practices.
1. Sample types

A. Prototype sample

After getting your design, before actually invest to cut moulds, it makes sense to make a prototype sample first. Usually, the sample is made by laser cutter, or by 3D printer.

B. Pre-production sample

Before starting mass production, it’s better to ask factory to make a few samples with actual moulds and machines. You can check the sample details, workmanship, specifications and much more. If the pre-production sample works well, you will be confident to approve mass production. In case it doesn’t meet some of your requirements, you may ask for adjustment to the moulds and remaking pre-production samples.

Pre-production sample is very important because it will be the standard for bulk production, especially if it’s a newly designed product, or if you are working with a new supplier.

C. Golden Sample

Golden sample is used for inspection reference. You can sign a good sample from pre-production samples you receive, and send to inspection company as reference for inspection.

When the inspection is going on, the golden sample will be used to check whether the bulk order products are made to the client’s expectations.

D. Testing Sample

Testing sample is normally for lab testing. It can be shipped to the lab or to you. The lab or your engineering department will test the sample for necessary safety, standard, compliance etc. Sometimes you may need to take several sets testing samples from the bulk cargo.

E. Marketing Sample

The marketing sample is used for taking photos and shooting videos and having copywriter creating marketing content. Then display vividly on your promotional material, posters, brochures, infographics, video, ads, official website or any other marketing channels.

F. Production Sample

When production starts, you can ask factory to send you a few samples to double check the quality, also, it is usually the good time to verify the packaging.
Production sample can help to avoid in time in case the vendor cuts corners. If it’s found earlier, instead of taking the unsatisfactory bulk products, you still have some time to demand the vendor to stop mass production and start to do necessary corrections.

2. Sample specifications

i). Product details

Have all product details written down on the sample order document. Make sure the vendor fully understands every detail of how you want the sample to be like.

ii). Sample price

Why do manufacturers charge sample cost (sometimes double the bulk price or even higher)?

Actual sampling cost is higher than product cost, the cost will cover raw material, labor cost, customization cost, etc. It takes extra time and effort to have workers create the sample separately.

In some cases, the supplier can’t tell whether you are a true importer or not, so, the vendor needs to get an incentive to build the sample for you, which would mostly be getting orders from you. If you don’t want to pay the sample cost, you do not look like a serious buyer, then the vendor will not be interested in spending time on you.

iii). Delivery Time

Keep in mind to confirm with the vendor about the sampling delivery time before placing your sample order. You don’t want to wait too long for the sample to come, especially when you need to have the sample done very soon for marketing purpose.

3. Shipping the samples

In most cases, samples are shipped by air. It can be shipped by the manufacturer’s freight forwarder or your own courier. Take a quick comparison between the vendor’s freight offer and your courier’s price.

4. Testing the samples

One of the core processes for getting a sample is to test it before you really get your products manufactured in China. You can send the sample to a lab (such as SGS) for compliance test, or show the sample to people around you or potential customers to see if the product will be marketable.

5. Managing the samples

1). Ask the vendor to label on the sample. Information can cover supplier company name, sample description, product specifications and so on.

2). Make a tracking record for samples. Update information like company name, product/label number, delivery date, waybill number, sample cost and shipping cost, etc.

3). Take photos (and videos when necessary) and collect necessary information.

4). Stock the samples properly by category or per your system so you can find them easily.

 

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：5 Ways to Improve Response Rate from China Suppliers

Apr 10, 2021 by 露露

It happens often that you send enquiries to the China suppliers you find online, but do not get any response after a few days, even a few weeks! Why do not the suppliers respond to your emails? Do not they want to do business and make money? It’s frustrating. In this article, let’s look at 5 ways that you can implement to improve the response rate.

1. Drafting detailed product requirements

An email with very limited information about what a buyer wants, is not taken too seriously, as it is a sign that the client is not invested in the process, i.e. hasn’t done his own research and hence the deal is not likely to close.

From my experience over the years, when we receive enquiries with very limited information we are almost certain those enquiries are not likely to result in business as the lead is simply not ready to import yet or are at a very early stage in the process.

