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About Hank S
Expertise
Ask me about sourcing products in China, finding manufacturers in China, importing from China, developing new products in China, moving manufacturing to China, price negotiations with suppliers in China, and logistics-related issues.

Experience
I lived in China from 1993 to 2003 where I learned Chinese and worked in the fields of logistics, marketing and manufacturing services. I have visited hundreds of factories in China. I am authorized by the NYS Unified Court System as an interpreter of Mandarin Chinese. I have an MBA in international business and entrepreneurship. I work in a U.S. company as product development and sourcing manager.

Education/Credentials
MBA, International Business & Entrepreneurship, City University of NY BA, East Asian Studies & Chinese, City University of NY Studied international trade taught in Chinese at the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing Chinese language study at Beijing University & Nanjing University

You are here: Experts > Business > Small Business: UK > Exporting & Importing Goods > Shoe Suppliers in China

Exporting & Importing Goods - Shoe Suppliers in China

Expert: Hank S - 10/29/2009

Question
I've heard a lot of bad press about suppliers in China; the quality of the eventual products received is sometimes of inferior quality and nothing like what was promised. How can we ensure that the quality of the product we see is what we will get and not something way off?
Also, how can we negotiate to get the best price despite not being their big time customer?

Answer
1. The only way to ensure this is to have someone trustworthy and knowledgeable physically inspect the goods before you complete payment. This person could be you. It would require you to spend a couple of thousand bucks for plane fair and hotels. You can also hire a China sourcing and inspection company, for a fraction of the cost of going to China yourself. They're easy to find on Google. If I were you I would plan on two visits: one before you place the order and one before the order ships. On the first visit you can confirm that this is even a company that you really want to do business with.
There are too many things that can go wrong to entrust everything to some supplier in China, especially if you don't know them and have never met them. What a risk!

2. Negotiation is all about leverage, so you need to ask yourself what you bring to the table. If your orders aren't big and the supplier doesn't stand to make much of a profit, then the only things that would motivate them are:
(a) the opportunity for some degree of "knowledge transfer" from you to them. We're talking shoes here, not telecommunications, so this is probably not applicable to your situation. If you have your own designs it is possible that the vendor might like your designs and decide to sell them to their other customers, and for that reason agree to work with you and quote you a low price in the first place.
(b) prestige if you were a well-known and sought-after label. Probably doesn't apply here.
(c) the belief that your small orders will become big orders.

Generally speaking, if you're a start-up or a designer with concepts and designs but no existing customer base or sales and distribution, the good Chinese suppliers will be reluctant to work with you. In these situations, face-to-face meetings are crucial because literally your best hope is that the boss likes you and decides to help you.

You might think that sounds strange -- "decides to help me?" After all, you're the customer and they're the vendor, right? Yes and no. If you aren't coming to them with big orders or they're unconvinced that small orders will become big orders, they tend to think they're doing you a favor and this attitude gets priced in.

If you don't have leverage, then the "best price" might be a price that lets you sell your shoes without losing money.

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