If you run an online business or small business, you can give your business a more competitive edge by sourcing products from China at factory prices. If you manufacture your own products, you can also consider sourcing packaging, raw materials or components from China, which is very beneficial to your business.

Not so long ago, only large corporations could afford to maintain the sales business of importing and sourcing goods from abroad. But now, thanks to advances in technology, all of this is available online without the need to visit China, take expensive and difficult business trips, visit Chinese facilities or contact suppliers.

Of course, e-commerce has its pros and cons—while it's cheap and fast, you can also run into some unpleasant surprises at times. That's why we decided to write a short guide with some helpful tips on how to shop directly from China.

Valuable Advice ForImporting Chinese Goods

Buy from China product sourcing agent: Valuable Advice If you choose to import Chinese goods, first of all you should note that numbers play a very important role. When you ask for 5,000 or 10,000 pieces, the supplier's quote changes, and it's definitely the shipping technology used. In practice, it is possible to deliver a small number of solutions by plane, but not quite the same for larger quantities.

Often, buying in bulk is the best way to save money. The product is fairly simple and depends on the market dynamics between Chinese suppliers and manufacturers. Both production companies and suppliers are required to adhere to a Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) in order to produce items, and if the MOQ is not met, they will not be able to process your order.

Therefore, those who choose to import goods from China should be aware that each sale seems to have to pay attention to a specific MOQ, below which the supplier will not have the ability to promote the requested goods, if this specific limit is exceeded, the Chinese wholesale suppliers Will be able to confirm orders as he will be ready to generate revenue, albeit very little (believe Chinese suppliers have very low profit margins ranging from 2% to 4%!).

Many companies often fail to provide clear information when they start dealing with Chinese suppliers. For example, they may ask for a unit cost of the product without giving a full description or timeline. While this approach may seem savvy, it often backfires by lengthening the buying process and frustrating suppliers.

A Few Things Need To Keep In Mind

A truly reliable supplier will not be able to give you the unit cost of the product because the cost varies by quantity.

Quoting is a lot of work, and suppliers change dramatically based on production time, so if you keep changing your requirements, you can be a difficult customer. Chinese suppliers get a lot of requests every day and they are not afraid to lose you as a customer, especially if your request volume is small.

So our advice is to decide everything you want in advance: which items you want to buy and when you need them. This way, you can provide clear and detailed information to your suppliers. Never forget the offer is free and non-binding. Clear communication will make the time frame faster and make you a more desirable customer for the supplier. Also, if you keep changing the requirements for suppliers with limited English understanding, this will reduce the potential for misunderstandings.

The Best Way To Find The Right Supplier

Another problem that needs to be solved is how to find suppliers. If you look for them on the internet, on a site like Alibaba, you'll notice that there are tons of suppliers for one product: how do you decide which one is the best?

Take a note of the quote request and the time and quantity of the item you want, and send them to a number of suppliers, asking if such products have been sold in the EU or the US in the past.

If you've done some research on the internet, you may have realized that the minimum order levels on Alibaba's website are quite impressive.

However, small businesses usually have issues with high MOQ. In fact, importing substantial amounts of items from China can be troublesome for smaller companies. Specially they lacke the necessary funds or storage space for their ordered items.

East Supplier Platform

East Supplier Platform is a cross-border full-category product platform under the EastDigi Group, covering B2B / B2C / Sourcing multiple innovative business models. It provides traditional foreign trade and cross-border e-commerce users with a full range of product drainage and direct access to inquiry services and provides a high-quality channel for global individual merchants and business owners to connect with high-quality factories in mainland China.