Many new importers find that they only have a very vague idea of how long it really takes to receive their product when purchasing in China. This is because many of them have experience buying from distributors or wholesalers here in the US, so the timeline is rarely clear. In...
We are the age of information. All of it is readily available at your fingertips. And for many, the problem is no longer finding suppliers, but rather, qualifying suppliers. We previously wrote about how to verify factories (see China sourcing: How to verify factories). Since this blog, new importers continue to ask...
For years, many retail companies have been moving towards online stores and shopping, and the pandemic served to accelerate this trend. Being the end user, this meant new choices and new experiences, real multiple channels to buy merchandise. For businesses supplying these end users, omnichannel retail has become a hot...
We were all new importers at one time even if some of us (not me!) are now wise and savvy with our years of experience. We all remember things we wish we had known when we first started China sourcing company Today, we see new importers popping up everywhere, they...
How you establish the terms for a working relationship with a factory, especially in the context of China direct buying, can really set the tone for the remainder of the production process. The Request For Quotation (RFQ) is thus a crucial step in your China sourcing program to ensure the...
A China sourcing agency is the best way to support a sourcing program: all your issues are addressed from placing orders to quality assurance to on-time delivery. But (there always seems to be a “but”) it requires an investment. How do we know all that? Well, we have one, obviously....
Recently, I read an article on QualityInspection.org, “The Danger of Choosing a ‘Cheap’ Chinese Factory.” The objective of most companies with China sourcing programs is to save money, it stands to reason that many importers are looking for cheap Chinese factories. But what happens when saving money becomes, in effect,...
As a China sourcing service provider, one of the questions I am asked most often is how to protect Intellectual Property (IP) when manufacturing goods in China. This scrutiny is justified: nobody wants their idea stolen by their manufacturer. Since China is the “supplier of the world,” it receives extra...
