Hopefully, you have your essential tools together now but one other important list needs your attention. Chinese Trade Fairs are such busy places that they can easily distract you from your original target of finding suitable products at competitive prices that you can sell with as much profit as possible.
Supplier Discussions
To avoid being distracted, you have to prepare your shopping list of the products you want to source. This list should at least include the following details:
- Product description
- Target FOB price in USD
- Quantity of the first shipment
- If possible an estimate of your yearly quantities
- Requested earliest delivery date
- Destination port
- Packaging information if other than standard
- Number of samples needed
It is not wise to inform all suppliers about your target prices right away. You could end up with prices matching your target prices but you may have actually been able to negotiate a lower price.
On the other hand, inform your supplier of your target price if they quote a price that is not even close to what you want to pay.
You should however always bear in mind that even with the abundance of cheap labor there are still limitations to your factory’s production and pricing capabilities. You will find that out sooner or later when the 10th supplier informs you that a specifically requested target price is unrealistic.