Hi guys,

I am looking to source products from China.

Can anyone on Wholesale Forum recommend some Chinese trade directories?

Quote:

Originally Posted by murchie

Hi guys,

I am looking to source products from China.

Can anyone on Wholesale Forum recommend some Chinese trade directories?

If you have never imported before, you need to learn something about the importing process before you start looking for suppliers.

In a post some months ago, a lady on this forum described her dilemma resulting from buying first and asking questions later. She ordered and paid for a quantity of items without knowing anything about the shipping process. The cost of the most economical freight was going to exceed the value of the goods many times over.

I advised her that if the supplier would not accept cancellation and refund her money, even in part, her best move would be to abandon the goods and let the manufacturer keep them. Suppliers in China will virtually [B]never[B] cancel an order once it is paid for.

Her ignorance, combined with her enthusiasm cost her a lot of money.

You are unlikely to get sufficient sound advice by asking questions on a forum. I try to help members, but I can hardly answer by posting 37 pages of information, which is what I regard as the essential knowledge required before someone launches into importing.

The importing process can be easy, and sourcing can be done safely, but many people get burnt by starting off through treating buying overseas just like buying from a local supplier.

You asked about a list of trade directories. There are an abundance of these, and most people find them by using online sourcing platforms. The catch is that almost all of those platforms list multitudes of suppliers claiming to be manufacturers, but in reality they are traders.

If you contact any supplier through these sourcing platforms they will quote you huge Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs), and you quite possibly could not afford to buy such large quantities. This may lead you to look for wholesalers or dropshippers and immediately there goes a big slice of your potential profit.

I recommend a couple of safe sourcing sites, but I do not publish them on forums because that would be like giving a child a loaded gun to play with. You need to know more than just the names of suppliers found on some sourcing site.

Big MOQs are quoted primarily to deter newbies and small businesses, but there are ways to get manufacturers to supply very small orders if you go about it the right way. For example, you never tell them that you are a sole trader, or that you are just starting up.

Some people will try to sell you lists, or charge a membership fee that entitles you to locate suppliers. You should never have to pay to become a customer and you should not have to pay to find information that should be free.