It's hard to navigate the seemingly endless clutter of suppliers. Here are seven ways to find reliable chemical suppliers in China.
It's hard to navigate the seemingly endless clutter of suppliers. Here are seven ways to find reliable chemical suppliers in China.
Any Amazon seller will tell you that there is a high risk of finding dishonest Chinese suppliers or getting stuck with inferior quality goods. Whether you're delving into B2B online markets, browsing online vendor catalogs, or visiting trade or wholesale markets, you need to be aware of a few bad apples. In this article, we discuss your purchasing options and recommend the best way to find reliable chemical suppliers to build long-term relationships.
1. Canton Fair
China's largest import and export convention is held twice a year, covering almost all industries that manufacture physical products. It's so huge that it runs in three phases:
The first stage: electronics, machinery, building materials, chemical products
The second stage: consumer goods, home decoration and gifts
The third stage: textiles, entertainment products, office supplies, shoes, medical equipment and health care products
-You can hire an interpreter at the fair for 400-500 yuan or 60-75 dollars per day. The service charge of minority languages is higher.
-The supplier brings samples so you can see and touch the product to get a quality concept.
- Low prices and not-so-great quality go hand in hand. Unless you’re willing to pay more than the advertised price, you won’t see the quality you want.
- After you speak to suppliers, they will ask for your business card to follow-up with you after the fair. Some Amazon sellers are hesitant to give their business cards to every vendor they meet out of a fear of their details being sold to other vendors. For etiquette’s sake, they may pass out fake cards to give to everyone except the suppliers they’re interested in.
The Canton Fair is HUGE. Find the list of exhibitors and their booth location on the trade show’s website in advance to save time and energy. The same suppliers participate each year, so novelty is missing. Don’t expect to see innovation either — the companies with a newer design or function may show prototypes and only be looking for distributors rather than OEM or private label manufacturing.
2. Yiwu market
Disclaimer: Yiwu wholesalers are trading companies, not manufacturers.
The Yiwu market in Zhejiang Province is open all year round. It has 40000 stores, and you will only notice it if you want to buy bags, shoes, textiles, watches and accessories at a low price. This is because the market is heavily skewed towards buyers in India, Africa and the Middle East, so their products do not reflect EU or US regulations and safety standards. If you want to buy toys, cosmetics or medical devices, you should look elsewhere.
3. B2B market
You can start searching for chemical suppliers in China from the Internet. Alibaba, made in China and global resources are all popular websites for Chinese suppliers and manufacturers. As always, there are things you need to be aware of to avoid being cheated in these B2B markets.
4. Purchasing agent
When you need precise technical specifications of products, Chinese purchasing agent is the best. Agents visit factories in China to closely inspect quality control. After you approve the mass production, the agent will go to the factory again to check the raw materials and even check the quality of the previous batches.
5. Google
For Amazon's new sellers, Google's search for Chinese suppliers seems like a reasonable first step. Chinese suppliers have commercial websites and a place on social media. Social channels generally have common names such as Chinese direct suppliers and Chinese wholesale markets. Some of these vendors may actually provide agents to help you find suppliers.
6. Baidu
Most Chinese use Baidu. You can use a translation tool to look for clues, or see if these suppliers are on Google or Alibaba. If they look promising, you can follow up. You may find more company details or information, such as whether they are involved in legal disputes.
7. Your industry network
Your business partner may help you get in touch with suppliers in China, or get to know someone who can guide you. Also contact local trade organizations and chambers of Commerce. It's not just what you know, but who you know.
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