How to effectively source from multiple Chinese suppliers simultaneously?

    For the big buyers or importers, it's not difficult to purchase from multiple suppliers at one time because each supplier could at least fill up a 20 ft container, the customs clearance and logistics are comparably easier. But to those start-up companies,they usually test the markets with small orders, indicating that they need to purchase different products from different suppliers with trial orders at one time. In such cases, the domestic logistics management,lead time control, delivery time control, stocking, warehousing, and customs clearance etc are rather complicated.So how do we make an easier and more effective sourcing from different Chinese suppliers simultaneously when the order is not big enough?

    First of all what we need is a reliable and experienced Chinese partner or purchasing agent like STIN. The ones with direct export license will be much better as they can export and clear the customs directly upon request. An excellent partner or agent can well consolidate all your shipments at one time, coordinate the lead time and delivery time, arrange domestic logistics, control the business risks, arrange warehousing and clear the customs on time etc.

     Secondly, it's vital to control the lead time and delivery time of each shipment. The ones with longer lead time should be paid earlier. All the consolidated shipments shall be delivered to a designated warehouse in China. Any delay of one shipment will result in the delay of whole order, which may cause an unexpected stocking or warehousing cost in China as well.

    Thirdly, all the documents for customs clearance have to be prepared in advance for consolidated orders, each shipment may require different documents for customs clearance. For example, some products are made from wood, then a special fumigation certificate is required in order to clear the customs.

    Last but not the least it's necessary to choose the appropriate transportation way, whether to ship by sea, air or express, depends on the total shipping cost and the specific need from each client. STIN has rich experience in sourcing and consolidating different shipments for her clients in Mainland China, please feel free to ask us any question related. 

Chinabizservices: How to apply CFDA/NMPA/SAMR registration in China

Chinabizservices: How to apply CFDA/NMPA/SAMR registration in China:       The CFDA (China Food and Drug Administration) is the highest administration authority in charge of regulation and control of medical d...

How to apply CFDA/NMPA/SAMR registration in China

      The CFDA (China Food and Drug Administration) is the highest administration authority in charge of regulation and control of medical devices,pharmaceuticals,medical products, cosmetics and so on. CFDA certificate is required in medical device, pharmaceuticals,cosmetics, health products, food and drug manufacturing, sale and distribution etc in China. For medicals, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cosmetics, health and dietary supplement products, you have to apply for a NMPA registration and permist first before you distribute them in China. NMPA is not a part of (CFDA or SAMR), please check http://www.nmpa.gov.cn for details. From late 2018, CFDA registration is also called NMPA or SAMR registration by some service agents here in China.

We take cosmetics registration as an example, here is the flowchart or procedure to apply a FDA (NMPA) certificate here in China:

      We focus on doing safe and smooth business in China, our mission is to save you more time, cost and energy, reducing the risks in your business in China! STIN consulting service can simply act as your own assistants in your business at our end !

The top 5 local sourcing agent in Mainland China

     A good sourcing agent plays a very important role in your international business in China sometimes. They can not only find out the best factories but also they can control the quality, control the payment risks, arrange shipment, clear the customs, offer legal support and even offer after-sale support etc on your behalf in person in China. There are lots of sourcing agent and supply chain management companies here in China. Most of the top sourcing service companies are operated by foreigners in China, however, Baidu released a list of top 5 local sourcing agents from Mainland China recently based on their company size (registered capital), annual revenues and bank credit etc in China. If you are looking for local sourcing experts from Mainland China, here is the list for your reference:

No.1: Shenzhen Unifortune Supply Chain Service Co., Ltd
Headquarter: Shenzhen, China 
Tel: 0086-755-23998778
Fax: 0086-755-23998779
Website: www.ufscs.com

No.2: Shenzhen Fusen Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd  
Headquarter: Shenzhen, China 
Tel: 0086-755-83573650
Fax: 0086-755-83585299
Website: www.fusen.net.cn

No.3: Zhejiang Dun'an Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd 
Headquarter: Hangzhou, China  1亿
Tel:0086-571-87808855
Fax:0086-571-87113559
Website: www.dunanscm.com

No.4: Guangzhou Wuzhou Sourcing Service Co., Ltd 
Headquarter: Guangzhou, China
Tel: 0086-20-32315566
Fax: 0086-20-32315588
Website: www.wzcgw.com

No.5: Changsha Stin Business Service Co., Ltd 
Headquarter: Changsha, China
Tel:0086-731-88167488
Fax:0086-731-88167499
Website: www.chinabizservices.com

Tongtiandi Digital Market -- The largest wholesale market for refurbished iphones and other brands in China

Tongtiandi Digital Market is located on No.49,Huafa South Road, several hundred meters away from Huaqiangbei Metro Station. Tongtiandi claims to be the largest wholesale market for refurbished iphones on the globe at present. Tens of thousands of people from all over the world coming here for send-hand phone business every day.

