Order Samples from Alibaba - Complete Guide to Sourcing in China (Part 2)
Summary
TLDRThis video guide offers a comprehensive walkthrough for sourcing products in China, focusing on the sample ordering process. It advises on avoiding common pitfalls, saving costs, and the step-by-step approach to obtaining samples. The presenter shares their expertise, aiming to provide more in-depth knowledge than paid courses, all for free. The guide is applicable for various platforms like Amazon and Shopify, and it includes a detailed explanation of the sourcing funnel, from initial supplier contact to ordering samples, and emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions before committing to a supplier. A template for contacting suppliers is provided to streamline the process.
Takeaways
- 📈 The video is a guide for sourcing products in China, focusing on the process of ordering samples, avoiding common mistakes, and saving money.
- 🔍 It emphasizes the importance of understanding the entire sourcing process before ordering samples to ensure they align with business needs.
- 📋 The presenter provides a template for contacting suppliers, which is designed to streamline communication and avoid confusion.
- 💡 The guide suggests starting with 40 suppliers, obtaining simple quotations, and then filtering down to 10 suppliers based on these quotations.
- 📉 After filtering, the guide advises getting detailed quotes from the top 10 suppliers to further narrow down to 5 potential suppliers for sample orders.
- 🔑 It highlights the significance of asking specific questions to these 5 suppliers to confirm their ability to meet customization and packaging needs before ordering samples.
- 💼 The presenter recommends ordering simple samples from the 5 suppliers to assess quality and compare with detailed quotations.
- 💰 To save on sample costs, the guide suggests consolidating samples by having them sent to a single person in China, reducing international shipping fees.
- 📦 Upon receiving samples, the guide stresses the importance of labeling them correctly to match them with the corresponding suppliers.
- 🔗 The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to download a contact template and subscribe for upcoming videos on the series, focusing on product customization.
Q & A
What is the main goal of the guide mentioned in the video?
-The main goal of the guide is to provide comprehensive and in-depth knowledge on sourcing products in China, including how to order samples, avoid common mistakes, and save money, all for free, potentially saving viewers hundreds of dollars they might spend on paid courses.
Why is it important to order samples when sourcing products in China?
-Ordering samples is crucial to ensure the quality of the products and to confirm if they meet your requirements before placing a large order. It helps in avoiding costly mistakes and ensures that the final product aligns with your expectations.
What are the different types of samples mentioned in the script, and when should they be ordered?
-There are three types of samples mentioned: simple samples, detailed samples, and customized samples. Simple samples are ordered to choose a supplier, detailed samples are for further evaluation, and customized samples are ordered after selecting a supplier to confirm the final product with your branding and specifications.
How does the speaker suggest saving money on sample orders?
-The speaker suggests saving money by having all samples sent to one person in China who can consolidate them into one package, thus reducing the shipping costs instead of having each sample shipped individually.
What is the recommended approach to contact suppliers for quotations?
-The recommended approach is to use a contact template provided by the speaker, which helps in getting quotations from suppliers in a standardized and efficient manner.
Why is it advised to contact multiple suppliers initially?
-Contacting multiple suppliers initially helps in creating a 'sourcing funnel' where you can compare quotes, response times, and other factors to filter down to a manageable number of potential suppliers.
What information should be included in a detailed quotation request?
-A detailed quotation request should include information such as the number of units per box, dimensions and weight of the packaging, costs associated with changes in packaging or logo, certifications required for the product, and payment options.
How does the speaker suggest handling the process of receiving and evaluating samples?
-The speaker suggests receiving all samples at once, labeling them clearly with the corresponding supplier information, and then evaluating the quality and other aspects of the product to make an informed decision on which supplier to choose.
What is the next step after receiving and evaluating the simple samples?
-The next step after evaluating the simple samples is to choose one supplier based on the quality and other factors, and then proceed to order customized samples from that supplier to finalize the product details.
Where can viewers find the contact template mentioned in the video?
-Viewers can find the contact template at the provided link: easy-peasy-sourcing.com/contact-template. No email address or group join is required to access the template.
