Sourcing products

[Tighe]

Hi this is my first post here...

I just graduated college last May, and got a certification as a personal training (following my "true" passion) gosh I wish I read MJ's books before going down that road. I like giving people value and helping them with what I know best, but I've have had a hard time really exploding and scaling my business. That being said I've been working on a side brand/ business I want to launch, being able to scale and give value to people all over the world, not just in my community. After months of researching products I found a few I liked and could differentiate effectively from the competition. After talking to distributors on Alibaba, a few of them informed me they wouldn't be shipping/ giving business to the US anytime soon.

Has anyone else had this problem/ think Alibaba might not be a reliable supplier in 2022? If so are there any other reliable suppliers that'd you recommend either in China or other countries?
I really appreciate it and have loved hearing all of your stories. Hopefully soon I will be able to give my own value to the forum & people going down the same road as me.

 

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[Walter Hay]

Hi this is my first post here...

I just graduated college last May, and got a certification as a personal training (following my "true" passion) gosh I wish I read MJ's books before going down that road. I like giving people value and helping them with what I know best, but I've have had a hard time really exploding and scaling my business. That being said I've been working on a side brand/ business I want to launch, being able to scale and give value to people all over the world, not just in my community. After months of researching products I found a few I liked and could differentiate effectively from the competition. After talking to distributors on Alibaba, a few of them informed me they wouldn't be shipping/ giving business to the US anytime soon.

Has anyone else had this problem/ think Alibaba might not be a reliable supplier in 2022? If so are there any other reliable suppliers that'd you recommend either in China or other countries?
I really appreciate it and have loved hearing all of your stories. Hopefully soon I will be able to give my own value to the forum & people going down the same road as me.

Welcome to the forum. I suggest that before exploring Alibaba for suppliers, you should have a look at my AMA thread:

Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist.​

You should at least read the first 5 posts and then start at the end and work backwards. Those early posts will show you why you should look at the latest information. You need to keep up to date. So many changes occur in the sourcing and importing scene that I revise my book every year.

Advertisers on Alibaba are mostly independent vendors, and not distributors. A few are manufacturers, but many are traders who don't carry inventory and when they get an order they shop around genuine manufacturers for one that will supply the product they have advertised. They then add their profit margin and sell to you. If you locate real manufacturers you can bank that margin for yourself.

I would recommend buying from countries other than China.

Walter

I am happy to help, and to start with, let me say that you would do well to hold off until you have learned something about sourcing and importing.

Walter

 

[Tighe]

Thank you this was very helpful. I will definitely be reading your book!