So, making detailed product requirements can help you stand out in the supplier’s inbox, and make a big difference to your response rate. This tells the supplier that you understand the product and market well, hence are likely to be a serious importer.

2. Providing Order Details

Other than the product details, it is equally important to provide details about the “size” of the order. Every time you ask a supplier in China, for a quote, their first question would be, “what is your quantity”? If you do not provide this, they will ignore your enquiry, or sometimes quote based on MOQ.

Providing these details early helps ensure that there can be a match between you and the supplier because not every supplier would be right for your order quantity.

Other than the quantity, it also helps if you are upfront about your country of import, certification requirements & other important details like which incoterms do you want to be quoted for, i.e. FOB, CIF, etc.

3. Standing out as a hot prospect

Just like you are shortlisting suppliers, suppliers are shortlisting and qualifying leads too, so they can invest their limited human resources in chasing the best leads. So, it is important you come off as a hot prospect.

How do suppliers define a hot prospect? A hot prospect for a supplier would be someone:

1). Who is ready to buy from China “RIGHT NOW”

2). Has the capital to invest to at least meet their MOQ

3). Has great “repeat potential”

There are other factors but the above 3 are the most critical qualifying criteria. Because suppliers in most industries in China work with wafer-thin margins, “repeat-potential” is very important.

Other than approaching the supplier armed with product knowledge, you can appear as a “Hot Prospect” by:

1). Approaching as a business as opposed to an individual

2). Having a professional company website

3). Provide a company introduction. A couple of lines about your business and your previous China imports make a big difference, because new importer = low repeat potential.

4. Follow Up a Phone Call

This is where “culture difference” really comes to the fore. Just because you have sent an email to someone in China, does not mean they are obligated to reply. A phone call to let them know that you have sent them an email is often needed for them to take your email seriously.

This simple change alone in your approach to suppliers in China, can make a big difference in your response rate. Many westerners would argue that this is a sign that the supplier may be less than professional, while that may be true, this is a cultural difference, the faster you get to live with it, the easier to get to navigate the China landscape.

5. Visit China

Finally, if you are really not having luck getting enough responses from suppliers, or your product is truly unique, visiting China and meeting the supplier personally might be the best solution.

Conclusion

If you look at approaching suppliers like a “sales process”, you will find that a few tweaks in your approach can make massive differences to your response rate.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：What to Look to Verify Suppliers in China?

Apr 10, 2021 , by 露露

When it comes to importing from China, finding the right suppliers is critical. It determines whether it will be a good start of the entire procurement process or not.

After you have found out some candidate suppliers, you need to figure out which one is your right fit. There’s no one-size-fits-all supplier. That’s why you want to find a supplier that matches the portrait you draw in the groundwork for supplier evaluation.

So, what to look to verify suppliers in China?

1). Company background

Is the supplier legitimate?

Is the product compliant with importing country regulations?

Ask suppliers whether they can send you copies of these official documents like below:

Business license, Business registration, Certificates, Patents, and so on.

Check the company presence on the internet. Are there any reviews about this company online?

Can the company provide any references from their real clients?

2). Business model

Check the product range on their official website or other directories where you find them.

Do they display one niche product or multi-category products?

What products do they display in the eye appealing areas?

Is the business scope correspondent with what they are promoting?

3) . Supplier scale

Your desired supplier scale should match your business and order scale. Take a look at how they rank in different metrics.

Price level: Big scale supplier > medium scale supplier > small supplier

Quality stability: Big scale supplier > medium scale supplier > small supplier

Flexibility (design alternative, service in place): Small supplier > medium supplier > Big supplier

Lead time: Big supplier > small supplier > medium supplier

Bigger manufacturers have higher pricing because of the equipment and management etc. cost higher, for which reason they have more stable quality and fewer quality issues.

The flexibility for a big supplier is usually not good because they have a system in place. A big company have to follow the system and can’t change things easily and conveniently.

4). Is the supplier pro-active? 

How the potential suppliers are interacting with you can be seen as a signal for follow-ups.

