Announcing the Launch of "The Sourcing Blog"

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi All,

I am excited to announce the launch of the “The Sourcing Blog” which will be authored by my colleague. We thought a blog would be a great medium to share some of the experiences we have had working with Chinese factories over the years in China. Through the blog, I hope to share information on subjects like, importing from China, Quality Control, Supply Chain Management, Risk-Management & related areas.

Some of the key objectives of the blog would be to:

• Share strategies for importers so they can optimize & streamline their imports
• Share industry related sources that could be of value to new & existing importers
• Share import strategies for e-commerce sellers, especially eBay Powersellers & Amazon FBA sellers
• Share information on “Quality Control” & related subjects when importing from China
• Share advice for “Fraud Prevention” in International Trade

I hope we can bring some value through the blog on this subject. At the same time, as the blog is quite fresh at the moment and we are still working on the various aspects, I would really appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have. I look forward to seeing some of you on the blog and your feedback on the forum here.


Thanks
Elizabeth

 

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[Vigilante]

Love the idea! Good luck. Feel free to update this thread when you have substantive posts or share blog content here in this thread.

 

[Vigilante]

@JAJT @Kak @AllenCrawley please tag all forum member importers

@Elizabeth Shi spend some time tagging people here you want to invite specifically to follow this thread

 

[awesom-o]

I've been working with @Elizabeth Shi and IMEX. Excellent experience so far

 

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[Vigilante]

I've been working with @Elizabeth Shi and IMEX. Excellent experience so far

1. Kill the huge font
2. More details would be interesting

 

[awesom-o]

1. Kill the huge font
2. More details would be interesting

1) Apologies
2) it isn't my 'fastlane' venture just helping a friend with something for his business.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Following. Looking forward to the thread. ☺

 

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[evlttwin]

1) Apologies
2) it isn't my 'fastlane' venture just helping a friend with something for his business.

Tell us more............

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi @awesom-o ,

Really thanks for the opportunity to be of service. How was your experience working with IMEX? We will try our best to improve our service & processes based on your feedback.

Many thanks,

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Effects of the Chinese New Year on Manufacturing - This series of posts will go into the nitty-gritty of what happens in China & in particular in Chinese factories during the Chinese New Year, how it impacts importers and how they can be better prepared.

 

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[amp0193]

Effects of the Chinese New Year on Manufacturing - This series of posts will go into the nitty-gritty of what happens in China & in particular in Chinese factories during the Chinese New Year, how it impacts importers and how they can be better prepared.

Wow, I randomly found this thread from the "recent posts", and you have really delivered some fantastic content on your first post. As someone who knows only secondhand info about the Chinese New Year, this will be a great primer. I eagerly await Part 2. Blogs that deliver long in-depth posts of well-written material are the only ones I bother reading, and I'm adding yours to my subscription list.

Speed+

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Thanks @amp0193 ,

That is great to know. I will be regularly updating this thread for new posts and contents from our blog.

 

[ljb7]

I have to agree with @amp0193 ...

Just finished Part 1 of the Effects of Chinese New Year on Manufacturing and I have to say that it was a wonderful read, packed with stuff I'd never known before. Really well written and just plain great!! Can't wait for Part 2.

Subscribed.

 

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[voltron]

great first post, really informative and even interesting for a non importer like me. Couple of grammar issues you should clean up though, its "affecting" not "effecting"

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Update: Difference between a Chinese Sourcing company from a Trading company

Many importers may not be aware that the websites that they have been visiting online or the exhibition booths that they've stopped by during the Canton Fair do not actually belong to manufacturers but by Trading Companies. So how do you tell if you are dealing with a Trading Company and not a manufacturer, and what's the difference between a Trading Company from a Sourcing Company?

Elizabeth

 

[James Fake]

Nice! I've subscribed.. I also have a something Big brewing in development as a blog & software in a sister industry as well! Can't wait to I get to launch point like you... Good luck with everything!

 

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[Elizabeth Shi]

Thanks @JamesF ,

Actually our company was founded since 2008 but we have just recently launched our blog. Good luck to your ventures too.

 

[Vigilante]

Sidebar.

Have you noticed, forum members... that we routinely ban spammers, yet we've let this blog grow and be promoted here?

Why?

1. She's a contributing member
2. She joined us not to promote the business, but to join the community
3. She started a Fast Lane Business
4. Her contributions here have been valuable at the forum

So then she starts a blog. She then shares the blog content with forum members. It ADDS VALUE.

So... if you want a roadmap on how to do this, this is a pretty good case study.

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Thanks so much @Vigilante. Greatly appreciated.

 

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[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi everyone,

The second part of the Effects of the Chinese New Year on Manufacturing series is out! In this second part of the Effects of the Chinese New Year on Manufacturing series we discussed how the Chinese New Year holiday brings a very great impact when it comes to the factories' production timings, how the factories prioritize pending and current orders , and the factors that greatly affect the product quality during this period.

So, How does the Chinese New Year Impact Product Quality & Production Time?

Do let me know whether you've similar experiences when you've imported from China during the CNY holiday. The third part of this series would be about on the logistics side, how it greatly affect your import timeline and costs.

Thanks.

