We have helped many people choose right Chinese manufacturer when importing goods from China. In this guide, we will introduce everything you need to find the right Chinese manufacturer. If you are running your business, you want to make your products in China, but you don’t know how to find Chinese manufacturers. Here are the steps to follow to find the ideal Chinese manufacturer for your products:
Step 1. Create your product specifications for Chinese manufacturers
If you plan to purchase your products in China, having your product specifications is important. If you don’t have product specifications in mind, it will bring you a lot of problems.
Before deciding what your specification should be, consider including the following criteria:
- Product color
- Product size
- Packing style
- Label requirements and product regulations
- Product description
- Test specification
- The specific material of the commodity
Why do you need to define your product specifications?
It is not to say that without product specifications, you will not find a manufacturer in China, but it will only allow you to travel a long way to find the best manufacturer. In the worst case, you may not be able to find any manufacturer because you don’t have specific needs. Simply put, you should create a product specification to make things easier and better!
Remember, when weighing the kind of Chinese supplier you want, you need to know your product description, label requirements, quality standards, materials, product changes, and many other specifications. As mentioned earlier, differences in the specifications of these products can have a huge impact on prices.
How do you organize your product specifications?
- Performing an online inspection of your product. It is not an easy adventure, but you must understand your target area and product quality from this perspective.
- Paying attention to the competitors’ products, their prices are the same as those you have in mind. Consider browsing specific materials for products and their packaging design
- Read online product reviews to find common product defects. You can consider covering tracks that have not yet been discovered by competitors.
- Network with existing industry experts to provide tips on your product specifications.
- Pay attention to label requirements and product regulations.
- After organizing the product specifications, consider drawing them on the specification sheet.
It may feel like a massive effort to develop product specifications, but it will make you start looking for Chinese suppliers.
Step 2. Find the best manufacturer in China.
So, you have considered your product specifications. Next step? You want to find a Chinese manufacturer. There’s nothing to it. Let’s take a closer look at the two most direct ways to purchase products from China.
Do it alone
How do you purchase products from China without using any external agents? Using the online supplier platform may be the safest way to purchase products from China. There are four popular product purchasing platforms: Made in China, Alibaba, Global Express, and Global Sources.
Made in China platform is China’s top e-commerce platform created by focus Technology. Through this platform, you can find the details of top Chinese products and suppliers.
Alibaba is also an e-commerce platform, but for beginners, this is not the right choice. What causes it? The manufacturer produced most of the catalogs.
AliExpress is more interested in retailers. However, you can still find a lot of information about manufacturers on this platform.
Use the purchasing company
Let me explain this about using purchasing companies to find Chinese manufacturers.
If you hire a priceless purchasing agent, they will find a manufacturer you can’t find. Want to know how these purchasing agents work? They go to great lengths to find manufacturers that are not listed on the e-commerce platform. You can contact some great purchasing companies, such as Easy Imex, 80 purchase 20, and many others companies.
A trade show in China
After a purchasing company, we think the trade show is great for the procurement of Chinese manufacturers. A trade show is preferable because it provides an opportunity to have a face-to-face conversation with the right supplier. They can quickly understand your needs, understand how your needs match their needs, and how they work with you.
For example, you can visit the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, the China International Furniture Fair held in Shanghai in September, and many other exhibitions.
How to find the best supplier on Alibaba?
If you have decided not to choose trade shows and purchasing companies, you may have to insist on using Alibaba to find the best Chinese suppliers. How does it work? As we all know, most e-commerce platforms rely on the right combination of keywords to display search results. Alibaba is no exception. When searching for your product, you should try multiple keyword variants instead of sticking to a keyword type.
Suppose you are searching for a heart rate monitor; your potential keyword combinations may include a heart rate monitor belt, a chest belt fitness tracker, and a chest belt heart monitor.
Step 3. Contact Chinese suppliers to get quotations
It may be difficult to talk to someone who can hardly understand your language.
Formatting your email and initial quote request (RPQ) is essential, but it is more important to communicate in the more accurate language. This will greatly increase the chances for suppliers to respond. In this way, you can quickly evaluate suppliers. So make sure your email shows a good sense of professionalism and politeness. Your language should also reflect your willingness to be a long-term customer.
How can you negotiate the language barrier?
- Avoid ambiguity when sending emails to suppliers.
- You should attach your product specification form to your RPQ.
- Your email should also contain the correct product specification details.
Step 4. Create a list of potential Chinese manufacturers
Normally, I don’t buy for suppliers beyond the 10-15 range to avoid complexity. Then I weighed my options and reduced the list to the three or five best suppliers in terms of quality, price, factory location, compliance, etc.
Step 5. Verify your Chinese manufacturers
If you are facing the challenge of verifying a suitable Chinese supplier, here are some questions you need to consider.
Question 1: Does this factory meet my product needs? Can they produce my ideal product? Do they have enough professional knowledge and experience in my product category?
Question 2: Are they manufacturers or trading companies?
Question 3: What is the location of the factory? How will it affect the price of your products? You should visit here to read more about the geographical location of China and how the location of your factory affects your purchasing decisions.
Question 4: Does the manufacturer have an effective communication system? Can you get in touch with them more frequently?
Question 5: Is the Chinese manufacturer big enough to take your order? Are they too small? You should consider these questions.
Question 6: Does the company has any real certification for your products?
Question 7: what are their target selling points?
Question 8: Do they have an export license?
Question 9: Are they interested enough in your business?
Question 10: Is their pricing negotiable?
Question 11: How about their attendance?
These questions can help you verify the suppliers.
Step 6: Visit the top 3 Chinese manufacturers
We know that it is hard work to visit about three factories and find a suitable supplier. However, it also brings a lot of benefits. By visiting suppliers, you can quickly assess their strengths and weaknesses, including raw material quality, factory workers, factory equipment, work attitude, and so on.
Virtual price negotiation is not always the best option. You can negotiate the product price with the supplier and work out the price that best suits you. This step is essential for existing companies that want to source products from China.
Step 7. Make samples
Sometimes, it is not enough to just visit the factory. You don’t need to be told that its cover can’t judge a book. You should get product samples from your three best suppliers for strict evaluation.
- Scan the sample carefully.
- Pay attention to the texture, appearance, size, and packaging of the product. Ask yourself: Are these qualities suitable for your desired results?
If you are hesitant to do it, invite others to check their samples and hear what they think about it. You can also do some drop tests on the packing of the sample to confirm its firmness. For more information about drop testing, please visit here.
If the manufacturer does not meet your requirements, please cross it off your favorite list. It’s that simple. There is another set of additional points that you should pay attention to.
If you don’t want to give up your favorite Chinese manufacturers, you can arrange with them to produce your ideal product sample. If you are developing a new product, I suggest arranging product samples from your top priority supplier. Sorting out samples from multiple manufacturers can be exhausting, especially if the cost of production is too high.
These are 6 steps about finding a Chinese manufacturer for your products, and we will write a blog about how to negotiate the prices with your Chinese manufacturer next time.
Also, you can leave a comment below, or browse previous blogs (Blogs of Wholesale Toy Supplier).
