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Chinese China

How to Select Good Suppliers in China

When we want to import products from China, usually we first have to select good suppliers. Do not think your existed supplier is the best choice, if you know Chinese Culture, you should know there is a saying called "Killing Familiar" (sha shu in Chinese). China has a totally different culture from your country, especially in Business. Some approaches that worked in your country might not work well here. Then here is the question - How to select good suppliers in China?

You know search engines like Alibaba, Made-In-China , Global Sources and etc., but you may not trust their selection and get stuck;

You already have an existing business and want to import products from China by yourself, but don't know how to find the right suppliers and right product;

You know that you may be in trouble if you don't have a quality control system in place, but don't know how to solve that problem;

You don't know how to communicate with suppliers efficiently and effecitvely and how to ask the right questions to get results (usually means the good price);

You don't want to invest your money in expensive Far East Business Trips but need somebody of your confidence to do your job in China instead;

Since you are lacking the knowledge, you may be too naive in your dealings with experienced Chinese companies and may be ripped off without even knowing it.

Here are some tips:

1, Specialized is not always good. Here we take printing industry for instance. There is a place called "Ba Gua Ling" in Shenzhen, it is located in the center of Shenzhen, and have more than 100 printing factory. The costs of making printed products there is much cheaper than other places in Shenzhen, even those factories have to pay higher rent. The reason of this phenomenon is because some factories may not specialized in making one particular product, but they can find other factories which can do it with much cheaper price. So, to sum up, finding a networker is better than finding a factory, because a product is made by different parts.

2, Do not contact salesman or staffer, but contact the boss of the factory. Usually salesman or staffer needs extra money from the commission of the order. The boss just wants the order. This can save your huge money when you want to import products from China. If you cannot find the boss of one particular product, then go to Linkedin, there is a lot of Chinese networkers there and they usually speak English and waiting for business corporation.

3, The factories in Southern China can offer cheaper quotation, but it is not absolute. The costs of living in Southern China are much higher than other places in China. So taking your eye from Southern China to Northwest China and you can find more opportunities.

4, Never use Alibaba and such kind of B2B website. The truth is, any company as long as they pay money to Alibaba, they can get better position on the search result. That's why we are very proud that we never use Alibaba, because it is not reliable!

5, The last but not least, finding a good business partner who do not "kill familiar". A good business partner can be your eyes and ears. It is very important for importing and exporting from/to China. A good assistant will serve as a "How-to" guide, and will show you how to get win-win option, as well as ways to reduce your purchasing costs.

About the Author

Amanda Wong, Consultant of
EASTHV Business Consulting
, which is mainly doing business with
International Trade (China)
and
IT Service
.

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