The dilemma for entrepreneurs is often simple: they have an idea, but don’t know how to turn it into a branded physical product.This is one of the most challenging parts of starting a business, and one of the hardest things is to keep most people stuck in the creative stage.The same is true for foreign entrepreneurs. When they are looking for products to sell, their first choice may be to turn to Chinese manufacturing, because it is the most effective method and can bring them the highest profits.

The difficulty with making products in China is that they need to figure out who to work with and how to manage the process.So what are some of the issues and steps that foreign sellers consider when creating their own brands, finding the right Chinese manufacturer, or managing the manufacturing process for a Chinese manufacturer or supplier?

First, one of the most frequently asked questions by foreign sellers is: “are you a factory?”

Second, their next biggest concern is: “how much will it cost?”Then they calculate the specific manufacturing costs from multiple sources.

When foreign sellers start manufacturing in China, they wonder, whether they have found the perfect factory or not. In fact, once sellers get an offer from a Chinese factory,they may want to know more about the differences in prices.”Why does factory A offer $3 but factory B offer $6?”Foreign sellers believe that there are differences in the quotation of Chinese factories, which may be attributed to the following four reasons: 1. There is another cooperative factory behind the current supplier. 2. They think that foreign buyers are not clear about exactly how much they should pay. 3. Normally factory doesn’t produce this kind of products. 4. Maybe the product quality is much lower than standard level.

In order to get much known its cost, buyer will always collect 3-5 quotations from comparison. Arranging logistics and getting quotes can take up to a month, which is why many foreign sellers prefer using an agent like us to source items for them, who is dedicated to finding suitable factories for foreign companies.Verifying the legality of the factory is an entirely different step, and foreign sellers need to take some investigation measures to confirm it

  1. To check if a factory is legal. Do their factory name include some words such as trading, industry, or technology? How many products range do they produce? How does their license look like?
  2. Ask factory specific questions about production. When they communicate with the factory, they ask a completely different set of questions which is more specific.

Here are some of their favorite questions to ask the factory:

What companies have you worked with in the past? Where do most of these companies come from?While many good factories won’t say who they’ve worked with, sellers will have a good idea of the quality standards of the factory if they know where most of their customers are located. Because most factories that sell to the United States or Europe produce products of higher quality than those that sell to Asia or Africa.

May I see your business license, please?While foreigners may not be able to read Chinese, they may find someone who does, and check each province’s industrial and commercial administration to see if the company is actually registered there.

What is your minimum order quantity in general?Most factories want to produce more products because large orders bring them more profit. But factories are often willing to start with lower orders if they trust the brands of foreign sellers.Therefore, the number given by the factory at the beginning may not be unchangeable.

How long can you make your samples on average?Most people think it takes several weeks to make a sample. In fact, for simple clothing products like shirts or hats, samples can be made in less than a week. Sample production times can vary greatly depending on the type of product produced.

What’s your typical terms of payment?Most factories accept 30% payment before production starts and 70% before shipment. That is to say, foreign sellers have to pay 100% for your product before they actually receive it. In order to better control the quality of products before shipment, the seller may visit the factory or send a quality control team. For large orders, sensible foreign sellers often send a quality-control team to inspect them before paying the balance of 70%.After knowing what to ask Chinese factories, foreign sellers need to learn how to manage the production process.

Request the factory to provide samples and start production. Foreign sellers will require factories to provide at least one sample for each product to be produced, otherwise sellers may be reluctant to start production.

Explain product details to factory. Generally speaking, sellers know exactly what they want to produce, including the color, material and logo. When they start talking to the factory, they can see the abundance of product choices.For example, for a watch, a seller might want to customize the logo on the crown to the entire dial. If the seller knows the design details they want, it can also save the factory a lot of time and cost, including the seller, because the factory does not want to produce many samples because the seller forgets the design details.

Keep positive contact with factory, try not to be behind in production. Once the seller confirms the sample, it’s time for production. Even if the factory’s sample production does not take much time, formal production will take a lot of time. In order not to fall behind in the production process, foreign sellers need to realize the following two points:

  1. The cooperative factory has its own supply chain. Each part of a seller’s product may come from a different factory. For shoes, for example, the LACES and soles may come from different factories; For bracelets, raw materials and gems may come from different factories. Most e-commerce sellers deal with assembly plants, and unless the seller’s brand is in the eight figures, it may not be worth the time to deal with individual factories that focus on specific parts of a product.
  2. I am not the only customer of the factory and may not be the most important customer. To stay ahead in production, that means sellers need to stay in touch with their factories and start building relationships with them. The seller needs to deal with the sales representative of the factory and start to pay attention to some things besides production, such as the personal life of the sales representative.Next, the seller usually asks the factory to send a photo to update the production progress.

The seller wants to know when the factory will produce each part.Sellers generally maintain positive contact with factories. Most sellers may manage production by mail, but some use specialized tools that map the entire production process.