How to purchase wholesale Toys with China sourcing agent

A lot of my friends, including our foreign customers and Chinese suppliers, do not prefer doing toy’s business because there are countless different types of toy products, and get no idea about what to sell. Another reason is that many countries have a lot of rules about importing toys, which will certainly cause many troubles in this process.

But the truth is importing wholesale  toys is not that complicated as you thought, you only need to choose some good products and right suppliers.So you need a China sourcing agent.

This article will give you a comprehensive introduction of how to import toys from China, including how to select products, how to find suitable suppliers, and some common problems with solutions.

1. What Kind of Toys Will Bring You Business?

So far with my experience, importers from different countries most prefer importing classic toys such as balls, cars, plush animals, because all these classic toys have large and stable demand every year. It’s not necessary to worry about the sale as there is always customers who want them.

Besides, there are usually hot selling toys each year in the world, such as loom bands during 2013-2014, kinetic sand and balancing scooter during 2014-2015. If you can discover the potential of these products and import them earlier than your competitors, then you will already make much money when other people start to sell. At that time, you can start to find next product.

2. Classification of Toys Produced in China

Toys made in China have lots of categories, and I divide them in the following form by types and manufacture areas.

Toy Category	Toys	Manufacture Areas in China
Remote control toys	RC Helicopter, Cars, Boats, Quadrocopter	Chenghai, Shenzhen
Diecasts & Toy Vehicles	Cars,Trucks, Car Models	Chenghai
Toy Figures	Lego Toys, Animation Figures	Chenghai
Doll& Stuffed Toys	Toy animals, Puppets, Mascot, Costume	Mainly in Yangzhou and Qingdao, but there are also some in Yiwu, Shenzhen and other cities
Classic Toys	Yoyo, Balloon, Balls, Kaleidospce	Chenghai, Yiwu, and other cities depending on products.
Learning & Education Toys	Toy Musical Instrument	Yunhe(Zhejiang Province) for wood made toys
Outdoor & Playground Toys	Kid’s Slide, Seesaw	Yongjia (a small town of Wenzhou), the capital of playground toys in China
Models & Building Toys	Building Blocks	Chenghai, Yiwu
Baby Toys	Baby Rattles, Baby Walker	No specified cities, but mainly in Zhejiang and Guangdong Province.
Puzzles & DIY Toys	Puzzles, Magic Cube	High quality Puzzles mainly produced in Chenghai. DIY craft toys mainly produced in Yiwu.

3.Where to Find Toy Manufacturers and Suppliers in China?

Most products made in China have their own places of origin, so does toys. No matter you are in China in person, or you are searching suppliers on Internet, like Alibaba.com, you need to pay attention to where the suppliers are located. By my experience as a China sourcing agent, toys made in China are mainly produced in the follow 5 places:

a. Chenghai, Guangdong Province—World’s Capital of Toys

If you are specialized in toys business and always purchasing large quantity, Chenghai will be the best choice. You can find toys companies or factories, or things related to toy everywhere in this city.

Not like the wholesale market in Yiwu where suppliers are gathering, toy factories located in Chenghai usually send their samples to toy trading companies. Trading companies upload all products to their Alibaba pages or own websites, and place orders to these factories when foreigners ordered. Of course there also are several large toys trading companies who has their own showroom which can be thousands square meters. Customers can visit their showroom, choose products and place orders.

Besides, there are also many showroom companies in Chenghai, and factories can show their samples by renting display racks (one rack costs $500-$1000 per year). If you are interested in some products showing there, the companies will offer you all factory’s contact information. But most toy factories don’t have good English-speaking sales, so you’d better have a Chinese translator to assist you, if you are planning to visit showrooms and contact factories directly. Or toys trading companies will be better choice.

Chenghai toys showroom company Chenghai showroom company
       Customers are selecting toys in showroom company        Customers take the samples in shopping cart away
 Another interesting thing about showroom company is that, during the visit, you can put most toy samples you like into shopping cart and take them away for free. These companies also offer free lunch, such as McDonald’s or KFC, free drinking, even free cigarette. They offer such good service because toy factories pay them a lot rental annually.

