How to Find Reliable Wholesale Suppliers in China?

Find suppliers on Chinese wholesale websites

To find suppliers in China, checking wholesale websites is a great idea and very popular nowadays.

There are many Chinese wholesale websites like Alibaba, 1688.com and many more.

But be careful, like everything, these websites also have negative sides.

Alibaba

Alibaba offers a wide variety of items, and compared to other B2B websites, Alibaba has a disproportionately large number of suppliers.

Many people are still trying to figure out how to tell if the vendor is a manufacturer or a trade company. I advise you to start out slowly and not put too much effort into it. All you need to do is strike a balance between the product's quality and pricing.

You will encounter more profitable suppliers as your firm grows and as you gain more and more expertise working with suppliers.

Alibaba is a great resource for finding suppliers, but there are several myths you should avoid.

The "Gold Supplier" listings on Alibaba are not necessarily the best when searching for suppliers. The truth is that anyone can become a gold supplier on Alibaba if you pay the roughly $2,000 annual charge. The majority of users on Alibaba are gold suppliers. Making this a standard for selecting a reliable supplier is thus a bad idea.

In contrast to Google, Alibaba uses a separate search ranking algorithm. The first provider you find while seeking for a certain product category may not always be a good supplier. Rankings are sometimes impacted by vendors' marketing expenditure.

1688.com

1688.com is a famous brand of B2B e-commerce belonging to Alibaba Group. It's just like Alibaba.com, you can find products, suppliers, and factories on the platform. However, the website of 1688 is all in Chinese, which means that this platform is for China's domestic markets.

To use this website, it would be a great idea to use a translator website or the Google Translate extension, which you can find add for free on your Google Chrome web store.

Now after we solved the first challenge, we are moving to the next step - Find your supplier. There are thousands of wholesale products and suppliers in 1688.com. But take in mind that there are fewer suppliers there than on Alibaba. The good thing about that is, the prices are lower on 1688.com

When searching for your supplier, instead of typing, you can just upload a photo in the search bar and all the suppliers that offer it will pop up. Or you can just simply type in the name of your product and search for it. A third method is also to translate the name of your desired product into Chinese, and for your information, this method offers you the largest number of suppliers while searching.

To assure you don’t get scammed, do your research. Check the number of employees the supplier has, make sure it has more than 500 employees. For example, if they have like only 50 employees, it looks like you’re dealing with a trading company. And make sure that the supplier has been around for at least 3 years.

Also, keep in mind that the prices listed on 1866.com are in RMB and not in USD.

DHgate

DHgate is an online retailer that specializes in Chinese wholesale goods.

It is located in Beijing and was founded by its CEO, Diane Wang. Prior to starting DHgate, he established Joyo.com, a consumer buying website that Amazon bought out in 2004.

For small-volume orders, DHgate is a reliable e-commerce sourcing source. This might be viewed as one of DHgate's benefits over Alibaba. You can select specialty products from their selection of products, which is plentiful.

DHgate offers you the opportunity to purchase a small quantity or even just one piece of a selection from a very wide range of products.

On the negative side, the prices are much higher than the ones from Alibaba, as we noticed that they are as high as at least 25% compared to Alibaba.

Global sources

Global Sources is an international B2B business with its main office in Hong Kong. It was established in 1971 and has more than 49 years of experience in providing goods to suppliers and customers all around the world. They run trade fairs in Asia and offer online and offline supply services similar to Alibaba.

Global Sources and Alibaba don't quite resemble one another, though. The dependability of suppliers and the caliber of the goods they supply is the key distinction between Alibaba and Global Sources.

Suppliers of global sources also typically have greater experience and a better understanding of how to interact with clients.

Global sources vendors typically ask about your company's history, background, and the quantity you order. This is due to their desire to confirm that they are working with the appropriate business partner. When you want to have a long-term business relationship, this is advantageous for both you and the provider.

Find suppliers in trade shows

Another way to find your supplier is through trade shows, there are plenty in China where you can find all types of products.

The Canton Fair (China Import and Export Fair)

The Canton Fair (广交会) is a national fair and is China's biggest trade fair. They feature basically every type of industrial product from electronics to automobiles in Phase 1, consumer goods and gifts in Phase 2, and clothing, medicines, and recreational products in Phase 3. The event is held twice annually, in the Spring and Autumn.

While purchasers from other Asian nations make up the majority of the market, buyers from Europe, the US, and Russia each account for 10% or more of the market. It is intended to be a global event with support in many languages for attendees from 200 different nations.

