You have a business idea but without too much start-up capital. So, how can you find reliable wholesale suppliers for resellers who can supply your products consistently?
The most convenient way to find one is through the Internet. To help you narrow down your choices, I have listed a few popular wholesale vendors for small business and provided some practical advice.
Local vs. China wholesale company: when to choose?
When it comes to wholesale products, many importers want to find suppliers from China. However, in some cases, this may not be your best option.
If your wholesale quantity is small, such as a few or a dozen, or if you need urgent delivery within two or three days, it is better to choose your local POD company because they do not have MOQ restrictions. What’s more, their delivery time is shorter, making it easier for them to handle after-sales issues.
If you need to import hundreds of products and have no strict requirements for the delivery time, you can choose wholesale suppliers from China. China is a leader in manufacturing in many fields, and Chinese suppliers can provide various products, from clothing to electronics, toys, and more. Additionally, China’s labor costs are relatively low, which can make products more competitive in price.
Alibaba vs Made-in-China vs Global Sources
Alibaba, Made-in-China, and Global Sources are three common wholesale websites in China. They differ in:
Products: Alibaba offers the most extensive range of product categories, followed by Made-in-China and Global Sources. Moreover, different platforms focus on specific product types. For industries such as beauty, packaging, hardware, and home furnishings, Alibaba has more suppliers. For purchasing machinery equipment, Made-in-China should be considered first. And for electronic products, Global Sources are preferred.
Supplier quality: All three platforms offer trade assurance services to protect buyers, but it is still advisable to audit potential suppliers independently. You can look for reviews and ratings from other buyers and consider requesting samples before placing an order.
Pricing: Prices may vary depending on the platform and the supplier. The MOQ and prices of products made from the same materials will not differ much across these platforms. You can compare them to ensure that you get the best deal.
Overall, all three platforms can be used for sourcing products from China. Each platform has many reliable Chinese suppliers to meet your needs. Therefore, it is essential to audit suppliers before buying products.
DHgate vs Aliexpress
DHgate and Aliexpress are two other websites, and their main differences are as follows:
DHgate is more suitable for small wholesalers and focuses on small orders. Many small sellers or startups on Amazon use it to source products and test the market.
Aliexpress, like Amazon, is a shopping website that focuses more on retail. 98% of the sellers on this platform are Chinese suppliers, and many people use Aliexpress for dropshipping.
Alibaba alternatives in USA and Europe
If you want to receive the product faster, you can choose local wholesale suppliers. Here I list some wholesalers for small businesses in USA and Europe for your reference.
Wholesale Central
Wholesale Central is a directory of suppliers that do not have detailed product pages. You simply enter your product category to get a detailed list of suppliers and their product displays. If you cannot find your product on the website, you can also send requests to wholesalers on the web. Once someone is able to do it, he will reply to you.
Wholesale Central also has a partner website called Closeout Central, which offers a wide range of closeout merchandise where you can find prices well below wholesale.
ThomasNet
ThomasNet is an industrial product and service search engine in the United States. It provides access to over 6 million different types of products, including mechanical parts, tools, equipment, electronics, materials, chemicals, and medical devices.
ThomasNet’s Request for Quote (RFQ) tool allows you to request quotes from multiple suppliers simultaneously. You can use this tool to evaluate costs, delivery times, and other aspects in order to make informed purchasing decisions.
Pex Wholesale UK
Pex Wholesale UK specializes in providing baby clothing and supplies to the UK, EU, and other parts of the world. They have a warehouse in Leicestershire that ensures quality control and timely delivery.
Your order must be over £200. In the UK, you can also receive free delivery service if your order exceeds £350.
EK Wholesale
Based in Scotland and established in 1990, EK Wholesale is one of the major wholesale suppliers to European merchants. EK is renowned for providing high-quality clothing to chain stores and retailers throughout Europe.
Free delivery to the mainland UK is available for orders over £250.
Jingsourcing vs. B2B sites like Alibaba: which offers better guarantees?
Why I do not recommend that you find wholesale suppliers on Alibaba?
Many of our customers have had experiences of being scammed on platforms such as Alibaba.
Although many wholesale websites like Alibaba claim to have verified suppliers, in reality, even those “verified suppliers” may not be 100% trustworthy, even if their pages display the logo of a third-party inspection company. Becoming a “verified supplier” is simple, as it only requires paying a membership fee and filming a video of a different factory.
Some of these suppliers may have already closed down, and after they receive your money, you may never hear from them again. Even if you file a complaint, the platform will only remove the supplier, and you will not receive any compensation.
Moreover, many of these websites are trading companies. They may not be familiar with the products or industry, thus unable to provide you with timely and accurate answers to your questions. As a result, you may spend a long time communicating with them only to receive unsatisfactory products.
Why can Jingsourcing support your private label business well?
Suppose you are a start-up e-commerce company and lack experience in importing and customizing products from China. You want to sell your own private label products with low MOQ such as three hundred pieces. It can be challenging to find reliable manufacturers to produce them for you. In addition, you may need to spend extra time and effort finding suppliers for custom packaging, as their MOQ may exceed your requirements and you may be rejected.
However, Jingsourcing can help you solve these problems. We can negotiate with suppliers to resolve issues related to the MOQ of products and packaging. We are in a good relationship, and even with small orders, they are willing to produce for us. We can also synchronously design and produce packaging during the mass production of products. In addition, we can also help you combine the product with the packaging and send them to you together.
In short, Jingsourcing is always in your shoes and helps you reduce production, customization, packaging, and shipping costs as much as possible, as well as following up on production, inspecting, and shipping.
How can Jingsourcing find reliable and professional suppliers for you?
You can have 100% trust in the suppliers Jingsourcing has found.
On the one hand, we have our own supplier database. These suppliers have all passed our strict factory audits and have worked with us many times. This means that after understanding your needs, we can quickly help you match the right supplier with the most competitive price.
On the other hand, our suppliers are very professional. Many of them have more than ten years of experience in the industry and are knowledgeable about the industry and product.
For example, we previously helped an Australian customer customize a bath ball. Many of the raw materials listed in her formula were only available in Australia. In addition, it was difficult to determine the exact quantity of each material based on her formula. Therefore, many suppliers on Alibaba refused her.
We contacted a factory that has been in chemical products for more than eight years. They accurately told us which materials could be used as substitutes and the exact composition ratio immediately. As a result, we successfully produced the desired scent on the second sample.
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