Trading companies and showroom companies located every corner of Chenghai, and you can get their information from the hotel you are staying easily.

b. Yiwu—Where Low-Value and Small Toys Are Mainly Produced

Many low-value toys like kids DIY craft toys are produced in Yiwu and cities close by, and here also gather lots of toy suppliers all over China, including toy suppliers from Chenghai. It’s very convenient to source toys as the wholesale market is just like a large fair. (To know more about Yiwu wholesale market, please check another blog: 6 Facts of Yiwu Wholesale Market-World’s Biggest Market-Guide 1)

If you are visiting China personally, and are specialized in plastic or electronic toy business, then you can visit Chenghai. (Check the first part to know how to source suppliers in Chenghai)

If toys are only one part of your business, you need to buy many other products in your container, then Yiwu will be a suitable place. Because it’s very convenient to buy all your products in Yiwu’s wholesale market. Even you buy Chenghai made toys in Yiwu, the price here won’t have much difference from buying from Chenghai.

c. Yangzhou/Qingdao—Where Plush and Stuffed Toys Are Mainly Produced


Stuffed toys market in Yangzhou

Although you can also find plush and stuffed toys suppliers, normally are trading companies, in Chenghai, Yiwu or Shenzhen, most suppliers of these toys are located in Yangzhou, and some small stuffed toys are also produced in Qingdao.

There is stuffed toys wholesale market in Yangzhou, which is not far away from Shanghai, you can visit there if you are specialized in importing stuffed toys.

d. Yongjia, Zhejiang Province: China’s Capital of Learning and Playground Toys for Kids


Playground toy produced in Qiaoxia town

Qiaoxia, a small town located in Yongjia City, is the main place where learning and playground toys are produced in China. If you plan to visit China to source suppliers for this kind of toys, you can go to Qiaoxia town as many factories are gathering there. If you are searching suppliers online,  it’s better to pay attention to their locations in China, and make sure they are from Wenzhou City, because Yongjia is belong to Wenzhou.

4. How to Search Toy’s Suppliers from China Online

Do not be deceived by Chinese suppliers online as they all tell you that they are factories, and they can produce whatever kind of toys you like. Actually, most suppliers you can contact on Internet are trading companies. Because the scale of many Chinese toy factories are usually not big,  and most their orders are getting from trading companies. Some of  toy factories also have shops on Alibaba, but they seldom get orders from foreigner buyers.

You can also find many big scale and professional toy factories in toy fairs, such as Canton Fair, and Global Sources Fair.

Searching suppliers online is the only way if you are not coming to China, and I suggest you to use Alibaba.com. To learn how to find good suppliers on Alibaba, please check another blog: Tips for Sourcing Good Suppliers on Alibaba: You Never Knew Before.

Some of you may consider some small wholesale platform such as Aliexpress or DHgate, but I don’t recommend you to source toys from this kind of platform, which choose international express as the shipping method. Because toy’s value usually is not high, but product’s size is always big, so the shipping cost is very high when use air freight and express, sometimes higher than the product’s price. So the most economical shipping way is by sea freight, and purchase in large quantity, at least 2-3 CBM, otherwise your average shipping cost for each product will be very high.

5. Problems May Have When Import Toys from China

Toy products are usually used by children, so many countries have strict rules and high requirement for toys. Except for this, toys products still have other problems that make it little more complicated than other products, and here are several main problems you may have when import toys from China.

a. Problem of Compliance and Safty

Certificate and safety are the biggest one among all problems, and different countries have different required standards for imported toys. Here’s some certification required by US and EU for toy products.

United States     The first three tests of ASTM F963: Mechanical/Physical testing, Flammability testing, and Chemical testing. The another is CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act): lead and phthalates test, and labeling test.
European Union     Toys exported to Europe have to pass Toy Safety Directive (EN 71 -1,2,3) and have a CE mark.
If you are importing large quantity of toys, you’d better do all required tests. But if your quantity is small, then the costs of all these tests are very high. The best way is to ask your suppliers to offer these test reports which they had done before, in order to make sure their products are meet the safety standards. If the suppliers cannot offer you, then you have to change to another who can offer test reports.

Suppliers in China usually won’t do all these tests, most of them do part 1, 2, and 3 of EN 71 test and Phthalates test. When you get the EN 71 test report from them, be careful to check whether it includes EN71 part 3, which is the most important part, it can prove the hazardous substance in products are under required limits. Some suppliers will no test the part 3, because they are afraid that the test may fail.

Besides, there are many companies can do CE test in China, so you also need to check which testing lab the report is from. Famous institution such as SGS, ITS, and TUV will be the best. Some suppliers may offer reports from small Chinese testing lab to save money, but it may not be admitted by imported countries.

b. Commodity Inspection Required by China Custom

Toys need to do commodity inspection when exporting to other countries, the cost is $200-$300 for 1 container. If you ship by LCL, and the cost depends on the material and volume of the toy, usually more than $100.

c. Problem of Design Infringement


Minions schoolbags

Many factories like to print some famous animation characters in their toy products, some make the shape same as these characters. For example, two same schoolbags, one has minions printed but another doesn’t, then the former one can be sold in higher price than the latter, and people still prefer to buy the former.