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi All,

Just to let you know, the third part of the series " Effects of the Chinese New Year on Suppliers & Importers " - How to avoid logistical delays to your shipment during the Chinese New Year? is finally out!

In this part of the series on Chinese New Year, we look at the logistics situation in China during this period & how it impacts the entire supply chain, especially in regard to “delivery times” & “logistics costs”. Being aware of the logistics situation during this time of the year is important for importers not only because of delays to shipments but also because new importers are often surprised at the steep freight rate increases during this period.

I know that some of you have already experienced the difficulties discussed so please feel free to share your experiences or ask any questions in the comment section or share the article and spread the knowledge.

P.S.
Watch out for the last part of this series which will be a checklist that importers can use to avoid issues on production, quality control, and logistics-related issues that were discussed on the first three parts of this series.

Best Regards,
Elizabeth

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi All,

I just wanted to update this thread with the latest posts from our blog for those who are not yet subscribed.

8 Ways to Pay your Chinese Suppliers & Their Risks
Minimizing Risk through Payment Terms Negotiation with Chinese Suppliers

Thanks a lot!

Elizabeth

 

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[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi All,

Spring Canton Fair starts today! Who's in China or who's planning to attend?

We would love to invite you to our office as it's just 20 minutes away from the fair venue as during the Canton Fair, we also offer a free consultation session for importers to discuss their import plans or challenges. This is given by Ashish Monga, our director & you can find more info on this here: http://imexsourcingservices.com/free-consultation-china-imports

Furthermore, you may also want to check out the latest blog post on: Is it worth spending money on a trip to Canton Fair? , Ask yourself these 4 Questions to decide if Canton Fair is Right for you.

Update:
How to Spot genuine Manufacturers at a China Sourcing Fair

I will look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in Guangzhou. If you can make it, please let me know your time availability so I can make necessary arrangements and book a slot for you.

Have a great day guys!
Elizabeth

 

[ljb7]

Hi All,

Spring Canton Fair starts today! Who's in China or who's planning to attend?

We would love to invite you to our office as it's just 20 minutes away from the fair venue as during the Canton Fair, we also offer a free consultation session for importers to discuss their import plans or challenges. This is given by Ashish Monga, our director & you can find more info on this here: http://imexsourcingservices.com/free-consultation-china-imports

Furthermore, you may also want to check out the latest blog post on: Is it worth spending money on a trip to Canton Fair? , Ask yourself these 4 Questions to decide if Canton Fair is Right for you.

I will look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in Guangzhou. If you can make it, please let me know your time availability so I can make necessary arrangements and book a slot for you.

Have a great day guys!
Elizabeth

I enjoyed this post Elizabeth! Unfortunately I won't be attending Canton but it's definitely something I'd like to do in the near future. Maybe even the winter fair.

In the write up you said 'I believe that money is better spent on a lot of other areas like, educating themselves about the nuances of international trade through web based courses & training programs'. I was wondering if you had any courses/training programs that you'd recommend to importers?

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

I enjoyed this post Elizabeth! Unfortunately I won't be attending Canton but it's definitely something I'd like to do in the near future. Maybe even the winter fair.

In the write up you said 'I believe that money is better spent on a lot of other areas like, educating themselves about the nuances of international trade through web based courses & training programs'. I was wondering if you had any courses/training programs that you'd recommend to importers?

Hi, there are lots of info courses online and the ones you take depends on where you are in the process and which area you want to strengthen. Do you have any specific areas you want to focus on, for e.g. say import procedures, amazon sales, etc.?

 

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[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi All,

We have just recently started a new series of blog post on our blog. This would be helpful especially to new importers who are planning to import from China.

The first post of this series is about:
The Top 5 Common Mistakes that New Importers should avoid - Importing From China? Avoid these 5 Common Mistakes

Will update on this series soon.
Thanks.
Liz

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

UPDATE:

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. I just wanted to share a recent post from The Sourcing Blog.

10 Causes of Shipping Delays from China - Part 1
5 Uncommon Reasons for Sea Shipping Delays from China - Part 2

Would be updating this thread for the second part of this series regarding the causes of shipping delays from China.

Many Thanks,
Elizabeth

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

UPDATE:

Hi Guys,

A new blog post from The Sourcing Blog covering the cultural & practical reasons as to why Chinese suppliers are slow at responding to emails or do not bother to reply at all.

 

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[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi Everyone,

Over the years, we have seen and answered lots of questions with regards to logistics from China and especially in calculating landed costs of your goods and a many of questions repeat over & over again, so here is a comprehensive blog post from our blog to address this:

The Ultimate Guide to Logistics from China & Calculating your Landed Costs

We hope that this will address a lot of repeated questions and I am sure it will bring up a lot of new questions as well, so please feel free to ask any questions on this thread and hopefully some logistics expert can help me with this.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi All,

Please allow me to update this thread with the latest post from our blog.

Air Freight & Courier from China – Basics, Strategies & Issues - Basics, Smart Strategies for Reducing Costs & Key Issues to Avoid

The post covers the difference between courier and air freight, looks at when sending goods by air is better compared to sea, what in-motion dimension scanning is & how do you choose between courier and air freight. It also looks at some of the critical key issues that you should be aware of when it comes to sending goods by air and some smart strategies for reducing costs when importing by air. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Hopefully you get some value from it.

Cheers,
Liz