Vigilante
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A few quick things.
1. I have found a few companies using Alibaba and Aliexpress.com. I don't really buy from the marketplace, as much as use them to identify suppliers there that I then make contact with. DHGate, Alibaba, and a few others such as GlobalSources.com all tend to generally feature the same items and the same factories.
2. Head over to Asia some time and attend a trade show in your industry. In 2 days worth of walking the trade show, you can see some cool products and meet some cool people you will likely NEVER get to over the internet.
3. You are 100% correct. The world is flat enough now that you should not need to pay a middleman markup.
4. Quantities are negotiable. Every supplier I ever talk with in Asia starts with HUGE minimum quantities. I have quickly learned that the factories themselves will so small "test" quantities of products they stock... and it is generally the middle men that require huge quantities. Some times, it takes some solid research to determine if a company is a factory, or simply represents themselves as being a factory.
5. I found a local Taiwanese gal (maybe call her a virtual assistant to coin a phrase that might be heresy around here) that is working for me pretty cheaply in Asia. I found her on eLance, and she is doing some targeted sourcing for me of some factories that I wanted to establish relationships with, but thought for these specific companies an introduction in their own language may get me farther faster.
Good Luck!
David
1. I have found a few companies using Alibaba and Aliexpress.com. I don't really buy from the marketplace, as much as use them to identify suppliers there that I then make contact with. DHGate, Alibaba, and a few others such as GlobalSources.com all tend to generally feature the same items and the same factories.
2. Head over to Asia some time and attend a trade show in your industry. In 2 days worth of walking the trade show, you can see some cool products and meet some cool people you will likely NEVER get to over the internet.
3. You are 100% correct. The world is flat enough now that you should not need to pay a middleman markup.
4. Quantities are negotiable. Every supplier I ever talk with in Asia starts with HUGE minimum quantities. I have quickly learned that the factories themselves will so small "test" quantities of products they stock... and it is generally the middle men that require huge quantities. Some times, it takes some solid research to determine if a company is a factory, or simply represents themselves as being a factory.
5. I found a local Taiwanese gal (maybe call her a virtual assistant to coin a phrase that might be heresy around here) that is working for me pretty cheaply in Asia. I found her on eLance, and she is doing some targeted sourcing for me of some factories that I wanted to establish relationships with, but thought for these specific companies an introduction in their own language may get me farther faster.
Good Luck!
David