Being pro-active before the order is placed doesn’t mean they will do it well in the entire process, but if they are not doing a good job at the first place, there’s little chance they will change after taking your money.

Are they responding what you are asking and what you care about?

Do they take it seriously to communicate with you?

5). Price, quality level, lead time

These are core factors you want to check whether the potential supplier can meet your baseline or not. Price can be the very one biggest factor that drives you to import from China. Good price is surely important but it is not the only factor. Try to look all aspects and judge based on their overall performance.

6). Are they professional?

The professionalism of product knowledge is a basis. Factory capability, product strength, R&D skills, market trends, and other knowledges are also important.

It is very difficult to find a perfect sales or supplier, but please pay attention to spot them and see whether they have good service traits. It will help a lot along the entire import process. The mindsets do matter.

7). Factory Visit

A face to face talk with the supplier in the factory plays a vital role. Apart from telling the good and bad of the supplier from virtual interactions by emails and calls, what the supplier performs in real life can give you a clearer picture, and help you better understand the actual situation.

If flying to China to visit the suppliers by yourself is time-consuming and not cost-effective, you can find a third-party sourcing company to help you with it. It can save you time and efforts.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：How CNY Impacts Your Products and What to Do?

Apr 10, 2021 , by 露露

Chinese New Year (CNY) is the most important nation holiday in China, during this period, hundreds of millions of people move across China in order to join their families for the holiday. But the congestion can make traveling very difficult, so it is not recommended to plan any type of trip during this time period.

How Can CNY Impact Your Products?

Chinese New Year affects manufacturing in a major way. The majority of the Chinese factory work force consists of migrant workers. And there are so many factories all over China that offer similar wages. It should come as no surprise, then, that some workers choose to return to work after the holiday, while some choose to stay at home and others choose to work in another factory or an entirely different city. It’s no exaggeration to say that all Chinese factories have difficulty getting their workers back after the holiday.

Chinese New Year affects manufacturing by forcing factories to rush to meet deadlines. Imagine you have a factory with 100 workers. After Chinese New Year rolls, around you’ll be lucky to retain 70 workers. What does this mean for your factory? This means you will have to hire and train new workers within a very short period of time or risk delaying orders. As a result, very few factories can deliver orders on-time with the same quality consistency during this period as compared to before Chinese New Year.

Now the question of quality over timeliness is raised. Of course, suppliers will make promises to meet certain quality standards and deadlines when you’re placing your order because they want to secure the business. But when a factory is faced with worker turnover as high as 30 percent after the holiday, the chances of a supplier following through on these promises will be slim to none. With a shortage of both time and trained workers, factory management often resorts to using inexperienced workers and rushing production. The predictable result is usually a dramatic drop in product quality. If you’re a buyer importing goods from China during this time, do you value product quality over receiving your order on-time? What can you do to make sure your order ships on-time and meets quality standards?

How to Avoid Delays and a Drop in Quality?

The next time Chinese New Year comes around, be sure to stock up your product inventory. By keeping some inventory in reserve, you will have a cushion in case your next order is delayed. Secondly, plan out your orders well after the holiday so your factory will have sufficient time to recruit and train more workers. Talk to your supplier about CNY and ask the factory manager how they plan to limit the negative impact of the holiday on production. Finally, carry out product inspection to verify the quality first-hand and before the order ships. This is especially important if you must receive orders close to CNY, as quality is more likely to slip around this time period.

Conclusion

CNY is a busy time for people in China. Delays are very common among travelers and factories. So, if you’re manufacturing goods in China during this time, be sure to minimize delays and maximize quality by:

1). Stocking up on inventory to avoid a shortage during CNY

2). Planning out your orders after the holiday and establishing deadlines with suppliers

3). Talking to your supplier about measures they plan to take to protect their production; and

4). Carrying out product inspection of your orders to make sure the products you will receive meet the quality standards you pay for.

And if you happen to be in China during CNY and get invited to someone’s hometown nearby, go have a look and experience how Chinese people celebrate their New Year. But remember to stay far away from highways during this time, or you’re sure to face some serious delays. 