Outlines
🔍 Introduction to Sourcing Products in China
The speaker welcomes the audience to a comprehensive guide on sourcing products in China, focusing on the process of ordering samples, common mistakes to avoid, and cost-saving strategies. The session aims to provide valuable insights and knowledge that surpasses what is typically offered in paid media. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the entire process, from when to order samples to what types of samples are necessary. They also highlight the relevance of the guide for various e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Shopify and assure viewers that all the shared content and templates are freely available without any hidden costs or obligations.
📋 The Sourcing Funnel: From 40 to 5 Suppliers
This section delves into the practical steps of the sourcing funnel, starting with contacting around 40 suppliers on platforms like Alibaba. The goal is to filter these down to a manageable number based on initial quotations. The speaker stresses the importance of gathering basic information such as supplier location, FOB prices, and lead times. The process continues with narrowing down to 10 suppliers for detailed quotations, which include more specific inquiries about packaging, logo placement, and other customization options. The aim is to further reduce this list to 5 potential suppliers from whom simple samples are requested. The speaker warns against the common mistake of ordering customized samples from multiple suppliers too early in the process, which can lead to wasted time and resources.
📝 Detailed Quotations and Asking the Right Questions
The speaker outlines the importance of asking detailed questions to the shortlisted suppliers to ensure they can meet specific requirements such as custom packaging and logo placement. Topics like the cost of changes in packaging, logo customization, and minimum order quantities are discussed. The speaker also touches on the importance of understanding shipping costs and certifications needed for different products. Payment options are another key point, with a recommendation to use secure methods like PayPal or Alibaba's own payment system. The section emphasizes the need to clarify all these details before proceeding to order samples to avoid future complications.
📦 Ordering Samples and Saving on Shipping Costs
The speaker advises on how to order samples from the final 5 suppliers, suggesting sending all samples to a single point of contact in China to consolidate shipping and reduce costs. They provide tips on what to request from suppliers, such as standard packaging and multiple product variations, and stress the importance of labeling samples correctly upon receipt to match them with the corresponding suppliers. The speaker also provides a link to a comprehensive contact template that viewers can use to streamline their communication with suppliers, ensuring all necessary details are covered.
✅ Finalizing the Supplier and Preparing for Customization
In this concluding part, the speaker summarizes the process of selecting a supplier based on the received samples and detailed quotations. They emphasize the importance of not rushing the customization process and suggest that viewers watch the first part of the series for a complete understanding. The speaker also teases the next video in the series, which will focus on the customization process, and invites viewers to subscribe and provide feedback for future content. The section ends with a reminder to use the provided resources effectively and to look forward to the next installment of the guide.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Sourcing
💡Samples
💡Customized Samples
💡Quotations
💡Supplier Evaluation
💡FOB (Free On Board) Prices
💡Lead Time
💡Private Label Products
💡Certifications
💡Payment Options
💡Customization Process
Highlights
Introduction to the guide on sourcing products in China and ordering samples.
How to avoid common mistakes and save money when ordering samples.
The importance of understanding the entire process before ordering samples.
When to order samples and what types of samples are necessary for different business models.
The goal of the guide is to provide better and more in-depth content than paid media.
How the process works for sourcing private label products for Amazon and Shopify stores.
The presenter offers a contact template for contacting suppliers to avoid common issues.
The presenter clarifies the sourcing process and the types of samples needed.
How to filter suppliers from a large list to a manageable number for detailed quotations.
The importance of asking detailed questions to suppliers before ordering samples.
The presenter explains the cost-saving strategy of consolidating sample orders to a single address in China.
How to communicate with suppliers to request samples and standard packaging.
The presenter advises on how to avoid confusion when receiving multiple samples from different suppliers.
The presenter provides a link to download a comprehensive contact template for sourcing.
The next video in the series will focus on the customization process after selecting a supplier.
The presenter emphasizes the simplicity of the sourcing process if the right steps are followed.
