Where to Look for Suppliers of Goods: A Guide for Marketplace Sellers
We reveal effective ways to find wholesale suppliers, and also share the criteria for an ideal supplier and the nuances of working with China.
Search for suppliers of goods
Methods of finding suppliers of goods
Supplier selection criteria
The nuances of working with suppliers from China
Expert advice
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Search for suppliers of goods
Table of Contents
Finding a product and its suppliers is a complex and ramified business process. When choosing a supplier, it is important to pay attention to whether it is a manufacturer or a distributor, i.e. whether it produces the product itself or only sells it. This affects the prices, the volumes it can supply, and the speed of delivery.
It is also worth understanding that finding suppliers is a regular process; you won’t be able to find one and work with them for decades. Most likely, the seller will have to change suppliers over time and, depending on sales volumes, move from distributors to manufacturers.
And, of course, the market rarely directly tells who, where and at what prices buys. In the context of searching for suppliers, sellers can be compared to fishermen: no one gives up their best fishing spots. When asked where the fish was caught, they always answer abstractly: “on the lake”, “on the river”. Who catches what, who communicates with suppliers – this is a top secret. Therefore, novice sellers need to practice more in searching, communicating and establishing interaction with other, so to speak, fishermen.
The course “Marketplace Manager” helps you master business communication skills, make useful contacts in the e-commerce industry and understand the structure of the marketplace market. You can start working in 2-3 months after the start of the course. The introductory part is available for free.
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Methods of finding suppliers of goods
Wholesale markets
To begin with, you can go to wholesale markets yourself – they are in every large city, you can find them through search engines or online maps. It is worth visiting them, seeing what goods and at what prices they sell, talking to sellers, asking who they work with – with manufacturers or distributors, in what volumes, etc. For example, in Moscow there is a wholesale and retail market “Sadovod” and a trade and fair complex “Moscow” in Lyublino, in Yekaterinburg – “Tagansky Ryad”.
Search engines
If the seller already knows what product he wants to sell, he can search for it through search engines, for example, by typing in Google “children’s sleds wholesale”. This way, there is a chance to get to an aggregator site where wholesale suppliers are located. The seller asks them for contacts or price lists right away and then discusses the terms of cooperation.
Thematic exhibitions
For example, a seller wants to sell goods from the children’s toys category. He needs to find a list of the nearest exhibitions of toy manufacturers, go to them and communicate with manufacturers and distributors in person – request price lists, see for himself the quality of the goods, collect contacts, etc.
Community
Sometimes it is enough to request information from other sellers or from current wholesalers with whom contacts have already been established. This method is not suitable for beginners, but works well among experienced sellers.
Advertisement sites, such as Avito
Some wholesalers and manufacturers post their advertisements or create stores there. It may be that a huge enterprise is hidden behind one advertisement.
Online directories, such as 2GIS
Here you need to search for companies by category or by search. This is not a quick method: you will have to call, write, ask, etc. a lot.
By direction and region
The seller needs to check whether there are separate regions that specialize in the production of the product category that interests him. For example, for the “bed linen” category, this would be the city of Ivanovo, famous for its “Ivanovskie sitts”. Next, you need to search for specific textile production in this area, limit your search on Avito to a specific region – this narrows the search range and increases the likelihood of finding a manufacturer.
You can also search for the necessary product with the help of buyers – people who have the ability to organize a complex purchase, for example, abroad. Purchases through buyers are usually more expensive, because they take a percentage for their services. But there are also advantages: the time spent searching for suppliers is reduced, you do not need to communicate with suppliers yourself and resolve issues with customs.
Supplier selection criteria
Let’s draw a portrait of an ideal supplier in a vacuum. It has the following characteristics and properties:
- Has goods in stock in the warehouse, including large batches.
- Has a high production speed. If the goods are not in stock, it can produce them and ship them in a week.
- Has raw materials for production in stock, you don’t have to wait for them for months.
- Works with deferred payment or with a small prepayment – you don’t need to pay for the entire batch of goods at once.
- Has its own packaging center and can immediately pack the products according to the standards set by the seller.
- Accepts returns and defective goods and compensates for them with products or money.
- Works exclusively with only one seller (you).
- Provides a deferred payment: can first ship the goods and wait until the seller sells them, and only then demand payment.
- Works with VAT, that is, the seller can legally write off the VAT later.
- Does not trade on the marketplace itself.
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The nuances of working with suppliers from China
Among sellers, the following classification of product suppliers is accepted:
- Russian, or as they are also called, local, suppliers;
- import suppliers – most often Chinese, as well as Kazakh, Turkish, etc.
All the above information on searching also applies to Chinese suppliers. They can also be searched for on large wholesale markets or online platforms, but there are some nuances in working with them.
One of the largest and most famous online platforms is the site 1688.com . Many professionals underestimate it, believing that there are many resellers and few wholesalers. But, from experience, suppliers working on “1688” often give prices for goods even lower than at popular exhibitions.
As for exhibitions, they are held in Russia, most often in Moscow, and in China itself. The largest is the Canton Fair, it is held twice a year. Beginning sellers should hardly go there right away: the travel costs are quite high. It is more profitable to first look at the goods on “1688”, talk to intermediaries and suppliers, get a price list, buy and start working.
Visiting the Canton Fair is more useful for experienced sellers who have been working with a Chinese supplier or manufacturer for a long time and want to get exclusive conditions from them. Other advantages of visiting such an exhibition include developing your visual acumen, getting inspired and expanding your business contacts.
In addition to Canton, it is important for an experienced seller to visit specialized exhibitions in China. In China, cities and regions are clearly divided by production areas. If a seller knows that he wants to do decor, it is more useful for him to go to such a thematic exhibition in a small Chinese city.