   Tongtiandi was set up as early as in 1999, it is a 3-storey building for mobile phone wholesale business. They focus on second hand cell phone business, the first and second floors are stalls for phone spare parts, repairers and accessories, the third floor is full of refurbished iphone dealers.

You can source every part of iphones here and if you are a phone technician or repairer, you can even assembly a totally new iphone within 1 hour here as almost all the phone parts are available in this building. You can unlock any iphone, change any screen or any other phone part here. The whole supply chain for refurbished phones can be found within 50 meters around this market.

Nokia, Sony, Sumsang used to dominate the refurbished phone market here in Shenzhen but now it is the time for Iphones. The sale of refurbished Iphones has accounted for more than 80% of whole Tongtiandi phone revenues last year.

The best way to negotiate with China suppliers

Chinese people like negotiating during the business and you can negotiate in most cases during your sourcing in China (in some special cases prices are fixed, say, supermarket ), here are the basic bargaining skills for your reference: 

1.‘Letting the enemy off in order to catch him' - If the price cannot be lowered further, you can pretend to end the negotiation so as to make the suppliers compromise.

2.Keep bargaining - you can adopt some strategies such as conducting a war of words, a honeyed talk, and even a spoiled brat till the suppliers lower the price.

3.Keep nitpicking - to obtain a better price, you had better pick out somthing wrong to make suppliers downhearted.

4.Tempting the suppliers step by step - you can tempt the suppliers by the promise of building a long-term cooperation, big orders, and better payment terms etc so that they can make concessions in pricing.

Above negotiation skills can be used case by case, however, the best way to negotiate during internation trade is to use following two tips:

1.Shopping around
There is a Chinese saying,“You would not suffer losses if you shop another three or more stores to compare”, which means when purchasing any item, you should look for their competitors and the suppliers providing the same quaility items, then compare their price, trade terms, quality etc and select a best one to work with in the future. The premise of comparison is built on the similar product quality, service and price. The compared products should be at the same class.

2.Cost analysis
To be a professional buyer, what you should know well is not only the product itself, but also the costs of major raw material, production, labor and management etc. And the best bargaining strategy is to fully calculate the cost of one product, adding in the appropriate margin of the manufacturer, and knowing yourself and the suppliers well, then the lower price can be finally reached. 

Source: STIN Sourcing Service Team 

What do you have to know while inspecting a supplier in China?

Some clients were scammed and lost lot of time and money even if they had inspected them in person before placing the orders. What do you have to know when you are inspecting a supplier in China? Here are the tips:

1.Take a photo of their Business License, then check out their business scope with local officials in China, by this way you will find out whether they are the real factory or not. On their Business License, you can also find out who the real boss is and what they can do in China legally. 90% of the suppliers you met online might be typical trade companies, if you know nothing about Chinese, any trade company, individual agents or even scammers can take you to a factory that has nothing to do with them in China. On their Business License, you can also find out their company size, business address, business scope and legal representative etc.

2.Take a photo of their factory gate and write down their factory address, then you have to check whether their registered address on their Business License is the same address you inspected in China. This is also very important as when you have to take any legal action against them during any future trade dispute, the first step is to confirm their business address and business scope here in China. If they use a 'fake’ business address, then you cannot sue them in China, please be careful on such cases.

3.Check out the local market price and confirm the right FOB price with them in person, if their price is too low to be true, then you have to forget it.
Also please note that you cannot buy any international brand of items from the factories in China directly. For example, all the Apple iphones are made in China but you cannot buy iphones from their factories directly and you can only buy from their authorized distributors at your end. This is the same case to any other international brands, say, Sumsung, LG, Sony etc.

4.Inspect their equipment and facilities.

The advanced equipment and facilities is a kind of guarantee (prerequisites) for high quality product here in China.

5.Check out their quality control measures in written form
Lots of Chinese suppliers only offer you ‘mouth quality measures’and very few suppliers have quality measures in written forms. Please bear it in mind that any qualified supplier must have a good QC system in China as well.

6.Check out their export experience and export qualifications
No supplier will tell you their customer information but the client can ask them for their Export License, if their Export License was issued 10 years ago, I'm sure they have enough experience in exporting in China. 

7.Check out their after-sale measures
Some clients only focus on lower prices, however, safety, price, quality, and after-sale service play the same role in doing international business in China.

8.Try to meet the "real boss" in person during your inspection
Do not forget to check out their Business License and meet the real boss in person, then all your trade terms, lead time and payment terms etc can be guaranteed.

STIN has rich experience in sourcing and auditing local suppliers from China, any question is welcome.