Since I joined this forum in November 2007 I have learned a lot. I was a well seasoned businessman before joining this forum but in the service industry, not buying and selling on a trade basis. In the intervening period I have bought and sold a lot of goods, made money on some and lost money on others. I have around 4 products now that I am buying ion volume, that sell well and have good profit ratios (between 30% and 100% net and that is final net). Ok so I've not always got it right and there have been products I've lost money on but thats the way it goes, there will always be an element of trial and error. However there is one thing that has never happened to me so far and that is that I have never (yet) been scammed. Whilst I am obviously not prepared to share with you the suppliers and products I have spent all my time researching what I am more than prepared to do is go through the processes and methods I have used to ensure that I get the products I have ordered and the supplier is EXACTLY who they say they are, not traders posing as manafacturers or even out and out scammers.
Example 1.
I was looking for a product that sells very well at excellent profit ratios ( I can sell 20pcs a day on Amazon). There has been a shortage of late and I needed a new supplier. I did a search on global sources, Alibaba and made in china for the product. I then contacted all the suppliers that had paid for listings on at least two of those sites (if they were verified global sources then 1 is fine). All got back to me saying they had no stock at the moment so I left it. Two days later one of the suppliers gets back to me and says they now have the product in stock, they were paid up on Alibaba and MIC and had been a gold member on Ali for over 2 years. The price was spot on, slightly higher than it had been but that was expected because of the shortage.
Seems like an ok supplier so far so I ask them what payment methods they accept and its only TT or WU. I'm used to this but because I've never dealt with the supplier before I think I had better delve a little further. I check their address listed on Ali and its a genuine commercial address from one of the electornics markets in Shenzhen, ok so far. I check the phone number and it adds up to the address. I ask the guy for bank details and he gives me details of a personal ccount so I'm a little nervous about doing business now. I also notice that his e-mail address doesn't add up to the one on the website. I ask him for his web address and it adds up to the one on the ALi and MIC pages, he says he is having a little trouble with his mail provider. So I see an MSN contact on the company website, I add them and say to them that there is a guy trying to sell me TT cards claiming to be from their company. The girl (shop manager) on MSN said yes he is from their company and to deal with him if I wanted the TT cards.
SO I get back to him and say that I'm still not happy about the personal account and tell him it is making me nervous to do business with him. He sends me an attachment showing me transfers for customer orders going into the account on several occasions, from a company in Korea, pointing out that if he was a scammer would they keep doing repeat business. However the attachment looks a little shady to me.
I really need this product but I'm still very unsure about doing this deal so I speak to a professional representation company in Shenzhen that I use and ask them to go voer unnanounced to check the stock situation of this supplier and make sure everything is kosherm, then reoirt back to me. It costs me a few quid but I was about to buy a few grands worth of stock so I don't mind.
I will now post a series of communications received back
from my representative
Quote:
Hi Dean,
Attached are some photos our guy shot for you.
Just as I presumed that xxxx xxxxxxx is a very
small retail store at Huaqiang Road Communication
Market. There were two sale girls at the counter when
our guy went there. Two girls confirmed they don't
have the product
I called Liu Hui personally and found the No. you gave
me was changed to 0755-82798813. But the one who
answered the phone didn't know any guy named Liu Hui.
I asked their manager Ms. Jacq. Liang, so he gave me
another No.:0755-61528211, 61528215. At this No., I
talked to Mr. Liu Hui. He was surprised I found him
and sent a guy to their store this afternoon. Both his
manager and he confessed they don't have the product. I
asked him why he said he had when he actually didn't.
It is called a liar, scammer! He tried to weave a
story telling me he has co-operated with a friend, who
has the cards in stocks elsewhere in Shenzhen. I
confronted him what the specification of the
card(storage volume) and where the exact location of
the stock, we can send our guy there immediately and
buy the card right away. Liu Hui has no words to lie
anymore but confessed he was a new graduate has no
experience on international trading and this was the
first time for him to sell the product blah, blah...He
said he would write to you directly and apologize.
Our guy also checked around and was told there was no
card in stock at other stores.
That is the end of this time checking.
If any follow-up is expected, please contact me free.
|
and now from the supplier again
Quote:
Dear Mr xxxxxxx
First I'd like to say sorry to you .Yes, when you saw my bank info. of the attachment ,you were worried about that whether I am a swindler.
We digital element has been a manufacturer and exporter for game accessories for many years.These days,our boss decided not to do this business because it is too trouble .Maybe I am the black sheep of the group,I wish I can do it myself because it is selling quite well.With then I did some research about this item and found another company ,who promise me they have stock,so I told you that.
These two days ,I am waiting for your E-mail and am going to look the products.I am really sorry about this,Ms Zhou cursed me quite a lot today.
First I am afraid to tell you the truth,now I won't to do this business any more,pls forgive me.I won't do it in the future.
I just graduated from my university so I have no experience about the business ,sorry for being a pain.I never want to hurt you and tell lie to you .
He told me that there of course has stock ,so I trust him.
Hope it is not too late to correct my mistake!
Just at the beginning I think that I must give you back the money if he do not have stock.
I apologize !
Sorry!
|
so there you go. A small fee a days wait and a few grand saved
example 2.
I've been looking for suppliers of an interesting product that seems to be wide open. I find 3 manafacturers that look promising of said prodcut in Guangdong province, 2 of which are in Shenzhen. I went through the same process to narrow it down to 3 suppliers as before. Checked Ali, MIC and Global. I started with 12 and narrowed it down to the 3 most promising before I contacted any of them. I start a conversation going with all 3, asking them about prices manafacturing processes, lead times etc, whilst also doing background checks on all 3. All of them claimed to have exhibited at trade shows, all three had been members of trade sites for over 4 years, all of them had good websites. However one suipplier claimed to have been at a trade show and I couldn't find their entry anywhere, when I asked them they said they had shared a booth with a sister company blah blah blah..... it didn't add up so I struck them off the list.
I was left with 2 suppliers for the product. Both of which I could trace to trade shows they claimed to have been at, one was a 4 star platinum supplier on Global, the other had 5 years gold on Alibaba, their addresses checked out, I chatted on the phone with them, both having a proper reception and telephone transerring system, all their certification was traceable, and they were registered as ltd companies with the local authority.
At this point I felt comfortable enough to order samples from both. SO I ordered 4 pcs from each and waited to see what they said about lead times etc. One was cosiderably cheaper than the other but had longer lead times as items were manafactured to order. The other had stock spare for samples so could get it out ASAP. I TT'd the money over to both companes and waited to see what happened. The more expensive company also overcharged on the shipping but the product came quickly, adequately packed. Quality was so so and instruction manuals were very poor. The other company took a little longer than expected because one of the 4 units I ordered failed its ageing test so another was made. It took just over 2 weeks to get the product but it was in a strong wooden box, well packed inside, quality was excellent and instruction manuals were great.
So I decided to go with this company. Thing is each pc costs 370 USD and minimum order quantity is 100 pcs. So I place an order pending a succesful factory audit and conact my representative again, asking her to do a full audit on the facory and get the bank to draw up an LC for the amount of the order pending succesful audit. The audit goes swimmingly and the goods are now in manafacture. I have paid 30% of the full amount and once goods are finished my representative will go back, do a preshipment inspection to make sure the goods are up to standard and the order exactly matches my request. Once the ok is given I will send the rest of the money and the goods will be winging their way to me with a 100% net markup and plenty of lovely lolly in the bank.
I hope this helps some people out there who are looking to deal with manafacturers in China and helps them find a good path to finding the right supplier to deal with and not get scammed along the way.
My experience of buying safely internationally
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Linear Mode
November 2008
