Ask the Experts Q&A
Why Deb in Canada is pissed off at the supplier directories
Why Canadian buyer is so mad at Alibaba and made-in-China.com Debora in Canada writes: Please help to refer me and my associate to legitimate suppliers for USB flash drives. We have used other suppliers before but they closed down and the last each of our company used (2 different suppliers) both scammed us. And we…
Read MoreWhat to do when supplier breaks the contract and blackmails your deposit
Chinese supplier ignored the contract and holding my order hostage. Tom writes: Hi Mike, We met at your Global Sources conference in Hong Kong. One of the criteria for safe trading, as you mentioned, was to have the red stamp/chop, to make it legally binding. This is something I have. My problem is that the…
Read MoreChinese Supplier got my Deposit, now Ignores me. What to do?
Supplier didn’t ship the order and kept our deposit. What to do? Rajvansh in Dubai asks: We have placed an order to a Chinese supplier for Paper Bags. The supplier is located near Qingdao. We have made the advance payment to them as per the agreed terms. We even paid the balance for the first…
Read MoreWhy would you pay a factory an agency fee to import?
Is it legit for the factory to request buyer pays agency fee? Mohamed in Egypt writes: I’m import artificial grass from a China company and they offer me agency for product in Egypt and declare all products will be covered. They ask for 10,000$ for agency insurance/fee. Should I pay it? I don’t know…
Read MoreScams in China – This Online Supplier is Just Too Friendly…
Is the online supplier being “too friendly”? Importer from Ireland writes: This may seem like a trivial/silly question but I’m trying to source a supplier in China via Alibaba and I’m often surprised by the number of vendors addressing me as ‘friend’. I’m not sure if this is common practice in China and harmless or…
Read MoreWhat’s a Chop and why is it important for contracts when sourcing in China?
Cindy in Australia writes: I have seen some of your seminars which mention I should get the “Chop” on my POs (Purchase Orders). Now that I have my bilingual PO in place (thanks to your advice). How do I get the “Chop” on my PO? How does this work? At what stage do I get…
Read MoreCase study: Dealing with MOQ barriers when sourcing consumer electronics from China
A buyer of electronics writes in to ask: I am in the consumer electronics industry, I currently sell TV’s, Sound Systems, Tablets, DVD/Blu-Ray players etc. I am very interested in importing TV’s from China. My business is small and growing so I am looking for a sourcing agent who can assist me in importing TV’s.…
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