How do I find a legitimate wholesaler?

ttfx

How do I find a legitimate wholesaler to buy from in the UK/China?
When I look online there appears to be thousand of them of questionable character or at best ‘middle’ men/women claiming to be the wholesaler……
Also does anyone know the most popular search terms/products on eBay……
Thanks in advance
T

wigan_rl_till_i_die

ttfx wrote:

How do I find a legitimate wholesaler to buy from in the UK/China?
When I look online there appears to be thousand of them of questionable character or at best ‘middle’ men/women claiming to be the wholesaler……
Also does anyone know the most popular search terms/products on eBay……
Thanks in advance
T

A lot of power sellers use these i aint signed up yet so if you do will you let me know what it's like


http://www.theselect.co.uk/agents/

benjimoron_2

wigan_rl_till_i_die wrote:

A lot of power sellers use these i aint signed up yet so if you do will you let me know what it's like


http://www.theselect.co.uk/agents/

Doesn't seem to be many products on there that I would want to sell. Anyone got any ideas how to buy a bulk lot of computer goods (graphics cards, sound cards) for a cheap wholesale price?

Mandles

i would find one with a high 99.9 or 100% feedback (check even if 100% AS HE COULD STILL HAVE NEGS) . This is the best way.

5thElement_2

but thats just a middle man, you need to find contact info for wholesalers directly.

I've always found this pretty difficult aswell yet to find any decent place, but i know theres hundreds out there! has to be

syanide

I wholesale ship from china manufacturers (direct).. me and my business partner have had to build up a trust though first and visit the factories etc, so as not to get scammed.. it took us 7 months to get a good relationship going.. We have an employee based in china as well..

ttfx

I am guessing a trip out to China is probably the best way…. Though I am operating on a more part-time internet selling basis.
In my case I want to sell GPS running watches – creating a professional site selling them along with triathlon gear – should my approach be find the UK distributor for the desired product and talk them through my idea? How would new running/triathlon high street shops initially make contact with them?
T

martindow

If you want to work on a large scale then go to China or buy directly from suppliers yourself. For many of us who want relatively small quantities we are better off buying from importers who sell on at relatively low markups. There are lots of people offering wholesale and their rates vary just as prices vary in shops. You need to shop around and keep looking for better prices.

syanide

make sure you check out the people you are going to buy off etc.. the investigation will be worth the time taken.. last thing you want is to be scammed.. when I was initially looking for factories, I had numerous people contacted me and quite a few were scammers.. I think I got more scammers approach me because I'm importing electricals.. audio /dvb/in-car stuff etc..
electricals such as gps's etc are also easy targets.. a couple of places to check are: badsuppliers.com and there is also a guide in how to check out some of the companies.. made-in-china.com also do a report service for little cost on a company.. all you do is supply the company name and info etc..

syanide

http://www.theselect.co.uk/agents/

just looked at the url given earlier.. would'nt use these.. they are quoting
PodGear - "IceBox 20" for 18 pounds... (1 unit) :mad:

you can buy these at:

Wholesale case of 60 Units for US$198.00
Per Unit Reference Price: US$3.30

thats around £1.90 a case with 43 dollars shipping.. 0.71 per item
works out around 2 quid a case including shipping... that 16 quid pure profit they are making on that... would'nt touch them at all

martindow

I have dealt directly with two Chinese companies and have not been to China or met them at all. I did do a bit of research on the web and as they work on a proforma basis it has involved a lot of trust on my side. If they are a genuine company and seem to check out, it is not in their interest to cheat you. They will do better from a continuing relationship and more sales. I have found them to be very honourable and eager to get things right.They usually are not interested in small sales though - one we deal with wants orders to be for over 50kg and the other over 1000 USD before adding shipping costs.

I have found that misunderstandings are easily made. I can't read or speak Chinese and their English is not always as good as it seems from emails. After buying 200 dollars worth of the wrong thing in one order, now I always have a long email correspondance first to ask questions in different ways, request photos, check on colours, qualities or whatever. It is just not feasible to return anything that is not right once it has been delivered.