Opinions please!--how you find a Chinese supplier,google or Alibaba?

Ador pets · #1 9th June 2009, 05:01

If you want to find a Chinese supplier,which way you will turn to,searching by google or searching on some B2B platform like Chinese Alibaba.com? or both?
which way you prefer?
Thanks in advance!!

consultant · #2 9th June 2009, 07:53

globalsources or visit a tradeshow

Ador pets · #3 9th June 2009, 08:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by consultant

globalsources or visit a tradeshow

Thank you.but I think global sources is better for industry and gifts.how about the fabrics,like garment accessories and leather products?

Mister B · #4 9th June 2009, 08:29

As the consultant says, I would normally use Globalsources ahead of Alibaba. I would also use HKTDC.com and in addition to this, I would normally visit trade fairs in either HK or on the mainland.

Mister B

consultant · #5 9th June 2009, 08:52

globalsources (and HKDTC, which I forgot about) are great for almost ANY product. Alibaba would be a last resort for me!

Bri · #6 9th June 2009, 08:54

I'd just stay on this forum for a bit, they'll soon find you. Although the mods must be doing ok as its been quiet for a bit.

ginantonic · #7 9th June 2009, 09:42

I'm currently investigating www.beltal.com, if you avoid all the fake stuff, there are some good sellers on there (they actually answer your emails), and the payment system appears safe, as it uses paypal and doesn't take payment until you receive your goods.

CJSteele · #8 24th June 2009, 13:42

Hi Ador_pets,

I am in China too, and I can support what gogobright said. Everyone here uses it.

The trick is not the avenue you use though. You can use any of the methods mentioned above.

The trick is sizing up your potential supplier. I would use Alibaba (or any of the others) to find a group of potential suppliers, but you then you need to really evaluate them.

This is the advantage of trade shows. You get to meet the people.

However, there are a lot of suppliers who don't go to the trade shows who can probably give you better value for money. These are the people who can be found on Alibaba and such.

Even then you need to dig deep. I know some top notch suppliers who get no leads from their Alibaba accounts.

Once you have found some potential suppliers, you then need to get to know them. This is where you need to either travel here to meet these potential suppliers or get a proxy on the ground to do it for you.

So I would say you can use either Google or Alibaba, or others methods, or all of them to find a Chinese supplier. The important thing is what you do next.

plymgary · #9 24th June 2009, 14:27

I use Alibaba. However, using this method is still very risky! There's very little comeback if something goes wrong. Thankfully i've been lucky so far.

I suppose the sensible answer would be to fly out there yourself and make your own contacts. Bit too expensive for many though!

phil battison · #10 24th June 2009, 15:50

We've used Alibaba when we first started out a few years back but it was never easy (no matter how impressive the web sites of the advertiser looks) to actually work out who was/is a true manufacturer Vs just another middleman. Eventually because we sell tech gear we stated to go to the trade show in Hanover (CEBIT) where we got to meet real companies who had invested in being there - you get the added benefit of touching and felling the product and so on. But eventually we ended up going to China and HK to visit the factories. Appreciate its not for all but the trip was something we should have done 7 years ago when we started out - whilst it would have seemed expensive we'd have saved ourselves the costs many times over.

Phil