Supplier and import of non woven bags - first time !

[Talay]

I buy tens of thousands of non woven bags a year and largely take from a couple of suppliers with their standard graphics but I now want to go bespoke and get prices for myself.

Of course I don't have the trade contacts and my suppliers aren't going to give up their supply chain but I feel there is too much being sucked out by suppliers in the UK on bespoke items when their legwork is only marginally over the standard order.

So where to start ? Does everything begin and end with Alibaba (which I do not trust) ?

Then, though I understand FOB, or I think I do, should I engage a freight forwarder or .... or what ?

No real experience in sourcing and ordering from afar, certainly not from China and unsure of the logistics and associated costs etc.

Any pointers to get rid of the mistrust and fear of being ripped off ?

 

[billmccallum1957]

What kind of Non-woven bags, paper, plastic???

Any particular specification?

We too use 1000's of bags, but not enough to warrant importing our own (last price I got was around £60,000 for 1.5 million - but not in our price bracket).

 

[Talay]

Like this

 

[billmccallum1957]

What size, material?

 

[Talay]

I don't have a kg per sqm figure yet but we are aiming somewhat upscale, not bargain basement.

Sizes are 23" x 16" and 24" x 20" both with shoulder straps.

These are existing sizes, not necessarily absolute requirements.

We will need at least one colour printing, colour of bags to be decided.

 

[MOIC]

Hi Talay

I am based in China and can help source the bags you require and arrange shipment to your door.

We look after the whole process, including sourcing the best factory, evaluation, sampling, order processing, quality control, export documentation and shipping, including UK forwarding and delivery to your warehouse.

Please see the following link for this service:

http://myofficeinchina.com

Feel free to PM me, or send an email via the website.

Regards

Ron

 

[Maple Sourcing]

I do not do such products often. But I can give you a tip, when you source on Alibaba, choose the supplier location as "Quanzhou City, Fujian Province" --- if you do not know how to select the location, just pay attention only to click the links of suppliers from that area.

Of course many many suppliers out of that region can also make such products, but if you want to directly work with a decent factory and get the best cost/quality performance, that area is the best choice.

The other location is "Xiamen City, Fujian Province", 2 hrs from Quanzhou, price will be a little higher and maybe quality is also a little better. Could be an alternate option.

 

[GraemeL]

So where to start ? Does everything begin and end with Alibaba (which I do not trust) ?
Then, though I understand FOB, or I think I do, should I engage a freight forwarder or .... or what ?
No real experience in sourcing and ordering from afar, certainly not from China and unsure of the logistics and associated costs etc.
Any pointers to get rid of the mistrust and fear of being ripped off ?

Hello Talay. I import from China (though not your products) and have visited many times so can offer a little advice from my experiences. Here are a few quick notes.

Always:-

• Pay for samples (or at least offer to pay) and their freight to UK, more than once if necessary, to get final approval before placing any big order. (You might need to send samples of what you are buying already to a few factories or your agent)
• Buy FOB
• Get quotes for freight from a UK based FF, including delivery to your premises. (Never allow factory to arrange freight)
• Essential to have QC checks done by your agent (or a professional QC company like SGS) of your order before it is loaded into container
• If you can afford it, go to China and visit the factory to meet the people
• Use an agent who is 'local' to the factory. (If you like you can agree terms that might include paying a fee to agent and you can have complete visibility of actual factory prices. Lots of variation) Travelling distances are huge.

Never:-

• Be negative or directly criticise a factory
• Don't try to negotiate a price then pass it over to an agent and say 'beat that'
• Make demands
• Assume anything

Best to think like this:-

• You are a nobody until you have built up a relationship over time or face to face
• They trust you as much as you trust them
• You do not understand their business culture and they do not understand yours, however good their written and spoken English is.

Chinese business people are almost all friendly, honest and very hard working. They get 100's of requests for quotes every week, most of which go nowhere. So they might think a lot of westerners are just time wasters. You need to get beyond that.

best wishes

Graeme

 

[Talay]

Thanks to all so far.

So where do you find the supplier or potential suppliers, from whom to whittle down your shortlist ?

