Looking for China wholesale suppliers, but not sure where to start?
Maybe you’re starting an online store with a tight budget. Maybe you want small custom orders for your own brand. Or maybe you already have suppliers but want lower costs and a more stable supply chain.
In this guide, I’ll break down what actually works for each situation, so you can choose the right way to find China suppliers.
Where can beginners actually find China suppliers for small orders?
I want to start an online store, maybe on Shopify or TikTok Shop. I don’t have a big budget yet. Where can I find China suppliers that accept small orders?
AliExpress and DHgate are the easiest places to start
If you don’t want to hold inventory, AliExpress is usually the go-to option to find China dropshipping suppliers.
For more details, see our guide on AliExpress Dropshipping.
If you only want to buy a dozen or so pieces per product style and have a budget of a few hundred dollars, you can start with DHgate.
Still unsure? See our DHgate guide to better understand the platform before sourcing.
You can also compare DHgate and AliExpress. Some AliExpress sellers also offer wholesale discounts when you buy more, such as 3% or 5% off the listed price.
New to sourcing from China? See our guide: China Sourcing Made Easy: 6 Essential Steps and Tips.
Want to try 1688? Use JingWholesale for small wholesale orders
You may also hear that 1688 prices are low. But for overseas buyers, buying directly from 1688 can be challenging due to language barriers, international payment issues, order consolidation, shipping, and limited after-sales support.
Still, many buyers want to try 1688. That’s where JingWholesale comes in. Hundreds of our clients already use it. You just need to make sure each product is at least $50 and the total order reaches $500, and that’s it.
- Create an account
- Add products to your cart and mix items freely
- We collect the goods from different suppliers
- We inspect quality, repack everything, and ship to your door
If you’ve never used 1688 before, you can try it yourself and see how challenging it can be. For step-by-step instructions, see our guide: 1688 vs Alibaba.
Want to build your brand? Alibaba may not be enough
I don’t want to sell the same products as everyone else. I tried Alibaba, but adding my logo or custom packaging doesn’t seem that easy. Is there a better way to find China suppliers for small custom orders?
For overseas buyers, Alibaba is often the first place they check. It’s free to browse products across almost every category and easy to compare many suppliers at once.
For more info about Alibaba sourcing, see our Alibaba tutorials.
Sourcing ready-made products on Alibaba is relatively straightforward, but small-batch customization is not always as easy. It usually works better when your product requirements are clear and your order budget is around $1,000 per style or more. At that level, suppliers are usually more willing to discuss custom details.
But if your project involves multiple factories, you’ll have to deal with several suppliers. That means more time, more coordination, and a lot more back-and-forth.
How JingSourcing makes small custom orders easier
To be honest, small-batch customization is not easy. For factories, small orders often don’t bring enough profit to justify the upfront labor and time involved.
For example, when customizing handbags, bag factories usually require an MOQ of a few thousand pieces. One of our US clients wanted to customize just 300 pieces, but kept getting turned down when contacting factories on his own.
Instead of just looking for another factory, we broke down the supply chain. We sourced the leather materials and hardware for the client, then sent everything to a suitable bag factory to make the finished bags.
This is why solving real sourcing problems requires a deep understanding of both product production and the supply chain.
We are familiar with product customization and development, especially logo and packaging customization. Based on your budget and order quantity, we can help you choose the most practical option.
4 common ways to customize your logo
Already selling? How to find better suppliers without lowering quality
I’m already selling this product, but my current supplier is either too expensive or not stable enough. How can I find a better supplier in China without lowering product quality?
As sales grow, many buyers want to improve their current suppliers, reduce costs, and make the supply chain more stable.
You can send your current product sample to potential suppliers and ask them to make a sample. Once you receive the samples, compare the product quality, price, and supplier communication.
Good suppliers are not always the cheapest. They usually communicate clearly, quote transparently, explain material and production differences, and are willing to support QC and after-sales issues.
Start with a small trial order first, and arrange pre-shipment QC. Once the quality remains stable, you can gradually increase the order quantity.
Looking for real factory sources? See our guide: How Buyers Actually Find Manufacturers in China.
How JingSourcing handles your China supply chain
Comparing and managing suppliers one by one takes time, sourcing experience, and real skills. That’s where JingSourcing can help.
Based in China’s major industry clusters, we work directly with factories across daily consumer products, from raw materials and parts to finished products. This allows us to quickly match your product requirements with the right suppliers.
We compare multiple suppliers, check samples, and evaluate price, quality, MOQ, lead time, communication, and production capacity before choosing the best fit.
