Desperately thinking about hiring a sourcing agent but still unsure if it’s the right move? In today’s digital age when delivering a product to your doorstep is just one click away! Why is it really needed to hire sourcing buddies when you can find suppliers independently ?
Just consider wallmart’s as a large retailer they still use purchasing agents despite having a gigantic purchasing department in china.
This is because hiring a buying agent is not a waste of money- it’s a gold mine for your business. Here is how you can leverage the expertise of sourcing agents for getting a competitive edge in the market.
Leverage the Power of a Vast Network
Good sourcing companies are well connected with China’s supply chain. An ideal product sourcing company has a strong network with numerous industries.
In addition to establishing connections with trustworthy factories, purchasing agents are actively involved with freight forwarders, customer departments, third party inspections and to keep themselves up to date- all for your business growth.
Let the Experts Handle the Details
Hiring sourcing agents means saving time for your business maintenance. The sourcing agents handle hassles of dealing with manufacturers, controlling product quality and ensuring on-time delivery.
Meanwhile you handle other aspects of your business. You make sure that everything runs smoothly and your customers are getting the best service possible
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You also don’t freak out about spending more money than required. Your agent will find a budget friendly manufacturer with a high quality product, what else does a business man want?
A quality controlling agent minimizes the red tape and aligns your global supply chain system.
Your work is easy because of the hard work of the sourcing agent.
Get Your Design Files Production-Ready
The importance of product requirement documents is often ignored by many novice business owners.
Novice business owners often express their needs in piecemeal ways. FoGet Your Design Files Production-Ready example, they may submit the requirement through different mediums such as online form, through email or via whatsapp also through phone. This creates a lot of hassle for manufacturers and leaves room for errors.
Many Novice business owners are unaware about the potentialities of product requirement documents in procurement business.
On-Site Inspections, Done for You
Purchasing agents visit the manufacturing site on your behalf to examine the quality and production progress.
If you opt for chinese sourcing agents the manufacturer you choose takes the deal seriously and more closely intact with the agreement..
As compared to the sourcing agents in the USA, agents in China act as middle men, taking orders from overseas clients and outsourcing the production to cottage industries for greater profit margin. Third-party manufacturers often have orthodox equipment which leads to threat towards product quality..
A sourcing agent in China makes sure that the manufacturer selected is the actual manufacturer and not outsourcing the production to a third-party supplier. Product sourcing companies visit manufacturers quite often and report problems to buyers timely.
Receive Samples from Multiple Factories
Since purchasing agents have a vast network of manufactures, he is able to collect a number of samples to combine them into a single package and send it to you. If these samples are labeled correctly it is easy for you to choose the ebay factory for your product.
These samples are combined to save the freight cost. Without sourcing against bundling your samples, you bear the shipping cost too. Each sample order is shipped separately and shipping cost is added when you request samples from different factories.
Experienced buyers inspect samples personally before giving an order.
Order samples first. When you are satisfied, buy small quantities to check reproducibility, quality and consistency.
Achieve Optimal Pricing Through Negotiation
Buying agents have been working with the manufacturers for years, and the buying agents know how manufacturers set prices of their goods. With utilizing their professional expertise and years of experience buying angst maintain a balance of power between purchaser and manufacturer and create a strategic partnership.
The bargaining is the core idea and sourcing agents in the USA are best at negotiating the best prices to reduce cost and not exploiting manufacturing profits.
Buying agents work alongside manufacturers for years, and the buying agents know how manufacturers set prices for their products. By researching supplier perceptions, buying agents maintain the balance of power between buyers and manufacturers, and you will form strategic partnerships that are beneficial to both parties.
Avoiding Illegal Suppliers
With the development of E-commerce, honesty is the part and parcel of every business. As some manufacturers steak prices of other companies’ products and claim those as their own manufacturing products.
Also few manufactures often advertise falsely about being OEMs of a certain brand with fake certificates.
The legitimacy of the manufacturer is verified by sourcing agents. These agents reduce the risk of being cheated by illegal or fraud suppliers.
Smooth Communication Across Cultures
Global sourcing is all about cross border culture and linguistic differences. Few buyers are unfamiliar with supplier’s languages and this hinders smooth communication
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This is by no excuse intentional- differences inculture and languages must be catered with different techniques. Such as writing every requirement about the product. Thai will leave no room assumptions, and supplier will get the idea what actually you want from him
Chinese new years is considered the largest cultural gap , production lines are closely watched during this time and while your agent does that you deal with other business matters.
Buyers must place additional orders to ensure quality does not drop during the Chinese new year and you have ample stock in hand to run your business smoothly.
Safeguard Your Payments from Risk
Imagine your huge investment is at risk in a factory in China when you hear it has filed for bankruptcy protection. It’s almost impossible for you to get your money from a bankrupt Chinese company.
China shut down millions of businesses during the Covid-19.
Contracting and procurement agents can help to resolve the problem. Sourcing Agents have a close eye on the health of factories during regular visits.
Other sudan circumstances can lead to insufficient supply or seal production.