If you Google, you invariably end up in AliBaba or similar alternatives or at pages of some random website whose bona fides you have no means of interrogating.

 

[GraemeL]

If you use an agent, they will do that for you.

 

[Talay]

If you use an agent, they will do that for you.

If you use an agent, how are they usually compensated ?

I know Asia and the distances and the problem is that if the agent adds too much to the cost then it becomes uneconomic and if they don't do their due diligence in terms of vetting supplier then they are worse than useless.

Then if problems arise, what leverage do you have on a contract signed with an agent ?

 

[GraemeL]

There is no one way to pay an agent. Best to ask them what they suggest and go from there.
You have no effective 'leverage' on the agent, it is the factory that will call the tune. Suggest you should think about this from a 'how can I make it work' perspective.

 

[Talay]

There is no one way to pay an agent. Best to ask them what they suggest and go from there.
You have no effective 'leverage' on the agent, it is the factory that will call the tune. Suggest you should think about this from a 'how can I make it work' perspective.

Very good points. An agent who wants a fee but won't take any responsibility plus a factory who sends good samples and then dud or cheaper quality orders.

Sounds like the China I know from another life.

Is escrow the usual payment condition medium in use ?

 

[Maple Sourcing]

Hello Talay. I import from China (though not your products) and have visited many times so can offer a little advice from my experiences. Here are a few quick notes.

Always:-

• Pay for samples (or at least offer to pay) and their freight to UK, more than once if necessary, to get final approval before placing any big order. (You might need to send samples of what you are buying already to a few factories or your agent)
• Buy FOB
• Get quotes for freight from a UK based FF, including delivery to your premises. (Never allow factory to arrange freight)
• Essential to have QC checks done by your agent (or a professional QC company like SGS) of your order before it is loaded into container
• If you can afford it, go to China and visit the factory to meet the people
• Use an agent who is 'local' to the factory. (If you like you can agree terms that might include paying a fee to agent and you can have complete visibility of actual factory prices. Lots of variation) Travelling distances are huge.

Never:-

• Be negative or directly criticise a factory
• Don't try to negotiate a price then pass it over to an agent and say 'beat that'
• Make demands
• Assume anything

Best to think like this:-

• You are a nobody until you have built up a relationship over time or face to face
• They trust you as much as you trust them
• You do not understand their business culture and they do not understand yours, however good their written and spoken English is.

Chinese business people are almost all friendly, honest and very hard working. They get 100's of requests for quotes every week, most of which go nowhere. So they might think a lot of westerners are just time wasters. You need to get beyond that.

best wishes

Graeme

Very good points, thanks!

 

[PJ']

Hi Talay,
I am a new member so cannot post links until I have "30 posts"
However I came across "supplycompass DOT com" recently that might be a perfect alternative to Ali Baba in searching for a supplier.
PJ

 

[5aq1b]

Hello Talay. I import from China (though not your products) and have visited many times so can offer a little advice from my experiences. Here are a few quick notes.

Always:-

• Pay for samples (or at least offer to pay) and their freight to UK, more than once if necessary, to get final approval before placing any big order. (You might need to send samples of what you are buying already to a few factories or your agent)
• Buy FOB
• Get quotes for freight from a UK based FF, including delivery to your premises. (Never allow factory to arrange freight)
• Essential to have QC checks done by your agent (or a professional QC company like SGS) of your order before it is loaded into container
• If you can afford it, go to China and visit the factory to meet the people
• Use an agent who is 'local' to the factory. (If you like you can agree terms that might include paying a fee to agent and you can have complete visibility of actual factory prices. Lots of variation) Travelling distances are huge.

Hey. Great reply and thanks for the tips.

Where can one find a suitable agent? Is there a directory as such? Or do we search for agents on sites like UKBF?

 

[Divyang]

Hello, We run a factory in India where we make all type of flexible packaging products.Just to give you a little background, I studied in UK and I'm back to India now. And you might know India is probably the biggest in terms of plastic packaging and products right now along with China but the quality and business relationship is better in India. We can talk about this if you like. You can buy from us if everything works out. Looking forward to your response.