Call it the e-commerce magic or globalization at play, but importing goods from China and selling them on Amazon has emerged as one of the hottest trends in the recent past. With job markets getting tight, more and more people are taking up entrepreneurship.
Platforms such as Amazon gives amazing opportunities to such people who lack entrepreneurial experience but need to set up a business to earn a living. With international B2B platforms such as Alibaba readily accessible, more and more sellers have been tempted to import low-cost goods from China and sell it on the local Amazon for good margins.
On paper, the business idea seems very simple. Hunt for a supplier in China using online directories, strike a deal, and make an import via an Amazon FBA facility. This is all that many new sellers know, and as a result, they end up falling into a pit that breaks their business. Sourcing from China is financially lucrative and a huge risk if you are not cautious of the complexities and have not done your homework well. If you plan to source goods from China to sell them on Amazon, here are 3 success secrets that will come in handy as you move forward with your business.
1. Find the Right Supplier
The first question that comes when importing goods from China is figuring out where to get the supply of goods. Most new sellers jump the Alibaba bandwagon and filter out suppliers without putting in much thought to analyze the platform’s realities. Alibaba is the largest B2B directory of the supplier. However, it would help if you remembered that anyone could create an Alibaba account, and you need to be cautious when dealing with people. The micro-screening of supplier profiles at this stage is important.
When filtering out, suppliers make sure you are not dealing with trading companies, and your supplier is a direct manufacturer. Ask as many questions as you can about their factory and business processes, among other things. Steer clear of trading companies no matter how tempting they sound.
2. Price Negotiations
This one is the trickiest of all. You know that you are going to a Chinese supplier to cut your costs, which is not difficult to achieve. The deal-breaker here is to what extent are you willing to compromise on factors such as quality, delivery times, and relationship with the supplier, just so that you can get him at as low as possible. A good entrepreneur will never make that trade-off, especially if you sell on a platform such as Amazon.
China is a huge industry with all kinds of suppliers. The good ones will try to avoid anyone who is out to buy cheap. The desperate suppliers will try to trap and scam anyone who looks desperate for the cheapest bid, and they are pretty good at that. Therefore, be rational with your negotiations and not force a supplier to go below their price floors.
3. Quality Control
China is popular for its low prices, but at the same, it has a notorious reputation when it comes to quality. This does not mean that all suppliers in China produce cheap quality goods. However, this does mean that you need to be very finicky about quality control and should be able to run through quality checks. Unfortunately, if you are an Amazon seller, you will have little control over quality inspections because your goods will be directly forwarded to the Amazon FBA facility.
Under such circumstances, it is smart to hire a sourcing company. There are a number of sourcing companies such as Leeline Sourcing that can not only inspect your goods thoroughly on your behalf but can also prep, store, and forward your inventory, giving you complete inventory management services. The best part is that they can even help you find the right supplier, which is the very first step of your business process.