采购 · 9 guides
Sourcing & suppliers
Where most import margins are won or lost. These guides cover finding the right supplier on 1688, Alibaba and Taobao, reading a factory for what it really is, sampling before you commit, and negotiating a price that survives the first reorder.
Sourcing & suppliers· 8 min
How to vet a 1688 supplier before you send a single yuan
A field checklist for reading a 1688 supplier the way an experienced buyer does, so you commit money to a factory that can actually deliver.
Sourcing & suppliers· 7 min
Alibaba vs 1688 vs Taobao: which one to buy from
The three Alibaba-group marketplaces serve completely different buyers. Knowing which is which can cut your unit cost dramatically.
Sourcing & suppliers· 7 min
How to spot a supplier scam before you pay
The red flags that mark a fake or fraudulent supplier, how to verify a supplier before money moves, and the habits that protect you from the common cons.
Sourcing & suppliers· 8 min
The Canton Fair: a first-time buyer's guide
What the Canton Fair is, how its three phases work, and how to prepare for and work the floor so that a first buying trip is genuinely worth the airfare.
Sourcing & suppliers· 7 min
How to request and evaluate samples from China
How to order samples from China, who pays for them, and how to stress-test and document them carefully so the bulk run actually matches what you approved.
Sourcing & suppliers· 7 min
Trading company vs factory: which should you buy from
The real differences between a trading company and a factory, the trade-offs of each, how to tell them apart, and when each one is genuinely the right call.
Sourcing & suppliers· 8 min
How to read an Alibaba supplier profile
Gold Supplier, Verified, Trade Assurance, years active, response rate: what each badge on an Alibaba profile really means and which signals actually matter.
Sourcing & suppliers· 7 min
How to negotiate MOQ with Chinese factories
Why factories set a minimum order quantity, and the honest levers you can pull to lower it or work within it without burning the supplier relationship.
Sourcing & suppliers· 8 min
How to find and work with a China sourcing agent
What a sourcing agent really does, how they charge, how to vet one properly, and the kind of orders where a good agent pays for itself many times over.
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