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：Tips to Improve Communication with Chinese Suppliers

Apr 10, 2021 , by 露露

Do you encounter communication problems with your Chinese supplier? Perhaps the factory doesn’t understand your requirements. Or maybe your factory contact is slow to communicate or altogether unresponsive. Sometimes they say they will do something, but it doesn’t get done. Here you’ll learn about three tips you can improve communication with suppliers right away.

1. Keep emails simple to improve communication with suppliers

Sometimes we see clients send a barrage of emails to a supplier in a short period of time – all pertaining to the same issue. These emails sometimes contain technical English jargon, local slang or spelling mistakes.

You may feel your supplier’s English is pretty good. But chances are, they are copying those emails directly into an online translator so they understand the meaning in their native language.

If you have many different emails, use complex language or have spelling mistakes, this can very easily lead to a misunderstanding on the part of your supplier as they won’t clearly understand the key points.

2. Follow up with a phone call to improve communication with suppliers

Getting your contact on the phone is one way to quickly improve communication with suppliers. If the supplier does not respond to an email within a reasonable amount of time, or just becomes non-responsive in general, follow up with a phone call to find out what is going on.

If you’re waiting for the supplier to reply to a specific email, offer to review the points over the phone so you can gauge whether or not they genuinely understand the points being raised.

Not receiving any news at all is on par with receiving bad news when dealing with your supplier, particularly if it’s a Chinese supplier. It’s common for a supplier in China to withhold bad news by simply not responding to a customer’s inquiry. Generally, silence means there is a problem, or something is not being understood and needs to be clarified.

A factory in Asia typically won’t reach out and say, “We don’t understand this, can you please explain?”, as it could lead to a loss of face. However, if you give your supplier contact a call to find out what is going on, they may be able to confide in you the real situation.

If a factory cannot grasp a certain concept verbally, go back to basics. Pretend that you are explaining the issue to your 5-year-old nephew. Speaking slowly and in simpler terms will go a long way in making sure your supplier understands.

3. Limit the number of contact people to improve communication with suppliers

Dealing with a large number of people can really complicate your order. That’s why minimizing the number of people you need to talk with can improve communication with suppliers. Ideally, you would have one key contact person from your organization who deals with a supplier. Likewise, you’d do well to be communicating through a single key contact person for at the factory or vendor.

Although difficult with larger clients who deal with large factories and multiple projects, the more people involved, the greater chance there is for miscommunication.

Wherever possible, allocate one key individual to be the point person in dealing with the factory. That person should be someone that is sensitive to the local cultural and has an ability to communicate in simple, easy-to-understand English.

Conclusion

Manufacturing products in another country is challenging. But communicating with your supplier doesn’t have to be. To improve communication with suppliers:

1). Keep your emails simple.

2). Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call.

3). Limit the number of contact people where possible.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：Benefits of Quality Control Inspection for Importers

Apr 10, 2021 , by 露露

Is quality control inspection really necessary before shipping? What value am I actually getting from inspection, and what risks do I take in forgoing it?

Many importers manufacturing good in ask these questions. And if you’re wise, you too will consider what real benefits QC inspection offers and whether these benefits outweigh the costs. Because, ultimately, only you know what product quality your customers demand and the price they’re willing to pay to get it.

So, what are the benefits of quality control inspection for you, the importer? Let’s dive right into those that likely matter most to you.

1. Quality control inspection lowers your costs

Yes. You read that right. You may be thinking, if I have to pay someone to inspect my products, and inspection doesn’t directly improve quality, how can it lower my costs?

Despite the fees you might typically pay someone to visit your supplier’s factory and inspect, product inspection actually tends to lower most importers’ overall costs. Inspection does this mainly by preventing costly rework and limiting defects that result in unsellable goods.

2. Inspection prevents costly product rework and repairs

Let’s imagine you import household refrigerators from a factory in China. You decide to save costs by forgoing inspection. But when you receive the finished goods you find that 30 percent of the units have doors that are out of alignment. Given the high quantity of affected units, you need to hire technicians to fix the defects before you can ship the refrigerators to your customers

3. Quality control inspection limits unsellable goods

We’ve seen how inspection before shipping can help limit the need for costly product rework or repairs. But what about product defects that can’t be corrected and result in unsellable goods? It will bring more loss to you.

