1. What kinds of peculiarities in working with Chinese are there?
For instance, for Chinese people working time is very important. If we sometimes work days and nights, sometimes even without lunch, then Chinese people like to get up and go to bed early. Often working day starts at 7-8 am and finishes at 5 pm, and lunch is around 11 am. Therefore I advise my clients to get used to this time while being in China.
2. What kinds of manufacturers are there in China?
- tiny garages (assembly, package, sometimes just package)
- small manufacturers (there are workshops with different machines, such as injection machine, lathe machine and so on)
- factories (all above mentioned and also raw material and final product testing laboratories. At such factories sometimes there are fully automatic production lines, seldom there are also robots).
- Corporations (full production systems: this means one factory has injection machines, the second makes the mechanical treatment and so on)
3. Does the quality of product depend on the place of production (kind of manufacturer)?
Yes, mainly the quality depends on where it is produced, but small manufacturers also can do good products. The reason why some of goods have defects is that because sellers don’t test most of cheap items. The specification of goods: for example, the notebooks can be made well even in garage. In case you buy circular pump then you’d rather find a large manufacturer with testing laboratories.
4. Advantages and disadvantages of working with manufacturers and trading companies
Advantages of working with the supplier: quality control, fast communication, experienced managers who know their product.
Disadvantages: large MOQ, they normally don’t have any ready product stock, often managers do not speak English, sometimes they do not have export license.
Advantages of working with trading companies: flexible choice of goods, sometimes they have some ready product stock, English speaking manager, export license, sometimes they can give a payment delay.
Disadvantages: mainly managers do not know the product as well as the factory does, long time of replying messages, do not work day on weekends.
5. How can I know the level of supplier?
The easiest way is pay a visit to him (see the office and workshop). If the production area is clean, well coordinated, then the quality will be good too. Better if they have showroom, engineers and testing laboratory. Also pay attention on the way managers or head managers talk to you.
6. Why is it sometimes so difficult to get the manufacturer’s contact info?
The contact information is not a problem. Problem is to place the order without knowing export peculiarities, the Chinese language, and even Chinese bank account.
7. Can I get a big discount if my order is 500-1000 units?
In comparison with retail sells, of course 500 pcs is a good quantity, but we now are speaking about wholesale orders, so for the factory this is a very small quantity (especially for over 50$/pcs items) so I think it’s very hard to get a discount for such an order.
8. How often do the inspectors find serious defects? How to solve this situation afterwards?
Firstly, qualified inspectors can find defects at mainly all the inspections.
In inspections you can find more information about it.
9. How often should the inspections be held?
For each order one inspection. The is no the same quality goods, the quality can differ from time to time.
10. What is the difference between Alibaba and Chinese sources?
In Chinese sources we can see if the supplier is a factory or a trading company. More information about it is in the product search page.