If the suppliers didn’t get animation company’s authorization, then all these toys with animation characters can be design infringed. Your products will be examined by both China custom and foreigner custom. Once they find you don’t have the authorization, they will destroy them.

Even if you are lucky enough to escape the custom’s inspection, you will run into the same problems as above when selling these unauthorized toys.

So if you want to import toys with famous animation characters printed, you need to make sure whether your supplier has the authorization. If not, you can change to another supplier, or you have to give up this product in case it may ruin your business.

d. Problem of Shipping Toys from China

Sea shipping is the most economical way for toys, because the weight of toys usually are light, and product size is always big. If you only plan to import less than 3 CBM toys each shipment, then you’d better buy from local market, instead of importing from China directly. Because the average cost for each toy product will be very high, including freight, and commodity inspection. So you need a China sourcing agent.

How to purchase wholesale Jewelry by China sourcing agent

From few months ago, lots of customers inquired us to help them import jewelry accessories from China through emails. Because they think this product nitch is pretty promising with its advantages of high value, small volume, low shipping cost and high profit. But few of them have enough experience in this area.

Good articles were not founded when I searched how to import jewelry from China on Google, so I write this article. No matter you are purchasing jewelry from China online, or actually visit China in person, you will find this article very informative and useful.

 We got many inquiries from people who want to start a small business by importing small quantity products from China, you need a China sourcing agent to start. Most of them do not have much relevant experience, and just consider it’s very simple: find a Chinese supplier, buy products in low price, ship home and sell high price in local market.

1. How to Select Suppliers When Import Jewelry Accessories from China?

Selecting suppliers is essential when import jewelry from China, as it concerns the quality and price of products. Design and quantity are two most important elements for jewelry importers, so I divide them into following three types.



a. Importers Who Do Not Have Specific Styles

Some foreign jewelry importers are interested in hot selling and popular jewelries, and they are purchasing regularly, like every season, then sell to local jewelry shops. These importers don’t have specific styles when importer from Chinese suppliers, so they would like suppliers to recommend some popular styles.

These importers can source suppliers on Alibaba.com, or if are possible, come to Guangzhou or Yiwu City to source from local jewelry markets. Styles in the market are updated frequently in order to keep up the fashion trends. Otherwise, you can find many spot goods with lower MOQ, which is more suitable for smaller quantity importers.

If you are purchasing large quantity, such as 5000 units for one style, you can also source large jewelry factories. These factories have their own designers to create lots of new styles, and you can let them recommend to you. You’d better source them from famous fairs, such as Hong Kong Global Sources Fair, Canton Fair, select several reliable ones then have long-term business.

b. Importers Who Have Their Own Designs or Samples

Importers who have own designs can be divided into four types:

foreign trading companies, whose customers are mainly famous foreign jewelry companies;
foreign large-scale chain supermarket, such as Walmart;
Foreign famous jewelry or fashion brands, such as Forever 21, Topshop;
Foreign original jewelry shops/craft shops/tourist souvenir shops.

1) Big quantity importers-over 2000 units for each item


Importers who are from the first three types usually purchase big quantity in every single order, but they have stricter requests for their suppliers as well. Especially like large famous brand Walmart, passing its factory audit is an integrant condition for its suppliers. They will entrust a professional factory-auditing organization to do the audit one or two times every year, so passing just one audit doesn’t mean the factories will be qualified forever.

Some other importers require suppliers to sign NDAs/NNN agreement (Non Disclosure Agreement/Non-disclosure, non-use/non-compete and non-circumvention Agreement) to make sure none of their own designs and products will be sold or recommended to other importers from these suppliers.

If you are one of this kind of importers, you can select large/middle jewelry trading companies or factories as your suppliers, I believe that your strict requirements in product quality and test will be achieved by them. Also source them from large fairs will be a wise choice.

2) Small quantity importers-under 2000 units for each item

If you only need hundreds units for each item for customizing your design, then obviously you cannot reach the MOQ of most large jewelry factories/trading companies. So you need to source small-scale trading companies who can deal with small quantity order flexibly.