4. QC inspection leads to more satisfied customers

If you’re using product inspection to lower your costs, your customers may be delighted to see those savings reflected in a lower price they pay for your products.

But besides more competitive pricing, how else does quality control inspection help you improve your customer satisfaction? Inspection serves your customers by helping you deliver their goods on time and with fewer defects.

5. Inspection helps your customers receive their goods on time

A lesser-known benefit of inspection to your customers is its tendency to prevent production and shipping delays. There are a couple main ways that inspection achieves this:

Inspectors alert you when your supplier’s factory is behind schedule by reporting on production status.

Inspectors alert you to quality issues earlier, especially with during production inspection and incoming quality control.

6. QC inspection improves your supplier relationships

At first glance, it’s easy to see how scrutinizing your supplier’s work can cause tensions to flare between you and your supplier. The inspector’s role is to check the goods and report back to you about any issues they find. So why would your supplier want to risk having to spend more time and resources on your order to correct problems before shipping?

The answer is that some suppliers don’t welcome this risk. These are the kind of suppliers you probably want to avoid. And product inspection helps you avoid them.

7. Inspection helps you screen potential suppliers

The best way to limit defects in your products is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. And the best way to prevent them is to clarify your expectations upfront during the sourcing process before choosing a supplier.

Inspection encourages greater accountability and transparency from suppliers

There are a lot of ways you may be able to hold your suppliers accountable for meeting your requirements. A great way to set establish accountability is to clearly state your expectations in documents, such as purchase order or QC checklist, on which you outline your product specifications, packaging requirements, any required on-site testing procedures for QC and more.

How To Import From China

Elksourcing：5 Steps to Successfully Dealing with Chinese Suppliers

Apr 10, 2021 , by 露露

After you attend Canton Fair or HK Show, you collect many contacts for a potential supplier in China. What to do the next? Follow below five steps to successfully dealing with Chinese suppliers.

1. Develop the Relationship

The first step before striking a deal with a supplier is to reach out and request samples of the specific product. Not only does this allow you to get a hands-on feel of the product, it helps both you and the manufacturer agree on the product requirements and cost. Oftentimes, language and cultural differences can slow down the communication process, but it’s vital to iron out these details upfront before placing a large order.

2. Perform Due Diligence

Once you’re happy with the product, it’s important to perform background research to make sure you’re dealing with a reputable company. There are several free resources available online that allow you to find blacklisted companies throughout China, although these lists may not be updated regularly. For more comprehensive results, consider hiring a company to perform a factory audit. A simple factory audit takes just one day and the cost is affordable. This is an easy way to avoid scams and make sure the factory has the experience and capacity to manufacture your product.

3. Negotiate Your Contract

Once you’ve finalized your vendor and price, there are still several details to iron out; most importantly, your payment conditions. While there are several options, never fully finance your purchase order in advance. Instead, consider paying a predetermined percentage upfront (typically 30%) followed by the remaining balance when the order is completed and the inspection result is PASS. Line up a proper purchase order outlining your product, labeling, and packaging specifications, as well as a product checklist if applicable, terms of purchase, and a quality control plan.

4. Finalize Approval Samples

After finalizing your contract, it’s time to get a final product sample. Request one for you and one for your quality control company. This step prepares you for production by confirming the color, shape, functionality and feel of the product as well as identifying non-conformities and deciding which are acceptable.

When necessary, plan to perform any necessary laboratory testing to ensure the product meets any applicable local and international regulations. After all, you don’t want your shipment to get rejected at customs (for regulatory non-compliance) or by your customer (for bad quality).

5. Create a Quality Control Strategy

A strong quality control strategy aims to detect defects throughout the production process, which is why it’s critical to partner with your supplier. In reality, quality control benefits both parties because suppliers can successfully complete purchase orders and you are happy with the final product.