Mediocre Suppliers in my Niche

[stefan]

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.

 

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[JAJT]

Have you asked the mediocre guys if they are willing to increase the quality related to the areas you think need boosting?

Perhaps even send them your competition's product and ask what it would take to duplicate the quality level?

Or maybe put out a buying request on those sites you listed requesting very specific quality standards (that you list, obviously).

With Asia you have to communicate exact details to them. If you say you want leather at the cheapest possible price you'll likely get leathery looking plastic instead. If you say you need top grain, vegetable tanned leather however, you start talking the same language.

 

[stefan]

You just brought up a few great points that I didn't even consider. This is why I love this forum. Thanks for refreshing my brain with a few new ideas.

I'll see if my potential Asian supplier can duplicate the quality of the big guys. I've already put out a buying request which brought me a LOT of quotes...but I guess I wasn't specific enough because like you explained, I received all kinds of product quotes with varying levels of quality.

 

[SANArob]

Stefan,

If you don't mind me asking what is your products material?

JAJT hit the nail on the head when dealing with Chinese. You MUST go into great detail when explaining exactly what you want. Chinese manufacturers are always trying to put out the easiest, lowest cost product. If you are willing to pay extra for increased quality it is very important to convey this. If you have a specific material in mind that should also be conveyed to the manufacturer.

SANArob

 

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[stefan]

Stefan,

If you don't mind me asking what is your products material?

JAJT hit the nail on the head when dealing with Chinese. You MUST go into great detail when explaining exactly what you want. Chinese manufacturers are always trying to put out the easiest, lowest cost product. If you are willing to pay extra for increased quality it is very important to convey this. If you have a specific material in mind that should also be conveyed to the manufacturer.

SANArob

Well my initial problem was exactly that. All of the Chinese manufacturers who I'm in touch with definitely were going with the easiest/lowest cost products. My niche product has to be high-end in order to succeed against my three major competitors. It's a plastic product but I have to go the custom development route, and add aluminum or another lightweight rustproof metal to it. You know how the American market is. We want high quality, and metal usually portrays "strength."

Thanks for your reply though. I am explaining every detail to my manufacturer. The Chinese new year holiday was a bitch though, I'm finally getting some replies back from China just now.

 

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi,

Great advice here from Jajt, you have to define the specs in as much detail as possible and if its a technical product, even try and define the raw material/components to be used, as Chinese manufacturers do tend to take short-cuts wherever possible.

Also, if you are getting a manufacturer to do anything they haven't done before, it is critical to get a QC company involved and preferably have a detailed contract specifying quality in "Mandarin". Once again, while it is sad, it is not uncommon in China for suppliers to say "Yes Sir" to every requirement to get the order and then come up with various issues when the actually production begins. If you can send us the product details, we might be able to help as well.