Transcripts
welcome back to the full guide to
sourcing your products in China today
we're going to speak about how to order
your samples what mistakes to avoid and
how to save money on it and what's the
whole process when you should order
samples what you should order samples
often the whole the whole thing we're
gonna share my screen with you later
we're gonna go through the whole process
step by step the goal of this guide here
is to give you better content and and
you know more knowledge actually that
you can learn here then in other paid
media so I know that there are people
out there that teach things less
in-depth that we go into in this guide
here that charge money for it so I want
to save you a few hundred dollars here I
want to save you the hassle of going out
and finding you know going looking
through what's the best course what's
the best training I want to give you the
whole thing here for free in the last
video we went through the whole process
of you know getting quotations filtering
suppliers on Alibaba I gave you a
contact template that you can use to
contact suppliers right so that you can
avoid kind of the the back end force
with suppliers and all of the hassle
that usually comes with it and also
today I have a template for you now this
whole process works if you're sourcing
private label products for Amazon it
works if you're sourcing products for
for your Shopify store if you order you
know customized products with your
samples private label product that this
process works for all of it and we cover
it all so make sure you get your pan
ready and paper ready so you can take
some notes because we're gonna dive in
in just a minute and I just wanted to
kind of clarify for everyone that's new
to this channel for everyone that's just
found this video if you haven't watched
the first video I highly recommend to go
back to that because in that video we'll
cover kind of kind of basics and
baselines and we'll just pick it up from
where we left off there for everyone
that's new to this channel make sure to
subscribe and hit the bell so that you
get notified when the next video of this
Sirius launches you need to do that so
in order that the YouTube algorithm
knows that you're actually interested in
this and that you don't miss the next
video because I'm not sure when we're
going to put part 3 out so this full
guys consists of
you party I'm not actually very sure how
many we do when we do four or five or
six kind of depends how far we come a
shrew I don't want to blow up the
content here I just want to go as quick
as possible through all of the things
that you need to succeed and sourcing
sourcing can be really really daunting
and and you can have a lot of headaches
in the process but actually if you
follow the right steps sourcing in China
can be easy-peasy
okay so make sure to subscribe to this
channel I let's dive in
[Music]
you might be wondering what's the catch
of this video what's the catch why would
I give away all of this content for free
and I would just want to be honest with
you I hope that you like this contour
that that we can start building a
relationship and the future you stumble
upon my pay trainings or you know our
our sourcing service or any of that and
you hire my team in the future but
that's for now let's just just wishes at
hopes and everything that we go through
is completely free and the templates
that I have for you also in the end of
this video I have a template for you
that you can get without we don't need
your email address you don't need to pay
for anything we don't need to join a
Facebook group or any of that stuff okay
so you just go get the template in the
end of this video it will help you to to
go through the process of getting your
samples getting your quotations
communicating with the supplier so
before we go into the sample kind of
process I want to clarify the whole
sourcing process and that kind of map
that out on the screen here for you it's
so important that you understand what's
what's the sequence and what samples to
order because there are three kinds of
samples that you need if you have a
private-label product you need three
kind of samples if you're selling it on
Shopify if you're selling it but without
customizations without your logo without
custom packaging you only need two okay
so let me just go in the computer and
draw this up for you okay
now here we are in the computer we see
the screen we see that there are a
couple of quotations in here simple
quotes from suppliers that we filled in
and this is basically where we left off
last time okay we're gonna cycle back to
that in a minute I just want to draw up
the whole sourcing process for you just
kind of stuff I said how that works
because it is so vital that you
understand what samples to order when to
order samples and what samples to order
because a lot of people get that wrong
and all customized samples with their
logos for a ton just from tons of
suppliers and it doesn't go right none
of the samples that you get in the
customization process will be will will
be perfect from the get-go people are
wasting hours and weeks actually of time
here and I want you to avoid that so
let's look at the whole process just
just from a high high overview very
first
what you have you go for example you go
on Anna power right you go Anna Baba you
have a ton of suppliers here okay you
wanna you wanna look through all of
those suppliers here and and kind of
