Anyone ordered from China suppliers?

[Flushdraw]

Hey,

There's a product that I want to give a shot selling and think I have a few good ways to promote it to make some good sales. I've also got a sweet domain for the website.
Instead of dropshipping I want to buy direct from the manufacturers/suppliers, which are all in china.

What is the best way to go about finding a reliable honest supplier in China? I've looked on the MANY trader/supplier websites but there seems to be so many china suppliers and no way to tell if any of them are genuine.

Has anyone ordered a product to sell wholesale from china? How did you find a trustworthy supplier? Or is anyone here from China or have contacts in China who thinks they can help out?

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks
Rob

[GottaTryIt]

If it's smaller quantities i.e not by the container load and not large products then try Wholesale - Buy Products Online from China Wholesalers at Aliexpress.com very safe and will get you what you want to try it out.

Otherwise just good old Manufacturers, Suppliers, Exporters & Importers from the world's largest online B2B marketplace-Alibaba.com where checking the reviews and trust of the supplier is all you really need to do and if there verified you know they are legit.

They will help you with tax and customs stuff also as sometimes its all a bit confusing.

[Gydian]

Alibaba is easily one of the best. I've dealt with that site quite a few times. (In the beginning I was buying microfiber cloths from China in bulk but I found a cheaper supplier here in Canada and the US). But yeah, Alibaba all the way.

[nirva]

Alibaba had some bad press today, although I have heard success stories from a few people in the past.
Alibaba.com chief executive resigns over frauds | Business | The Guardian

[pokeraussie]

Yeah I've done this before. When it comes to the China market I really think it depends, there are going to be good/bad suppliers. One of the pitfalls is the language barrier, however most of the larger suppliers will have English-speaking representatives. I got into the MP3 player market very early on, wish I had a lot of capital at the time, I would have made a killing lol, but my experiences with the Chinese manufacturer was good. You also have to think about returns for faulty products. If it's not a reliable product, you will end up forking out a bit in shipping fees. I can't even remember how I found the supplier. I think they had a crappy website and I spoke to them on the phone. But yeah, you should make a lot more doing it like this, instead of dropshipping.

[leporello]

Alibaba are excellent.

If you need someone with local knowledge let me know. I live in Shanghai and have alot of contacts in the shipping business here, so may be able to help out.

[Poker Sponsor 2-0]

Just my 2 cents worth,

I had purchased massive orders of clothes from China and I had my doubts because the site looked a little "dodgy" and the items turned up, they had also sent it as a gift so I didn't have to pay any taxes.

I see Alibaba being mentioned a lot and I strongly suggest not to use that site as there's hundreds of horror stories where people spent 100k+ and got screwed with no return or lawsuits.