There is a scheduled session for this autumn, here are the dates for you:

The Autumn Session: October 15–19 2023 (Phase 1), October 23–27 2023 (Phase 2), Oct. 31 – Nov. 4 2023 (Phase 3)

The address of the fair is “China Import and Export Fair Complex, 380 Yuejiang Middle Road, Guangzhou”

The Yiwu Commdities Fair

The Yiwu Trade Fair (义博会) is a permanent fair targeted for small buyers from all over the world looking to buy wholesale products at the lowest prices. The prices are a little lower than at the Canton Fair. In addition to the permanent trade market, many annual exhibitions of various categories of products attract more buyers and exhibitors to Yiwu City.

The International Trade City, also called China Commodities City, or simply Yiwu Market, is the biggest of the Yiwu marketplaces. Up to 70,000 booths and 100,000 vendors from factories from all across China are present there. 43,000,000 square feet, or 4,000,000 square meters, make up its size.

This fair is situated at “Yiwu International Expo Center: No. 59 Zongze Road, Yiwu, Zhejiang”.

East China Fair (ECF)

Since its inception in 1991, 29 successful sessions of the East China Fair have taken place. 

With a 126,500 sqm display space, the 29th ECF took place at Shanghai New International Expo Center from March 1 to March 4, 2019. 

There were four specialty exhibition areas, including Fashion/Garments, Home Textiles, Consumer Goods, and Art Deco Gifts, each with 6,500 basic booths and 4,000 businesses. Among the 21 nations and regions represented by the more than 550 international exhibitors were Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Columbia, Western Samoa, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. 

A wide range of modern and traditional goods were on show, but the high-tech, well-known local businesses stood out more. 22,757 corporate visitors from 111 countries and regions attended the 29th ECF, together with 16,000 of their Chinese counterparts.

The next session of the East China Fair is planned to be held between March 1 and March 2024, at this address “Shanghai New International Expo Centre(SNIEC), Shanghai, China”

Bauma China — International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Construction Vehicles, and Equipment

The Bauma Fair (中国国际工程机械，建材机械，矿山机械、工程车辆及设备博览会 o r上海宝马展 for short) is a nationwide trade show for China's construction sector and companies dealing with construction. This trade fair is extremely significant because China by far has the largest building industry.

It is the largest construction trade show in Asia. They offer essentially every kind of building equipment.

This fair is held once every two years, approximately 3000 suppliers are present, 2000 of them are Chinese. The attendance of this fair reaches almost 200 000 people from about 150 countries.

The next session for this fair is planned for 2024 between November 26 and November 29.

You can visit the fair at this address on that date “2345 Long Yang Road, Pudong Area, Shanghai”.

Use sourcing agents to find a reliable supplier

Another way to find a reliable supplier in China is to use a sourcing agent.

What is a sourcing agent?

A sourcing agent collaborates with a business to find low-cost suppliers of items and materials. Simply put, a sourcing agent will assist you in finding the ideal supplier who meets your needs. The following services are offered by sourcing agents:

• Quality Control
• Supplier Selection
• Market analysis
• Price Negotiation
• Shipment Inspection
• Quality Assurance
• Customs Clearance

A sourcing agent may be a single person or a company that works with numerous businesses. 

As we said about suppliers the same is true about sourcing agents. Finding a trustworthy sourcing firm can provide a secure supply chain, lower purchase costs, safe delivery, and last but not least, a trustworthy agent in China.

Challenges of sourcing from China

Difficulties in finding a good and legit supplier

Everything begins here. It appears that finding suppliers is required before any importer may source any item from China.

Finding reliable Chinese suppliers can be challenging because so many of them are fake and operate online to deceive unwary importers. The Chinese government grants manufacturers and enterprises with licenses and permits.

Many inexperienced importers are unaware of this. Additionally, these fraudulent providers occasionally present false licenses, and once more, some importers fall for it.

Supplier verification problem

Similar to the first issue, this one has cost many importers time, money, and sweat. Online supplier legitimacy verification is a major concern. Given that many importers conduct their business online, it might be challenging to determine which provider has the required authorizations to complete the supply.

It is a pretty large risk that could put your sourcing process in jeopardy if you don't check the vendor carefully.

Communication Problem

The Chinese vendors are mostly native Mandarin-speaking people.

The fact that many importers prefer to communicate in English makes it extremely difficult for sourcing. Importers face obstacles by the language barrier since they cannot type or speak Mandarin, while suppliers struggle to communicate in English.

Hiring a sourcing agent with good knowledge of the Chinese market is the answer to this problem.

Negotiation problem

Many importers lack the skills necessary to successfully negotiate with Chinese suppliers. Additionally, the minority who do it frequently over negotiate to the point where it compromises the supply's quality standards. While bargaining is encouraged, especially when buying in bulk, it's vital to remember that the supplier needs to make profits, and if you go too far, it might put at risk your sourcing.