filter out who who's listing looks good
who has a good product who you know
looks good from the pictures and
whatever's on the page and again go back
to the first part of this video because
we're covering all of that in that vid I
go to the channel and and you will find
it in the channel okay so what we're
looking at we want to look through
around 40 we will have around 40
suppliers that we look that we look at
display this stage okay so we have 40
suppliers that we want to look at that
we want to reach out to with the
template that I gave you and just get
simple quotations so the quotations is
just just basically what you see on here
it's we want to have their name you want
to know their link to the to their above
a listing you want to have the location
of them and the FO B prices so fo B is
just it includes everything that comes
with the product and we're gonna go in
details of that later and you want to
know the lead time these are the basic
basic things that you need to know here
no more okay for now yeah so after we
contacted these 40 suppliers this is our
sourcing fun wall right here usually
within this channel we talk about sales
funnels and an e-commerce funnels and
all of that kind of things today let's
talk about a sourcing funnel so you
reach out to 40 suppliers and you get a
simple quotations once you have those
simple quotations you put them all in a
file like that so you can compare them
side-by-side you can see well this guy
here is really expensive
this guy here takes takes long long time
to actually to actually deliver the
items so kind of you filter out and you
say hey which of these suppliers after
contacting them did I even get an answer
you know you won't get an answer from
all 40 of them but and it seems like a
lot of work you know like 40 suppliers
are Mannie looks like I gotta contact
them all trust me on this you will save
huge time the more suppliers who you
contact now the more time you will save
later on so what we want to do now is we
want to filter down to around ten
suppliers here I kind of say okay this
suppliers out this suppliers out and you
just wanna you just want to have an you
just want to see and and filter through
how many suppliers you need okay
so after you go on Alibaba you make like
uuuu filter down to where you have the
simple quote okay simple simple
quotations drawn skills aren't the best
here but it doesn't matter so we have
around 10 suppliers so you see it's
getting less and less suppliers for each
step so in this step you have 10
suppliers and from these 10 suppliers
you want to get you want to get detailed
codes okay so once you have the detailed
quotes and we're going to go in there in
a minute that's where you have all of
the questions answer that you need those
those questions could conclude how many
units are in one box what's the exact
packaging what are the dimensions what's
the weight what other costs if I change
the packaging how to put my logo on it
what kind of options do you have here
can we pay via PayPal all of those
things and we're going to go through
them in in a minute okay this is you
wanna do you want to compress that you
don't want to go and and do all of this
for all of those suppliers here I see
this mistake a lot that people reach out
to all of these suppliers and part then
was all of those questions that's not
how we do it okay we want to go and ask
those detail questions to a selection of
like 10 suppliers okay then we filter
again and we'll say okay now we got all
of those questions back some suppliers
fall out again and now what we want to
do is we want to order a sample okay
we need to decide we to find your supply
need to find you have to have two things
you have to have the quotations they're
full detail potations and you need to
have a sample to see the quality so from
these 10 suppliers we want to filter
them down to 5 suppliers 1 2 3 4 5 thats
5 suppliers we want to go to 5 suppliers
to order simple samples
okay that is what we want to do we want
to have simple samples from those five
suppliers after you have those five
samples that's when you want to look at
all of those samples and look you want
to look back at the quotes so that you
can compare and that's the moment when
you choose your supplier and with that
one supplier with that you move forward
to get customized samples customized
samples meaning you get your logo on the
product you get custom packaging and all
of that stuff one of the biggest
mistakes that I see is people going in
and ordering samples from all of those
suppliers here and yet tons and tons and
tons off of you know trying to get all
of those samples in with with logo with
changes with all of that and it doesn't
work okay the process to do that was one
supplier might take you a few weeks
because you have to go back and forth
with it to play because they will not
get it right the first time usually okay
so what you want to do you want to have
the customized sample that is what you
want to have from one single supplier
okay one single supplier sing the German
guy trying to spell English and their
supplier here we go so one single
supplier and that's what you want to do
the customized sample whisk that is the
sourcing process and then was that one
supplier you go you go forward okay so
now that that's clear let's look back at
at the detailed step of this okay so we
we contacted 40 suppliers
and we got our symbol quotations okay
that's these we forgot all of those
