Hello everyone. So I'm in a tricky position and I'm looking for some thoughts from people who have had some difficulties sourcing high-quality products from Asia.
I'm dedicated to a particular niche that is young and promising. There are only a few major players in the area and they privately manufacture/design their own brands, with their own factories. I've even approached one of these brands (a young but great, high-quality German company) to see if I could purchase their products under my own private label, promising that I would exclusively source my products only from them. I don't think that they bought into it, even though it would provide them with value if I grew into a large brand - since I would be under some form of an exclusivity agreement to only buy from them.
This leaves me with somewhat mediocre suppliers from Asia to work with...who are pretty desperate for my business. My problem is that their products just aren't that great (within my niche). I would say that I could easily work with one Asian supplier whose products are probably rated 7/10 at best on the quality scale...and he is the best Asian supplier that I've found. The rest provide cheap products which I don't want. I've looked through 20+ catalogs so I've covered almost all of the suppliers products in my niche.
The big boys are privately creating their own products that are consistently 8's and 9's on the 10-point quality scale. I think that it would just be unnecessarily difficult to compete with them if I can't source a product that's in their league. I've thoroughly tried alibaba, aliexpress, DHgate, and have e-mailed the major brands in my niche to attempt talking with their manufacturers. I can't afford to visit trade shows or build custom products at this time, so I need to make something happen online ASAP, and it's F*cking hard. I'm completely okay with it being hard as I love a challenge. But finding this mysterious great-quality supplier from Asia has been a long-shot.
Is there another online marketplace that I'm missing? Am I missing anything else here? I really hate the idea of settling for less than my competition, as I don't want to give in to buying less-than-awesome products. I'm willing to pay suppliers very well. I just can't find the right one.
I'm dedicated to a particular niche that is young and promising. There are only a few major players in the area and they privately manufacture/design their own brands, with their own factories. I've even approached one of these brands (a young but great, high-quality German company) to see if I could purchase their products under my own private label, promising that I would exclusively source my products only from them. I don't think that they bought into it, even though it would provide them with value if I grew into a large brand - since I would be under some form of an exclusivity agreement to only buy from them.
This leaves me with somewhat mediocre suppliers from Asia to work with...who are pretty desperate for my business. My problem is that their products just aren't that great (within my niche). I would say that I could easily work with one Asian supplier whose products are probably rated 7/10 at best on the quality scale...and he is the best Asian supplier that I've found. The rest provide cheap products which I don't want. I've looked through 20+ catalogs so I've covered almost all of the suppliers products in my niche.
The big boys are privately creating their own products that are consistently 8's and 9's on the 10-point quality scale. I think that it would just be unnecessarily difficult to compete with them if I can't source a product that's in their league. I've thoroughly tried alibaba, aliexpress, DHgate, and have e-mailed the major brands in my niche to attempt talking with their manufacturers. I can't afford to visit trade shows or build custom products at this time, so I need to make something happen online ASAP, and it's F*cking hard. I'm completely okay with it being hard as I love a challenge. But finding this mysterious great-quality supplier from Asia has been a long-shot.
Is there another online marketplace that I'm missing? Am I missing anything else here? I really hate the idea of settling for less than my competition, as I don't want to give in to buying less-than-awesome products. I'm willing to pay suppliers very well. I just can't find the right one.
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