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email correspondence with chinese suppliers

  • Thread starter Thread starter shopgirl
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shopgirl

Good evening all.

Has anyone any experience or tips for corresponding with chinese suppliers?

We have decided to try and cut out the middle man and buy direct from suppliers in China. We have found approx 6 that look like possibilities over the net. We emailed all of them on the email addresses given on their sites but have only heard back from one.
One specific site i have tried numerous times on serveral different email addresses i found for them with no joy. We havent reieved any email bounce backs either.
All stated they deal with UK and their sites are available in English.

Is there something Im missing? To be snubbed by 5 companies is odd in my opinion.

I have a friend that speaks chinese and thought about getting her to email them in chinese just incase there was a language barrier - despite them advertising in fluent English on supplier networks. That was until i realised i dont have a chinese keyboard!!!! :redface::redface::redface:
 
I have also been e-mailing several companies in China.I had no problems.If they have an English language site,they will probably have someone who speaks English on the staff.
Try telephoning (Don't forget the time difference,they may be about 8 hours ahead of us)
Search these threads.A few weeks ago there were several native Chinese who were offering assistance in China.Good luck.
 
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I may be wrong, but I think the Govt. control the Internet use in China. Also they work quite differently from us. (They have no unemployment, but it also means that a lot of people are employed in jobs where they are not able to make a decision).

I deal with companies there, as we supply Chinese factories with equipment. It is very hard work. We have an agent in China, who handles everything for us. One part of china works very differently from another part of china. He used to "disappear" without warning on a regular basis, to visit his family in the countryside. It would be up to 3 weeks at a time - once longer because he was also ill, and then on another occasion he had family problems. He now has his family with him, and we have worked with him for a number of years, so we know him, and he knows us.

E-mail can be a problem, so we use "skype" which works extremely well out there. (Typing rather than talking). We find their telephone system erratic, so faxing does not always work.
 
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I'd cut out the middle man for most things, but doing business with the Chinese? I think you're very brave! I know many companies who have done business very successfully over there, but not before visiting the place a few times, chatting to UK Trade and Industry and speaking to suppliers.

The differences are enormous (culture, language, politics, economy, even geography!) - so I would never go it completely alone.

Good luck, whatever you decide.
 
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I think that the problem that you are encountering is a lack of credibility.

Just as large UK suppliers tend to discount smaller customers as not being worthwhile, lots of reputable Chinese suppliers do the same, especially in todays environment whereby lots of people are trying to import from Asia.

When I first started out on my sourcing career, I had great difficulty in engaging in dialogue with the factories as they did not perceive my business to be worthwhile. However, after a great deal of perseverance, I now have some excellent contacts and am reaping the benefits.

All I can advise you to do is to make sure that your introductory letter is informative and outlines your business plan effectively. Not knowing where you are looking to source, I would also heartily recommend going over to HK to some of the trade fairs and to meet some of the agents or factories in person. That goes an unbelievably long way in sending a serious message-meeting face to face stands for a lot more than communicating by email!

Let me know if I can help further, otherwise wish you luck.

Mister B
 
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why donot you just directly call them, it's a faster way.

By the way, i am going back to china on this friday for Easter holiday, and if you need any help, just PM me, I would like to help you.

Chen
 
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Thanks people. You have given me lots of food for thought there but Im still open to further advise from anyone else.
 
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Hi shopgirl,

I've got a contact in BNI who is going to China for 6 weeks to source supplies etc. I'll happily PM you his details should you require them.

Iain
 
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