simple quotations we're gonna filter
through all of those simple quotations
and go to the next step and say okay
now that we have those those simple ones
let's filter to 10 suppliers then you
want to contact those 10 suppliers and
ask them specific questions to filter
that down okay so let's just look in
here by the way this whole template here
you can get the whole contact template
and I will share that link with you in
the end of this video
you can't find in the description I will
share the holding for you with you for
this template so that you have all of
those questions it's very important now
at the moment before you even ordered
samples that you are clear that this
could be a potential supplier for you
right so you want to ask them questions
that are related if you put them on
Amazon you want to know how many units
are in one box what are the dimensions
and the of the of the box how many units
or Mon box and what's the dimensions of
the packaging of each unit and what's
the weight and and and and the
dimensions for each box so all the data
for the unit and then all the data for
the box you have multiple units and one
box it's important to know that for your
shipping price later on and it's
important to know that for for Amazon
because if your package for example is
bigger you know then then you were 23
kilogram Amazon doesn't doesn't accept
it right so you have to make sure that
you follow the regulations here and that
you can go back to the plant to the
suppliers and at certain points right
you want to know if the supplier offers
custom packaging hey do you offer custom
packaging can we can we change the
packaging can we use another packaging
can we you know can we do all of those
things you want to have those questions
clarified before you order a sample
again the sample that you order here is
a simple sample this sample has nothing
to do with your changes with your custom
packaging but you need to make sure that
your supplier is able to do that later
okay
so like I say simple sample first to
choose a supplier then the customized
sample only was one but you need to know
all of those details to make sure well
that's to make sure that you should even
get a sample from that supplier I hope
that that's clear now what's the cost to
charge to change the packaging and also
for the logo what's the cost to to kind
of customize this with you and is it
possible at the current quantities like
you quoted me a hundred units then I
want to order here is that still
possible when when we when we do
customizations or or dustry or minimum
order quantity or mlq
does that go up all right you want to
know all of those things you say we
would like to use our own for water even
if you don't just just say it here
because you you want to have the
quotations that you got as f OB price
you want to have them without the
shipping as well so that you can kind of
see what's the actual product price and
what do they put on top for shipping and
then could you please send me all the
certifications that you have for a
product some some price and heaven have
an FDA approval you have you have
electronics that need different things
you have food related items there
different certifications that you need
and it also depends on your country
where you're selling them and kind of
what you actually need also you want to
know a little bit about payment options
hey can we pay with PayPal it's a small
test order can we do that here it's it's
not necessary I always recommend like
use paper or use Alibaba so that you
have a a insurance on that okay there
are the questions that you want to
clarify at the spot before you go
through ordering the samples okay that's
this is this spot here where you filter
it down where you go through your list
and when you say here we have all of
those suppliers let's break this down
and that's filled us through who is the
one that we want to go with who is the
one that could be that could be a
Tristan right so you end up with five
suppliers five the pliers that's the
ones you should order the sample from
and I know that some of you say now well
let's look five samples and I have to
pay five five sample fees have to pay
five times the shipping cost trust me on
this you want to have multiple samples
because you want to compress the time
here you want to get going as fast as
possible because your competitor might
go and say oh I only order one sandal
from this one supplier I think that
looks good
probably in this selection up here so if
you if that person does it they get the
sample they look at the sample oh that
doesn't look that the quality isn't good
and then they have to go back find a new
supplier get another sample it's so hard
to go through all of this process if you
don't have a bunch of samples on hand
right so don't be cheap about it you
have to order the samples now how can
you actually save a little bit of money
on that I always recommend you to have
someone in China
that can help you sourcing whether
that's a sourcing agent we can help you
with the whole process anyway which is
usually my recommendation I just want to
go with you through the process once you
understand how it works so that later on
you can control your agent or optionally
you can always do it yourself right so
when you have when you order those five
samples you can send them to one person
in China you can hire someone on Fiverr
or an app word that can come solo date
your samples you want to do that because
