The wholesale market
- You don’t have your own design
If you don’t already have a design for the product you wish to order, then the wholesale market is a great place to go. You will be able to find countless of different designs and variations here. It’s not uncommon that people go to the wholesale markets for inspiration and use the items the find here as samples for manufacturing.
- Not necessarily more expensive
One of the big reasons people chose to find a manufacturer directly rather than a supplier is that this way they don’t need the supplier as a middle hand and thus the price will be lower, however this is not always the case. The markets are very competitive which keeps the prices low. Also, a supplier may already have great connections with a manufacturer for a certain item, the manufacturer will already know how make the item have all the necessary preparations ready etc. This of course depends on the type of item, but sometimes ordering through a supplier rather than finding a manufacturer can actually save you money. Also, the process will be a lot faster. The best thing though is that you will know exactly how the finished product will look. However, if you quantity is more that 300 items per style, we still recommend that you go directly to the manufacturer.
- Low quantity requirements
If the items are in stock (around 4 out of 5 suppliers will have items in stock in the market), the MOQ is usually only 5-10 pieces per style and color
- A lot of choices
When visiting the wholesale markets you will be able to visit many different suppliers at one place and freely compare quality and prices. Factories are usually located in the outskirts of the city and might take a whole day of travelling just for one visit and a lot of times 1 visit wont be enough since you may have to visit them again to negotiate or confirm fabrics/design, but at the wholesale market you can visit hundreds of suppliers in just one day. This makes comparison a lot easier.
- You will be able to meet your suppliers face to face
For many people its important to get to actually see and talk to (although perhaps through an interpreter) the person who supplies their items. This way you can get a feeling for whether this person can be trusted or not and if he/she is someone that you would want to make business with.
- All suppliers in one place
Most of the time you will be able to find most, if not all, the items you need in one market. This is good since it will make it easy to meet up with all your suppliers in one place which will save you a lot of time.
Manufacturing
- You want to order a large quantity
If you are looking to order larger quantities, then its almost always better to look for a manufacturer instead of a supplier. You will get rid of the middle hand and be able to get a better price.
- You already have a design
If you already know exactly what you want, then there is no use spending time wandering the wholesale markets. Just make sure you got at least two samples of the design you want. One for the manufacturer and one to use for comparison. Of course, if you have no samples, you can also send pictures or even drawings and the contact information of your fabrics supplier. If its a common type of fabric, we could source the same type of fabric for you here and save you some money.
Also, there is always the option of visiting the wholesale market just to find a design you like, then buy samples and use those for manufacturing.
Things to be aware of when looking for a manufacturer.
- Making sure its a real manufacturer and not a supplier in disguise
A lot of the companies calling themselves manufacturers on sites like Alibaba.com or made-in-china.com etc are actually suppliers that want to make some money being the middle hand. This can be very difficult to spot as they will have both pictures and certificates to prove that they are real manufacturers, but they are not. Alibaba will look through their fingers with stuff like this as long as you pay them. The only way to make sure that they are who they say they are is to visit them and see for yourself, but even this may not be enough as they may just take you to any factory they have good connections with and if you don’t understand the language, you will never know. We have a very rigid process when we are sourcing manufacturers to make sure we find someone who both good and reliable. We will visit the factory ourselves and we have a lot of experience and will be able to tell for sure if its the real deal or not.
- Have samples
If possible, send samples! We will need two samples, one for the manufacturer and one for us to use as comparison to make sure that the finished product is exactly the way you want it to and nothing else.