Payment problem

Chinese suppliers want to get paid in either Yuan or RMB. Many importers don’t have access to this and this affects their sourcing because the accessibility to the local currency is limited.

Quality inspection problem

It takes more than just placing orders to import something. Other procedures are just as crucial for maximizing sourcing as the actual process itself. And only experts can carry this out.

Not checking the quality of your products before they leave the provider while sourcing from China is a risk. The time, money, and effort lost by not performing a proper research process on your goods might be huge.

How can we help you?

For every challenge named above, DocShipper will make sure that they won’t happen.

With the sourcing services of DocShipper, our sourcing agents will make sure to find you the best and cheapest supplier for your business. We will make sure your needs and demands will be satisfied!

Our sourcing agents will also prevent the existence of a language barrier as we have experts everywhere that have good knowledge of the country and the language. We will make sure that there will be good and clear with the supplier.

Our agents will also negotiate the best deals for your company so you don’t overpay anything, with us, we assure you that you will save money.

We also can take charge of the payment for you, we will pay the suppliers in RMB as they prefer to be paid in their own currency.

DocShipper’s sourcing services can also assure that your products are in good condition if you opt for our quality control service.

How to evaluate a supplier?

Before agreeing to work with a supplier, you or your sourcing agent should him. We have put together some important facts about supplier evaluation.

Set your metrics

Before choosing providers, decide on your KPIs based on the most important elements of the business.

You might keep an eye on measures like the percentage of on-time delivery, the average cost, or the number of reported product problems. All of these performance indicators can be used to contrast different vendors.

To get a better idea of how receptive suppliers might be to changing business objectives, you can also consider additional information, such as if they have readily available feedback channels and prior customer evaluations.

Identify potential suppliers

After gathering metrics, you can make a list of the numerous suppliers your business might need.

These can be companies that create items, deliver goods, provide office supplies, or offer raw resources. By ranking each supplier according to priority, you can identify which one might be the most important to the company's success. Based on this classification, you can determine the amount to which you might evaluate each.

Set a process for evaluation

Setting up a thorough review process could help you select a service and maintain track of their performance. Consider who in the team can offer advice on how to evaluate each factor.

Examples include sales representatives, supply chain employees, and members of the quality assurance department who can judge the competence and reliability of each provider.

Pick the most effective method for evaluating suppliers once you've put together an evaluation team. Consider scheduling regular meetings with internal teams to evaluate the vendor and discuss their results with leadership before reporting findings to the supplier.

Steps to negotiate with a Chinese supplier

Don’t worry, it’s possible to negotiate with Chinese vendors. In fact, if you know how to do it properly, it can be a pleasurable and successful experience.

Do your research

Before you start negotiating with any supplier, you must investigate the market, product, and supplier, as well as personal wants and objectives. Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

• What is the typical market price for the item you want to buy?
• What are the product requirements you need in terms of quality standards, packaging, etc.?
• Which companies are the primary rivals of the provider you are considering?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the potential supplier?
• What are your spending limits, order size, deadline for delivery, payment methods, etc.?

You will have a clear understanding of what you want and what you can offer if you do your research. Additionally, you will be able to compare various vendors and their offers logically and objectively.

Develop a relationship of trust

Dealing with Chinese vendors involves more than simply figures and facts. It also entails establishing a rapport and mutual trust with them. Long-term ties and reciprocal advantages are valued by Chinese suppliers. If they like and trust you, they are more likely to give you a better deal.

To develop trust, you should use a good translator to assure clear communication. 

You also should show interest in their company, like ask questions and give compliments about how they do their work.

One major thing you should do is to respect their culture, don’t bring up sensitive topics when you talk with them like politics or religion.

You also should be polite and professional, don’t change your mind frequently and don’t cancel orders without a reason. Don’t be rude or aggressive, don’t make threats and call them by titles like sir or mister. Also don’t demand things that are very hard to realise.

And last but not least, be honest with them, like in everything in our life, honesty is a major factor.

Don’t negotiate the price only

Although price matters, it's not the sole element that defines the worth of a transaction. Additionally, you should bargain over issues like price, quantity, timing of delivery, terms of payment, warranties, after-sales services, etc.

You can make more room for flexibility and compromise by haggling over several different issues. Additionally, you can weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each factor to choose the best course of action for everybody concerned.

Confirm everything in writing

Make sure to get the supplier's written confirmation of everything after each negotiation session.

Ask them to provide a written or electronic summary of what you have already consented to. You can avoid confusion or disagreements in the future by doing this.

Before concluding the sale, you need also to create a legal contract with the supplier. All should be stated in the contract.