For products that already sell well, we can help you buy in bulk and get better factory pricing. We follow up on production, arrange QC, and offer shipping solutions tailored to your budget and needs.
If you need to hold inventory, you can keep part of it in our warehouse for free for 1–2 months. Then we can ship it in batches to your fulfillment center to help reduce overseas storage costs.
Let JingSourcing manage your China supply chain
- Better supplier options
- Stable supply as you grow
- QC, storage, and batch shipping
Of course! Welcome to Yiwu — we’ll be waiting for you right in front of the International Trade Market.
Very useful information!
Excellent Article! Thanks.
I still find it hard to get a manufacturing company on Alibaba for bags, all I can see are trading companies. What do I do?
Hey Ticasa, what kind of bags are you looking for? And what’s your MOQ? Do you want to customize or just want to buy bags in the existing style? There are lots of suppliers mixed with traders and manufacturers on Alibaba. It will take you a lot of time to find the real factory, be patient a little longer. More importantly, you need to choose suppliers that match you well according to your actual situation. The right fit is the best.
Members of my family sent for products from miniinthebox.com, wish.com and dhgate.com. We were very dissapointed. Products generally took much longer to arrive than they were supposed to, Quality wasn’t great and the duty on some of it was outrageous. The laptop I sent for was to take 10-14days to arrive. After 4 months of waiting I asked for a refund. Since it was someone selling through the main company the refund came in 2 days, so that was good. But my oldest sister’s items came quickly. But on 1 item (shipped separately) she paid almost $40 in duty on a $15 item. Overall the experience was horrible. After 4months waiting I didn’t have a laptop…it never did come. And the seller changed his name. Companies like Amazon shouldn’t let just anyone sell through them.
Sorry to hear about your experience, Peter. There are still some problems with cross-border logistics, especially to some remote areas. So if you buy high-value products, you’d better choose a reliable shipping way even if you’ll spend a little more money. If you use the seller’s free shipping service that means an economic shipping way like postal service.
Great! Thank you very much! I really appreciate your help. This article gives me very important knowledges.
Thanks for your comment, Chao.
Do you happen to have a good idea of an excellent OEM factory to customize and produce new branded smartphones? For a long-term business partnership. If you know about that, could you kindly introduce me the factory? Thanks.
Hi Chao, I’m sorry the smartphone is out of our business scope.
Great! Thank you very much.
give the link of global source vs made in china and dhgate vs ali express to speed and check what u said
Hi, Google these websites’ name and you will get them easily. Or are you suggesting us add a link in this post?
Add a link in your blog too and link to this post both
Okay, thanks for your suggestion, we will add them immediately.
Excellent Jing , we are looking for purchase of A4 copy paper from china can you please help us we want to take your services we are looking for best prices . Online we are getting fake company quotation.
Exactly, VISHNU, for any further details you can feel free to consult our sourcing specialist. You’ll get more reasonable quotations.
Hi Jing, Thanks for such an informative article. I was quite hesitant about where to start with searching for products. Knowing the differences between the likes of AliExpress and Made In China has really helped me plan further ahead in a way that supports my business model.
Useful..Information.. Provided
Looking for for a factory to make shoes/sandals cheaper that we buy from outwith Australia (not china).Would it be better to vist Yiwu or is there anyother place better regarding getting them made.we can show our samples and try to get someone on board.Cheers
How can i send the products to you? i plan to import some children toys and kids steps
You can contact us at https://jingsourcing.com/submit-ticket/ to discuss and start!
Good blog Nice ideas
Thank you!
You are absolutely right. I have been to Yiwu and Guangzhou in China. I have the same experience.
You have some very good articles. I’m keep reading… and hope you can tell the more truth about the wholesale market in China.
Glad you enjoyed the article,Alexander. I’ll continue to update on importing from China-related issues in future, and shoot me an email if you ever have any questions.
Cool, Alexander, I‘m 22 years old and going to graduate the next year. I want to start my business by importing goods from China. I also want to visit Guangzhou and shenzhen in Yiwu, China.
Hi Anthony,
If you come to Yiwu, welcome to my place , which is very close to Yiwu market. I’ll show you around
Hey! jing,
Really a great tutorial, learned a lot about the sutuation of china suppliers
Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Ethan
Really infomative and practical guide, before that, I usually source products on Alibaba. This article saved me from being confused. Thanks a lot, jing
No problemo
Thanks so much for sharing such useful information with us. I want to start importing products, this knowledge is really helpful…
Thank you for all these information. It’s very helpful for people like me who just start importing products. I shared this this article to my facebook.
Nice! TIM