There are so many wholesale suppliers in China. It is not easy to find the right one for you among hundreds of China suppliers. The needs of different enterprises are different, and their suitable suppliers are also different.
Union Chance has helped many importers find China suppliers and help them purchase for many years. This gives Union Chance a good understanding of China suppliers and how to distinguish good and bad China suppliers.
This article is divided into several parts to discuss Chinese suppliers. You’ll get something out of it.
1. Types of China Wholesale Suppliers
Some people may divide china wholesale suppliers into many types, which can be divided into two categories simply. One is the China suppliers that produce products: China manufacturers/ China factories, and the other is the China suppliers that do not produce products: China trading companies.
1.1 China manufacturers/ China factories
China Manufacturers/factories are enterprises that produce products. They are the source of the whole industrial chain. Therefore, the China manufacturer/factory has the lowest price, and their MOQ is very high, so they will not accept small orders. The manufacturers/factories have a limited range of products. If you only need to purchase individual products, it is better to approach the China manufacturer/factory directly.
There is one caveat. Some China manufacturers/factories do not have export salesman, they focus on the production of the products. Such suppliers usually work with China trading companies or purchasing agent to take orders. In this long-term relationship, the China manufacturer/factory can usually offer a lower price to the trading company and purchasing agent.
Manufacturers/factories with their own export departments often have their own stores on Alibaba, or their own websites. And they will attend offline exhibitions. You can easily search and contact them online. Sounds great, but you can find not only manufacturers but also trading companies online, most of which are trading companies. If you just want to find the manufacturer, you have to learn how to tell them apart.。
1.2 China trading company
A China trading company acts as a middleman between a manufacturer and a buyer. They can integrate all products of a certain category. China trading companies will work with many manufacturers/factories, so their MOQ will be smaller.
China trading companies usually make profits by earning product price differences. But the price that the trading company gives you is not necessarily higher than the price that the manufacturer gives you, because the trading company can get a lower price from the factory.
If you look for China wholesale suppliers on Alibaba. You’ll find that suppliers on Alibaba are mostly trading companies, not actual manufacturers.
So when should you choose a manufacturer/factory, and when trading company? It depends on the number of products you want to purchase. For example, if you want to sourcing 1-2 plastic cups, the manufacturer/factory is suitable. If you want to purchase plastic cups, ceramic cups, glass cups, I would suggest you to look for China trading companies, because there are few factories that produce all three materials.
If the product you want to purchase includes a variety of categories, such as drinking cups, notebooks, signature pens, folding table in bed, etc., then I strongly recommend not to go to the suppliers, the purchasing agent will be more suitable for you. The biggest advantage of purchasing agents is the integration of supply chain resources, they can help you quickly find the products you want. A reliable purchasing agent can make your purchasing trip to China easy, such as Union chance – top china sourcing agent.
2. On B2B Merchant Platform to Find China Suppliers
There are many e-commerce platforms for wholesaling, such as Alibaba, Made-in-China, and Global Source, and you must have heard of one of them.
Alibaba has the largest number of China suppliers and offers a broad range of products. Most of the suppliers on Alibaba are trading companies. At the beginning, it is difficult to distinguish the suppliers as trading companies or manufacturers. If you focus on price, don’t worry about anything else, just compare the price and quality of the product between suppliers and find the supplier with the lowest price of the same quality.
There is one caveat. On Alibaba, the top supplier is often ranked by advertisement, which does not mean that it is the best supplier.
Made in China and Global Resource have fewer suppliers and higher quality than Alibaba. This is because these two platforms have more stringent verification standards and higher margin for the entry of suppliers. It’s easier to find manufacturers and factories on these platforms, but the MOQ is much higher than Alibaba.
3. On China Fair to Find China Suppliers
The two biggest fairs in China are Canton Fair and Yiwu Fair. You will see thousands of China suppliers and tens of thousands of visitors at the two large complex exhibitions.
Canton Fair
Time: 10.15 -10.19 2021
Address: China Import and Export Fair Pavilion(No. 380, Yuejiang Middle Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou)
Yiwu(China) International Commodities Fair
Time: 10.21-10.25 2021
Address: Yiwu International Expo Center: 59 Zongze East Road, Yiwu City
Other specific industry fairs such as hardware fairs, beauty fairs, toy fairs, kitchenware fairs, clothing fairs, etc. The gold content of this professional exhibition will be higher, and the participants are basically better suppliers in the industry. If you could come to China, don’t miss it.
Exhibitions in other countries.
In addition to exhibitions in China, there will be various exhibitions in your country, and many powerful China suppliers will also attend exhibitions in other countries. However, such powerful suppliers have very high requirements for MOQ. If your order quantity is relatively small, the suppliers here are not suitable for you.
4. China Wholesale Markets to Find Suppliers
Speaking of China wholesale market, it will immediately associate with three cities: Yiwu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen. They are China’s three major trading cities, gathered a lot of suppliers.