the sample costs the main costs on the
sample is not the sample itself and
people said well why why would they
charge me for example anyway like I
might be business for them look there's
so many people inquiring products and
there's only a part of those people
actually placing the order so they would
just out samples for free all the
time
right so don't worry about the sandal
cost the biggest sample cost here is the
shipping off the sample to your country
not the sample as well and if you get a
simple sample they won't charge you $100
to to customize the chance at sample to
put your logo on to to go through all of
that trouble okay so send that to one
person of China they put it in one box
and you only have to pay shipping once
okay so you asked all of the suppliers
to send it to one person they
consolidated they sent you one box
instead of ordering five separate
samples from five separate suppliers
right so that compresses your overall
style across here I hope that's helpful
and by the way leave me a comment below
what other questions you have maybe we
left some things out when we left
something's open let me know what are
your questions and in the end of this
video I'll give you the link where you
can download all of those questions at
the contact file ok so now it's time to
send a message go in and go to these
five suppliers send them a message hate
say say hi supplier I would love to see
a sample of your product could you send
me a sample maybe they have variations
of products where you want to see
different samples this is a great moment
to do that say hey we just want to have
a simple sample whatever you have laying
around for example this one here he has
so many different different samples
could you send me all of those just just
so that I can kind of compare and see
what slots
France so you just have them put put a
bunch of samples in one box send that to
you ask them to include the standard
packaging say hey please include the
standard packaging I would like to have
a look at that so that you can get an
impression how does that actually look
like so that's what you want to have you
want to have the product and you want to
have the standard packaging that they
have include a screenshot off the
product again when you send them the
message you want to have this picture
here in the actual message so that they
don't miss mess this app and don't don't
mix this up okay give them the address
where to send it to if you'll send it to
yourself cool just give them your words
if not ask your your sourcing person you
or your the person that you found on
Fiverr ask them for the address send it
to the supplier so they can they can put
the samples all with that one person so
that you can save the cost here also the
whole person might already look at look
into into you know these into the
packages and see which ones are can can
be strung out already right one of the
biggest mistakes also when you receive
the samples is I've done this so many
times you get excited right you see the
samples now there's gonna be my product
so cool for me it's always like
Christmas right you get all of those
deliveries and you look at it and you
unpack it all and you check the quality
I said oh this one is cool and that was
cool and then you totally forget which
box did they come from right and this is
the huge problem here because you want
to know what suppliers they come from
you have this file here with the
supplier names right so you want to make
sure that you label all of those
products when you get them out of the
box and you know okay this belongs to to
supplier number one this belongs to
supplier number two this is the supplier
industry you need to have that because
if you mean if you messed that up and if
you mix it up you have a huge problem
here so I give you the link right now
where you can get on this where you can
get this file here alright so this whole
file you can get that at the link and
that is easy-peasy sourcing calm slash
contact template contact
late this is the link for you where you
can find that again we don't need an
email address you don't need to join any
group you just go there you land on this
page and you have to you have the file
that you can have if you have questions
let me know and make sure that you
scribe to this channel because the next
video is going to come very soon in the
next video is gonna speak about
customization so after now you've chose
this one supplier after five samples you
have the quotations you'll make your
choice now you say ok this is a supplier
I want to go with right then with that
supplier we go into customizing the
process the the product we're gonna go
into the process on how to do that in
the next video ok it's actually a fairly
simple process but you have to follow
the right steps and like I say if you
try to customize your products with with
all of those suppliers here you're gonna
get in big big trouble
ok it's gonna take forever and it's
gonna take all of your time get the five
simple samples at this stage and then
most of the work is already done ok so
when you're here you can congratulate
yourself let me know what you think
about this video let me know what you
want to hear about especially when it
comes to customizing your product and
like I said if you haven't watched the
first part of this video go ahead and do
that latest now and I catch you in the
next video
[Music]
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