I’m often asked by the occasional eBay seller and more often by journalists where eBay sellers go to get their stock. There are no real secrets, almost all eBay (and other sellers) get their stock from manufacturers direct, their appointed distributors, or from wholesalers.
However there is one alternative and that is to have your goods manufactured yourself. Traditionally that’s been out financial reach for smaller sellers. The cost of manufacture has to be paid up front, and then the complexity of shipping, importing and clearing customs is too high.
This month I decided to find out just how hard it is to have goods manufactured to your own specification using Alibaba. Alibaba founded in 1999 in China connects businesses with suppliers enabling them to negotiate contracts.
Alibaba also have a transaction-based wholesale platform called AliExpress, geared for smaller buyers seeking fast shipment of small quantities of goods.
I contacted a seller on Alibaba on Thursday requesting a customised item and they replied overnight confirming they could fulfil my requirements. I ordered on Friday afternoon and the delivery time was impressive to say the least. By Monday my order was ready for shipment, it was collected by DHL in Hong Kong on Tuesday and was at Heathrow airport by Wednesday morning. It then cleared customs, was shipped to Reading and was out on a delivery truck who was knocking at my door by 13.05 on Wednesday afternoon.
Apart from being flabbergasted at the speed a parcel be delivered to me from the other side of the world in just 24 hours, I was massively impressed at my first experience of buying from a Hong Kong manufacturer. The product (clothing) is outside my normal eBay product lines (I normally trade in computer products), but it opens up possibilities for selling in totally unrelated categories for the future. At the speed goods can be supplied at you could almost drop ship or back order when a customer makes a purchase.
Sellers on Alibaba are generally looking for large quantity orders, but on AliExpress orders can be for order quantities as low as a single item. Payment is safe as funds are held in escrow and only released to the supplier when you confirm safe receipt of the goods and that you’re happy with them. You can pay by credit card or for ease they also accept PayPal.
If you’re considering ordering stock I would recommend you start by requesting a sample on AliExpress and if you’re happy with the quality of the sample start off with small quantities until you’re happy with the manufacturer. You can then progress to ordering larger quantities direct from the manufacturer with the knowledge that you have a trading history.
If you’ve had goods manufactured to your specification how did you locate your supplier and negotiate the contract? If you’ve never ordered goods direct from a manufacturer from my experience I would recommend starting by giving Alibaba a try.
6 Responses
We’ve been importing dor years now, but to be truthful chris, you are making this sound ‘oh so easy’.
Firstly, having stuff [betond samples] shipped by DHL [or similar] is very expensive, & a bulk order would have to be shipped by sea, using an agent.
Most makers have a fairly long lead time, which we’ve seen at upto 8-20 weeks.
A good shipping agent is worth their weight in Gold, if they are any good.
Most makers really want a minmum order, which can be about $6000, so buying from a maker that has a large product range is more profitable as you can mix the items you buy.
Not so strangley, the transport costs in the UK, from shipper’s warehouse to the buyer [us] is far more expensive than the cost of shipping from china itself.
I do agree, that finding good reliable makers is very important, so what you buy [samples obtained] is what you get.
One more thing, in general Indian makers are rather unresposive to enquiries, so don’t pull your hair out, waiting for replies…
Re;’I’m often asked by the occasional eBay seller and more often by journalists where eBay sellers go to get their stock’.
Apparently BID.TV (channel 23 Freeview).
I was flipping through the channels & came across this. The item was a ladies ‘designer’ handbag’. The preseenter, said, And for all you buyers that are going to re-sell on ebay’….
So now we know..!!
What a patsy article.