Hi all! :)

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi,

My name is Elizabeth. I work in the international trading field for a company called IMEX Sourcing Services. We help people cut costs &manage their risks when importing from China, Taiwan & Vietnam. We do this by doing background checks on suppliers, signing Chinese contracts on our client’s behalf, carrying out inspections & a range of other services.

Personally, I am passionate about the international trade field as it gives me a lot of exposure & insights into various cultures as our clients come from all over the world.
I have been lurking around the forum for a while now and find it very useful. I hope I can learn from the people here and at the same time contribute wherever possible. I look forward to getting to know some of the people on the forum better.

Thanks

 

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[InLikeFlint]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm curious what process you use to find a reliable supplier or manufacturer, would you care to elaborate?

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi,

Thanks for the warm welcome. We have a variety of in-house process to manage sourcing process, right from a basic background check where in we look for suppliers history, i.e. how long they have been in business, what is the scope of their business as per their business licence, whether they are a trader or manufacturer etc. We look at a factory's existing market reputation also. We then follow these up with factory audits if required to ascertain the factory capabilities and resources. Upon successful audits, we also sign contracts in Chinese with manufacturers to protect the importers interest.

We also carry out inspections at various stages of the manufacturing process to control the quality of the product.

Thanks.

 

[Blueskies4me]

Welcome! So what is your advice to anyone entering into international trade? Are there specific things to avoid when starting in the wholesale / retail business? Are you working mainly with a lot of large scale companies?

 

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[Elizabeth Shi]

Welcome! So what is your advice to anyone entering into international trade? Are there specific things to avoid when starting in the wholesale / retail business? Are you working mainly with a lot of large scale companies?

Hi,

That's a great question and while the answer can be very broad, I would cover some key points:

1. Research your market well. It is more important to have well planned out marketing/sales channels then the most unique product ever. We get a lot of inquiries where importers simply ask, "I am looking to invest, can you recommend a product".
2. Carry your due diligence on new suppliers to not become a victim of fraud. When sourcing from China, get quotes from multiple suppliers and if a suppliers price is any lower than 10% of market average, be extremely careful. Always try to visit your suppliers or engage a third party verification/quality control company.
3. Sign a contrtact with the supplier and when importing from China, it is critical it is in Mandarin, as english contracts have very little value here.
4. Have clearly defined products criteria, specs and quality standards, as whenever you do not define something, suppliers are likely to use the cheapest possible material.
5. Do not pay 100% upfront, when importing from China, for new importers 30% advance and balance upon inspection or shipment and the standard payment terms.

We work with large companies as well as a lot of small independent importers. Many of our clients are ebay powersellers as well as Amazon sellers, who are doing really well. We also work with a lot of new importers.

Hope that helps.

 

[Blueskies4me]

Those are perfect answers! Thank you. Rep+ transferred!

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Those are perfect answers! Thank you. Rep+ transferred!

Thanks. Good to know you find them useful.

 

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