In this article, I will roughly introduce a few representative China wholesale markets.
4.1 Yiwu International Trade City
Yiwu is mainly famous for “Yiwu International Trade City”. There are other material markets, international production markets, furniture markets and so on. The Yiwu International Trade City has five districts covering almost all product categories. Yiwu wholesale market is famous for small commodities, if you want to import daily necessities from China, then Yiwu wholesale market is definitely your best choice. If you are not familiar with Yiwu Market, you can read this article: Yiwu Market Guide.
4.2 Guangzhou
Guangzhou is mainly famous for clothing, bags and leather goods. The clothing wholesale market mainly has white horse clothing city, Guangzhou thirteen line, Shahe clothing city. Bag leather wholesale market mainly includes Guihuagang leather wholesale market, Baiyun World leather Trade Center, Tianma Boutique leather wholesale Center, Sino-Australia leather City and so on.
Of course, there are other wholesale markets in Guangzhou, such as toys, cosmetics and so on. However, the wholesale markets in Guangzhou are scattered. If you want to purchase products of multiple categories, you have to go to several wholesale markets. So Guangzhou wholesale markets are not as convenient as Yiwu International Trade City.
4.3 Shenzhen Huaqiang North Market
Shenzhen is best known for electronic products. The Huaqiangbei market in Shenzhen is China’s largest electronics wholesale market, where you can find the same new electronic products. Don’t feel surprised, Huaqiangbei is so powerful, here you can find a lot of products that can’t be bought outside.
It should be noted that competition among suppliers in Shenzhen is relatively large, while small suppliers are not stable. It’s possible you can’t find the supplier in the market that you used to work with after a year.
5. China Sourcing Agent Help Find China Suppliers
Sourcing agent provide purchasing services to importer, but do not directly sell products. They can help you find China suppliers and handle all aspects of product procurement, production, quality control and shipping. You just need to tell them what you want and what your requirements.
For importers who want to purchase more than one category of products. It is very consuming of your time and energy to find China suppliers in any way. At this time, choosing a trusted purchasing agent is a very wise decision.
6. Six Key Points to Choose Qualified & Reliable China Suppliers
Here summarized five key points and their characteristics for selecting reliable suppliers. You can very quickly identify good Chinese suppliers if you follow these points.
6.1 View related certificates
Before you decide to cooperate with a supplier for the first time, be sure to check the supplier’s business license and the relevant product export qualification certificate. This can prove that this supplier is operating legally and is not working without a license. Some suppliers who specialize in foreign trade will also have foreign trade operators to record and export product inspection certificates to certain countries.
6.2 Choose an experienced supplier/How long has the supplier been in business
We can know how long a supplier has been in business by looking at the time on their business license. This information is usually also available on the supplier’s company website or their store on the platform.
Small companies that have been in business for a short time do not have perfect qualifications, and there is a certain risk of working with them. One of our clients had this experience. The customer found a supplier by himself, and they had a good conversation at the beginning. However, after the payment, the customer found that he had not received his goods and could not contact the supplier. The customer was very anxious and came to us, hoping that we could help him. Below is the email the customer sent to us.
6.3 Degree of expertise in the product
A professional supplier salesman must have a very good understanding of his products, he knows the material of the product, origin, the price corresponding to different product quality, what certificates are needed for export and so on. When you ask him about it, he will offer all the solutions that you can choose from.
Most of the China suppliers don’t have their own English company website, or even Chinese website, especially those manufacturers/factories. So if you just search for suppliers on Google, you’ll only see a small number of China wholesale suppliers.
6.4 Be wary of a too low price
Everyone loves a low price, but you have to be careful if the supplier offers you a too low price. For example, a $10 gym stool. When you are looking for a supplier, you’d better ask for quotations from multiple suppliers. Be careful if one supplier’s price is significantly lower than the others. The supplier who quotes too low a price is likely to give you a very poor quality product.
6.5 After-sale guarantee
A qualified and reliable supplier must want to cooperate with customers for a long time. They will make efforts to satisfy customers to get a second chance to cooperate. It is also not easy for suppliers to find a customer who can cooperate with them for a long time. They usually have the strength and confidence to ensure that customers receive products that are in good condition and meet their requirements. So they can usually give customers a promise of after-sales protection.
6.6 Communicate effectively
A qualified and reliable supplier must be positive and enthusiastic towards customers. Because of the time difference between different countries, email communication is not very timely. Most China suppliers communicate with customers through chat tools like whatsapp and wechat. They can respond to your messages in real time except when they are sleeping. There is no work time and no work time.
It’s your time
Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions or would like to know more about sourcing in China. In the past 16 years, Union Chance has accumulated a lot of Chinese supplier resources, which can help you quickly find the right supplier for you. If you want to import products from China or need help sourcing, please feel free to contact us.
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