They will get materials from market, then entrust the production to cooperated small jewelry workshops. Such as electroplate factory, welding plant if it’s alloy jewelry product; If it’s hand knitting product, they will send materials with samples to some countryside nearby, because there are lots of people who are doing hand work with lower labor charge. That’s why these small trading companies reduce the cost.

One of my colleague had worked in a small jewelry trading company for two years. All of their small orders are produced by very small jewelry workshops. For example, a hand knitted shell necklace, the workshop will send material which get from Yiwu market to the countryside in Jiangxi Province (not far from Yiwu), then send the finished goods back to Yiwu trading company after 10-15 days of production.

c. Importers Who Want to Buy Stock Accessories

There are some importers who aim to low-price stock jewelry products, for selling in African or other developing areas. These stock jewelry products are from different sources, such as leftover products, rejected products because of mistakes in producing, customized products abandoned by clients, etc. These products are sold to stock collectors in tenth of original price, some are even sold by weight, just like fruits and vegetable.

If you want to buy stock accessories, you can visit the stock street in Guangzhou/Yiwu/Qingdao, where you can find lots of stock jewelry shops, such as Wuai stock street and Meihu stock street in Yiwu.

As a China sourcing agent, I did a research in Yiwu Wuai stock street, and one shop owner told me that most of their stock jewelries are brought from Guangzhou, normally are leftover products. Many different styles of necklaces with colorful stones are all in one price-$0.3/pc. The quality is good as I checked some of them. If you buy from Guangzhou factory in bulk, these necklace at least need $1.5-$2.0/pc. Major customers of these shops are from Africa.

Stock jewelry style African customer is placing order in shop
Stock jewelry style African customer is placing order in shop


2. Three Main Producing Areas of Jewelry Accessories in China

Guangzhou, Yiwu and Qingdao are the three main producing areas of China’s jewelry accessories. No matter you are purchasing by any ways, the suppliers are all from these three cities. Each of them has their own characteristics.



a. Guangzhou-Best Quality and Most Specialized City of China’s Jewelry Accessories

Jewelry industry in Guangzhou was leaded up from Hong Kong, as their position are very close. So Guangzhou’s jewelry styles and designs are the most innovative and closest to international fashion trend. Jewelry businessmen from Yiwu usually visit Guangzhou to buy some new styles, then produce accordingly. The maturity of Guangzhou’s jewelry industry makes its quality higher than other cities.

But the MOQ of Guangzhou’s suppliers are normally higher, which means Guangzhou is not suitable for small-quantity importers (hundreds units of one item). Except you are their old customer, they may help to do some occasional small orders.

You can find lots of jewelry wholesale markets in Guangzhou, such as Xijiao Building, Liwan Plaza, and Market of South-China International Little Commodities.

Xijiao Building is located near Guangzhou train station, most of products inside are with high quality and price. If you are interested in high-level jewelries, you cannot miss this market. The main products in Liwan Plaza are crystal and jade products. Market of South-China International Little Commodities is an omnibus market with abundance suppliers.

b. Yiwu- Low Price, Best Choice for Small Jewelry Accessories Importers

There are three main way to find jewelry suppliers in Yiwu, by my experience:

Visit District 1 of Yiwu Wholesale Market, or Xingzhong Area;
Search jewelry factories/trading companies from Yiwu, Jinhua on Alibaba;
Visit Yiwu Fair which is held at Oct. 21st-25th every year.
Jewelry products booth in Yiwu wholesale market
Jewelry products booth in Yiwu wholesale market

The advantage of Yiwu’s jewelry products are rich and varied styles and quality, lower price than Guangzhou jewelry. And purchasing from Yiwu market is more convenient. Meanwhile its disadvantages are: suppliers’ holistic level is lower than Guangzhou, most styles and designs are imitative, products with distressed prices are in bad quality.

A lot of people think Yiwu jewelry’s quality is poor, but it’s not true. Here you can buy the jewelry product with world’s lowest price, but you can still find factories and trading companies who are doing OEM/ODM orders for learge European and US fashion brands.



c. Qingdao-Major Production Place of Korean Style Jewelry

Sino-Korea International Commodities market
Sino-Korea International Commodities market

Qingdao is situated in the northeast of China, which means it’s very close to Korea. Lots of Korean jewelry companies were attracted to establish factories there, hence the major product is Korean style jewelry, and the quality is normally high.

Jewelry wholesale market also can be found in Qingdao, the most popular two among them are Sino-Korea International Commodities market and Jimo Small Commodities market.



3. How Chinese Jewelry Suppliers Get Their Product Design?

As I mentioned above that lots of importers like suppliers to recommend new styles, also selecting new styles is their main purpose when attending jewelry fairs. But how Chinese jewelry suppliers get their product designs?

