How To Find A Diamond Supplier Amongst The Rough!

Sometimes it can seem easy to find manufacturers online when websites like alibaba.com and madeinchina.com supply you with an endless list of suppliers for the product. However, the important thing to realize when contacting suppliers straight from these sites is that generally a few emails to the supplier isn’t good enough to work out the good suppliers from the bad ones, middlemen or even more important the scammers that take your money and run.

When you are dealing direct with Chinese manufacturers some important questions need to be asked before you start dealing with them or place an order to ensure you are talking to the right kinds of suppliers.

1. What kind of reputation do they have? – Ask your supplier what other customers if any have they exported their goods to in Australia and can you get their contact details..

2. What experience do they have in exporting that product – Ask where they have exported to in the past? Are they capable of exporting goods into larger countries like America, Europe (if you expand to those countries)

3. Samples – Can they provide samples of the high quality products that you are looking at ordering? Is there a fee or if you pay will it come off your first order?

4. Production – Are they too small or huge, MOQ (minimum order quantity) Will they be able to deliver larger orders as your business grows? If you were to increase your order from 100 -300 per month, could they cope..

5. Can they follow instructions – This is an important one, as this can mean the difference in a different colour product or complete different packaging of a product. Ensure your potential suppler can clearly understand and follow your direction and requests. A good way to test a supplier is to ask as many detailed questions as possible.

6. Will they make your products to your specific standards? – Ensure that the manufacturer is committed to building a mutually respectful partnership that includes ensuring your quality benchmarks are delivered with every order you place, not just the first.

In the end though, the more questions and effort you put into getting to know your supplier, the more likely you are to get what you want. Finding and keeping a good supplier is all about building the relationship from the start and getting to know them, relationships and how you speak to Asian suppliers is more important to them than how much you are asking for a product.

If you can master this then you will be able to find the diamonds among the rough in these types of websites without too much trouble!

Til next time, start digging for those suppliers!

Matt & Amanda Clarkson