Why choose an overseas toy supplier? How do you choose the right supplier? And how do you choose among the many countries? How do you compare the many suppliers? This article is to answer the questions you may have when choosing an overseas toy supplier.
According to the United States Department of Commerce, approximately 85% of the toys purchased in the U.S. are manufactured in China, while only 3.5% are made here domestically.
So, for a small, new American company, working to bring a new toy or game to market, it seems that figuring out how to have the product made in China would be an automatic decision. But small companies may be surprised to discover that many products can be made domestically and that doing so may be the right strategy for a number of reasons.
MACH, a German toy wholesaler, is a very long-standing client of zhxtoy’s. MACH’s business background: MACH’s company is located on an island in Germany and he started his wholesale toy business 10 years ago. Previously he had been importing toys wholesale from the LA wholesale market in the USA, which he said was easier to buy from and had better quality assurance, but this time he tried something different. That was working with us. 19 years was the first year we worked with MACH and we helped them save 54% on their toy orders!
Why choose to find a supplier overseas. Take China as an example. Chinese manufacturers are popular all over the world. In the toy business, Chinese manufacturers have developed their own unique advantages over the years.
- The world’s number one toy manufacturing capability
- Abundant labour resources and low labour costs
- Highly developed industrial chain and concentrated industrial clusters
- High-tech oriented industrial environment
- Strong and reliable logistics support
And an excellent supplier often on the following points, we need to consider: quality, production capacity, price, service.
1. Quality
This is the most important point. Because quality represents the experience of a product. The same product from two different suppliers will have two different kinds of quality. And a responsible supplier will take responsibility for quality issues and try to resolve them quickly. And they may also offer to implement stricter quality controls or modify work instructions to prevent the same defects from occurring in future production runs.
2. Production capacity
Production capacity is something that most importers are sure to find out if the capacity can deliver as much as they expect, on time and with guaranteed quality. And a supplier with a high production capacity is at the same time a sign of how strong he is. So how should we know if a supplier can meet your standards?
The only reliable way to verify a supplier’s capability is to visit the factory in person or through a third party agent who can help with factory inspections.
If you feel that the third party agent is not reliable. Or may prefer to avoid the expense of travelling abroad to the factory. If this is the case, you can rely on a third party to audit the factory’s quality management system to ISO 9001 or a similar standard.
3. Price
This is the point that determines its own interest. You can ask the factory to quote first and then compare. However, in many cases, if the quality and smooth arrival of the goods can be guaranteed, the price can be negotiated. Rather, you want to see whether the supplier is able to present the product to the maximum extent possible to the importer within a certain budget.
4. Services
For importers looking for overseas suppliers, language and cultural barriers can present real challenges. You will benefit from working with suppliers who are easy to communicate with. Effective communication can prevent problems ranging from production delays to substandard products. So it comes down to the importance of service. Service wraps up pre-sales and post-sales. If you decide on a supplier that is right for you, his service will make you vital for the rest of the process that follows. The pre-sales service is actually an indication of how positive a supplier is, and with a positive supplier many things become easier and simpler. The professional team in the sales process will be able to determine the samples and so on. And it is very important to be able to improve the problems that the importer needs in a timely manner. After sales is very important regarding customs clearance and product after sales. So some suppliers with good service are able to send photos of the goods on board in real time to let customers know that your goods have been sent. And there are some who know that there may be a lack of quality of parts. They will add some accessories to the goods so that the importer can respond to such problems in time.
Conclusion
Finding a supplier can be one of the toughest and most stressful parts of sourcing products. It is important to find a supplier that is easy to work with and provides you with the best possible product. But what are the best qualities to look for?
Communication, willingness to work with you, profile statistics, the supplier’s price and quality are all important things to check before you choose a supplier.