Something You Need to Consider When Choosing Your Agent in China
By From Internet
Published: 02.22.2009
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Sourcing Agents and Purchasing Agents can be companies or a single person. 

A company is sometimes seen to be more professional and have more credibility. However, this is not always the case. Some small buyers (or buyer starting out) tend to want to find a single person to help their business because afraid of the higher costs associated with dealing with a larger company. There is always the risk of sourcing company’s staff members letting down the buyer. 

 

a) Is he working for your or for kickbacks? It's pretty common for many Chinese agents take kickbacks from YOUR suppliers, at the same time they are charging you a flat fee or percentage based commission. This can add about 5%-15% hidden cost to your total.

 

b) Does he or she possess the product/industry knowledge you require, for example, glassware?  Working with someone who has the product knowledge saves you headaches later in the process. And, he or she can often find you much better and hopefully less expensive suppliers.

 

But if you get a company to help you, its not all bad news. Some China Sourcing Agents and Purchasing Agents company offers low commissions for long term development. When you give a target purchasing price, they start to work based on that until you get the qualified products. This is often overlooked by buyers, but is always worth enquiring about.

 

As costs are going up and up, more and more businesses are looking for an agent in low cost places like China. 

 

So start sourcing from China and get those costs down now!

 

 

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