How to know if a supplier is legit?

[Taktik]

Hello,

I found a product, that I want to sell and now I am looking for a supplier. I already found a couple of possible suppliers, but I don't know, if they are the real manufacturers or just traders disguised as manufacturers or if they are legit at all.

I would like to know how to make sure that a company is a legit manufacturer (before buying from them). I already read the tips in Walter Hays Importing Book about due diligence, but I was wondering, if there are further ways, because sometimes I just don't get many or any information about a certain company.

Any tip will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Best,
Taktik

 

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[cor]

You could always place a test order, ask for a sample, or place a very small order if the minimum is low enough. Ultimately, sometimes you just need to go with your gut.

It's very rare manufacturers will give references or case studies anymore, it's still worth asking, but sometimes you just need to make a plunge and minimize as much risk as possible until you develop a relationship.

 

[Deleted74396]

You could always place a test order, ask for a sample, or place a very small order if the minimum is low enough. Ultimately, sometimes you just need to go with your gut.

Great advice, that's what you gotta do usually!

 

[JAJT]

Things that always stood out to me:

- Middle men companies want the order really badly. Always showing you what else they have and pressing you for an order.

- Hard for new entrepreneurs to gauge this but middle-men prices almost never line up with expectation. I usually have an idea of what I think the product will likely cost and when I see the price at 2-3-4x that amount, that's an immediate red flag.

- Genuine suppliers tend to be very, very personable. They tend to want to work with you and generally don't mind going back and forth quite a bit over just about anything. They like coming up with creative solutions to roadblocks. Middle-men companies love saying things like "no, this is excellent, you'll love it, you'll see" where a genuine company would likely say something like "that doesn't work with this design, we can try using (x, y, z) but will cost more, we do have (a, b, c) though, is that an option?".

- They focus on a single product line or multiple product lines that utilize the same manufacturing methods. A genuine bag company will make bags, purses, wallets, belts, etc... but they won't offer blenders and microscopes, for example.

Basically, genuine suppliers seem genuine. It's just hard to put it any other way. There's a lot of little things that give you a good vibe about a company.

My best suppliers over the years from China were all companies I loved doing business with. The ones I regret were the ones that I "took a chance" on.

 

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[Walter Hay]

My attitude always was that if I had the slightest doubt, I would not deal with a supplier. After all, it's not like going into a shop and buying something that you are unlikely to buy again for a long time.

Walter