Has anyone any experience of finding reliable manufacturers of products abroad, ie India, China. I guess I have a whole headache of problems on the horizon finding one for diamante jewellery as I have had a pretty serious enquiry for around $10-$15,000 worth initially and establishing an ongoing relationship. After long discussions with my current supplier in the UK I now realise they aint that big after all They have low levels of stock and a 12 week lead time It looks like I am going to investigate shipping in from abroad and after trawling loads of trade/exporter websites I still haven't found anyone suitable. Agh, this could be either very good or just a whole headache as regards shipping, lead time and customs that chills me to the bone as I don't have any import experience. Damn the coop putting me at 7 in google for wholesale jewellery, every time I do a search I end up finding myself
Lead times from Asia won't be much better unless you fly stock in at premium rates, squeezing your margins. I'd stick with proper English speaking people who are based over there if I were you.
I have spoken to all the UK based one's I can find and stock availability seems to be the biggest problem which leads me in the direction of manufacturers. I get numerous trade enquiries but the wholesalers I use carry 50-100's of items rather than holding 4 figure stock levels that I had expected. One of the largest whoelsalers I have found in the UK stocks 50-100 of each item and can offer 33% discount on £5k orders with a 12 week lead time and there was no guarantee of stock availability, my larger enquiry was for a catalogue so I need a range that I can guarantee availability on for at least 6 months in large quantities. I bet the best ones dont have websites and are harder to find, I'll keep browsing/asking around to see if someone suitable can be found.
i am from china,my name is Jason, i think we can find the reliable manufacturers of products for you in china, my email address is: , please feel free to contact me. we have about ten years of experience on import-export work international business.
Completely agree. Any kind of decent sized international corporation would have english fluent sales reps.
I have this site bookmarked. It may have come from DP, but I can't remember for sure. http://www.xportjewelry.com/htmls/wholesale_jewelry_discounts.htm I have no idea about the company. I plan to add a jewelry affiliate program to my portfolio sometime this year and it caught my eye.
I import a lot of stuff from China. Advice; establish a relationship with a firm initially and visit them. Find out how long they have been in business, who owns them, etc... Next, visit your friendly banker (financing is big issue), call the World Trade Organization, and find a good logistics firm if you need volume shipping. Also, if a Chinese company says they stock 5000 of item a.....they probably don't! I have found finding good vendors difficult....but once I find a good one....it works out great!
that is good advice. Its very easy to get taken. One thing I found out quick was they are good with commnunication until there is a problem with billing or shipping... then they dont speak good engrish
Why go overseas when you can get great prices on injection molding in the US and the UK? Depending on your needs, a lot of US and UK firms are still very competitive.
BTW Estonia is well known by UK bachelors to purchase their wedding rings from here because prices in stores are like 10 x cheaper than in London. I have heard that few UK retail stores are ordering from Estonia. Maybe you should choose quality over quantity?
I am doing a lot of research just now and I will be making doing some travel over the next few months to make sure I can establish relationships with suppliers that I can trust to deal in bulk, I do know of Estonia, mainy due to Scotland playing them at football(soccer) and my mates all saying how damn cheap everything was over there. I have friends wo have bought large portions of Estonia for farming so I will look into it.
If you want I can find some contacts for you (web pages, tel numbers etc.) so you could get started. I just happen to be from Estonia. Its up to you...
OK, totally off track, I remember someone posted a pic of some mad woman who was ebay mad, well being Scottish I cant resist a bargain , so a good deal was found and damn, better get a van organised! Just as well I have a large basement!
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True, however shipping rates are not nearly as high as labor costs. So, sometimes it's worth the wait when importing from Asia. Also, depending on the size of the goods... cost may not be that high. Also, rather than shipping through a regular carrier you can use the local airlines and save quite a bit! Another point to consider is what side of the U.S. you're living on... if it's the east coast then the UK might be better. If it's the West coast then Asia might be better. Your shipping costs are not simply over water but over land as well. As a Logistics/Transportation Mgr I've imported goods from Asia, Nepal, India, the UK and a few others. I've also imported goods for my own home based business. Feel free to PM me and if I can help, I'm happy to do so. Lyte EDIT: Oh... one very important point when dealing with a mfg you're not 110% sure of... use an escrow company!