Do you want to maximize your profit margin on generators and other things? China is the best place to buy your inventory.
China is the production floor of the world for everything. Everything from fashion, generators, alternators, toys, sports items to electronics.
What you might not know is whether personal purchasing from China is possible.
Personal purchasing, in this case, means buying your inventory without using an agent. This will help you avoid paying commissions to a broker, an agent, or a third party.
If you know your way around the world’s most giant factory (China), you can order the items you need.
You would have to do some footwork to get the best suppliers. This can take some time. Here, we will share essential tips for direct purchasing from China.
7 tips for direct purchasing from China: Save the commission!
You will pay a commission when you are purchasing through a third party in China. This affects your profit margins. You might also have to pass the extra cost to your customers. In such a case, your inventory might move.
If you can get your own inventory from China, you can do excellent business. Here is how:
1. Do your groundwork, find the sources of these items
If it is your first time buying inventory from China, you can still do direct purchasing. You will need to do a lot of due diligence. This will help you find the best manufacturer who ships out to clients in your region or all over the world.
If you go to your search engine and search for “wholesalers in China,” you will get so many of them. It is your work to sift through the trash to get to the grain.
If you are looking for a diesel generator, search on the internet. You will find many suppliers and manufacturers from China.
On their websites, all suppliers and manufacturers claim to be the best. Some are good, and some are not good at all.
Your work is to dig deeper and find out who is trustworthy and a fake masquerading as the real deal.
There are many ways to do due diligence. Start by reading the reviews other buyers leave for that wholesaler or manufacturer.
It’s okay to have a few negative reviews about a supplier. If there are too many, you should move on and look for another one.
If you find a website with all positive reviews, that is too suspicious. You should move on and find another one.
You can also trust your gut feeling about a manufacturer. If you keep a cool head, you will know when a supplier is genuine.
2. Start with a small inventory
Once you do proper due diligence, you should start buying small inventory. Do this for the first few times.
Some manufacturers are so unscrupulous. They can ship inferior quality items to you. If this happens, you will lose a small amount of money.
You want to start with a small order to get a feel of the entire buying and shipping process. It will also be easy to inspect the quality of the goods when they arrive.
Note how a manufacturer, wholesaler, or supplier honors a few small orders. If they handle you well, you can trust them with big ones in the future.
On their websites, you will note that they all have the least quantity of items that you can order. You will have to look around until you can find one with a minimum quantity rule that you want.
You can also ask the manufacturer for the smallest quantity that you can order. If they reply to your email fast, you will know they are good.
If they don’t, consider trying another one. Instant communication is so vital in business.
3. Consider attending a trade fair in China
If you intend to get your goods from China, attending a trade fair should be in your plans. Trade fairs offer you a golden opportunity to meet one-on-one with suppliers. While there, you can get the contact details of various suppliers.
One of the biggest trade fairs in China is the Canton Import and Export Fair. It is so big that it runs in phases. There is a phase for electronics, another for home décor items, and another for consumer goods.
This fair takes place in May and November. If you miss one, you can catch the other. Once you establish a working rapport with a few suppliers, you can return home.
It will cost you some money, but you will recover it when you start receiving inventory of the right quality.
If you do not have the budget to attend such a fair right away, you can look at it from their website. It’s available in different languages, including English.
Remember, the Canton Trade Fair is free to attend. You will need to pay for visas, airfare, and accommodation.
4. Look in the wholesale markets
There are many wholesale markets in China. The biggest one is Yiwu Market. Like the other markets, this one is open throughout the year. They only close during the Chinese holidays.
Buying from wholesale markets has its benefits. It offers you the opportunity to buy inventory at low prices. This is a real market, not a display like the fairs. Here, you can buy goods and then ship them home.
When you find a good wholesaler at the market, connect with them. You will make orders to them when you get back home.
If you can, gather the resources to go to one or two wholesale markets at least once. You can establish contacts with the wholesalers. They will ship goods to your US warehouse when you make the order.
The benefit of going to a wholesale market is that they sell items right there. You can see what you are buying. You can also inspect what you are buying to find out their quality.
5. Give all the details with the first order
If from an English-speaking country, you will find that the language barrier is significant. There are many hurdles when communicating with a Chinese wholesaler or manufacturer. They will use young translators, but translation loses many details.
The secret is to give as many details as possible when making your order. This includes the size, the color, the weight, and so on. For items such as generators, you have to give details of the fuel type, wattage, output, and others.
Never assume anything. If you have images of the items you want to buy, attach them to your email. Avoid including too much information because it can be confusing. Stay specific to the most relevant information.
Before placing your order, ask about the smallest number of items they can ship. Some can send tens to hundreds of things if you buy from wholesalers.
Many manufacturers only ship bulk orders with several hundreds of items. Remove all guesswork from the picture. It is best to ask what most minor orders they take.
Do not forget to negotiate for discounts when ordering many items. Quantities of 100, 500, 1000, and even 5000 will have different prices. The best thing to do is to ask for a discount.
6. Getting your items ready for shipping
Finding the goods at good quality and fair prices is one thing. Preparing the items for shipping is another matter altogether.
With the correct information, you can do it. It will be challenging the first time, but it should become easier once you do it a few times.
Sea shipping is the best option for bulky items. You will need packing lists, bills of lading, commercial invoices, and other documents. You will need these documents to clear customs when the things land in your home port.
The best thing is to know as much information as possible about shipping items by sea. Find out about all the payments beforehand. You can also pay a customs agent to do your cleaning for you.
7. Buy direct from popular websites
China is massive on eCommerce with popular websites such as Alibaba, AliExpress, etc. Many manufacturers have websites. You can order their items from them.
Alibaba, AliExpress, and others are wholesale websites. The goods might cost a little more than you would pay when you buy direct from the manufacturer.
These websites give you the advantage of shipping to your warehouse. This takes care of a whole deal of trouble for you.
Wrapping up: Is it workable for personal purchasing from China?
From the information in this post, you can see it is possible to buy from China. The process will be more complex the first few times. It can also be costlier if you travel to China for trade fairs or wholesale markets.
If you need a fast way to get your goods, engage the services of an agent. You will pay a commission, but you will get enough value for your money.
Business is a balancing act between revenue and expenses. If you think purchasing from China is too costly, you can use an agent.
For start-ups, using agents is a better choice. They can ensure quality assurance, faster sourcing of goods, and other benefits.