Most large-scale factories have their own designers, they take some top international fashion brand’s new styles as reference, then add their own idea and revise, to create a new own style then recommend to customers. They also select beautiful styles from big customer’s finished orders to take as reference, introduce to other importers with/without own revise.

Middle and small suppliers who cannot afford having own designers, usually go to Guangzhou and Qingdao to buy new style samples, then copy to own designs to show to customers.

There are many booths in Yiwu jewelry market who are specialized in “hot cake” jewelry styles. E.g. hot cake in 2014: flower headband; hot cake in 2015: choker. These suppliers will change their products according to the hot cakes trend in different time.

Flower headband Choker sets
Flower headband Choker sets


4. What Kind of Compliance Is Needed for Importing Jewelry from China?

Compliance test is very important when importing jewelry accessories from China as most countries and areas have their own regulates for imported jewelry. So the test report is necessary for them.

High-end customers from Europe and US normally have cooperated Chinese testing company (such as SGS branch company in China), their suppliers need to send samples and materials to testing company before shipping. Test report is sent to customer directly by testing company, in case any fake reports made by suppliers.

Most jewelry products are touching skin, and its test can be divided into two parts: physical test and chemical test. Physical test includes: color fastness, tensile test, sharp point and edges, etc. Chemical test are mainly check the content and thickness of hazardous chemical substances such as lead, cadmium, nickel. Right picture shows the content standards of hazardous chemical substances in major countries.

 5.How to Ship Your Jewelry Products When Import from China?

Most widely-used shipping way of jewelry accessories is international express, because jewelry’s characteristics of rapid updating, small volume, and high requirement in timeliness. But there still are some large-quantity importers prefer using LCL sea shipping, as their total volume of one order is biggish. In order to catch the jewelry seasonal fashion, they will place the order few months earlier to offset the long-time in sea shipping.

Necklace for Valentine's Day
Necklace for Valentine’s Day

But when you are purchasing low-value jewelry accessories, the express shipping cost will far exceed the product value. In this situation, I suggest you to purchase as more as you can in one order, at least the total volume can reach LCL sea shipping’s minimum volume standard. Only in this way you can low your cost.

One of our US customer is a large-scale trading company, their main clients are famous US jewelry brands, such as Burlington. Most orders they place to us are with large quantity, around 3,000 units of each item in one color. So the total volume is around 10 CBM. Order for 2016’s Valentine’s Day is placed to us at Nov. 2015, and demand us to ship the goods out before the end of Dec. So the goods can arrive to US at the end of Jan. 2016 by sea shipping, and still catch its selling season.

How to purchase Small Quantity from China with your sourcing agent

We got many inquiries from people who want to start a small business by importing small quantity products from China, You need a China sourcing agent to start. Most of them do not have much relevant experience, and just consider it’s very simple: find a Chinese supplier, buy products in low price, ship home and sell high price in local market.

But the truth is importing small quantity directly from China is never that easy. You will face many different problems, such as shipping fee higher than product’s value, or your order is much less than supplier’s MOQ. In some circumstance, you may have to give up your wonderful plan of starting the new business.

In this article, we will give a complete introduction of how to import small quantity products from China and explain some problems you may have.

1.What Is Small Business? And What Is Small Quantity Buyers?

Different companies and people have different definitions about small business. Most sourcing agents or consulting companies define small business as those who import less than USD 500,000 annually. But for many business starters, this amount is way too high, and maybe they still can’t reach after 5 years. That’s why it’s not easy for small starter business to find a suitable sourcing or consulting company who can offer them relevant service.

I’d like to define customers who purchase USD 5,000-50,000 (including different kinds of products) in one order as Small Business. With this amount, the shipment volume usually is from 5CBM to a 40HQ container. This amount usually can reach factory’s MOQ, and can buy from them directly.

4 to 5 CBM normally will be the most suitable minimum volume for LCL (Less than Container Load) shipping. If less than this, the whole export & import process is complicated and costs lot of money, which means the average cost for each product will be high.

Small Quantity Buyers refer to those who buy less than $2,000 per order, and who just start new business (I mentioned in the beginning) are also a part of them. This article will more focus on helping this group of people how to purchase small quantity with a China sourcing agent.

2.What Kind of Products Are Suitable for Small Quantity Buyer?

For small business importer, those who buy more than USD 5,000 per order, they must know what to import and how to sell. But small business starter probably even have no idea what kind products to start with first.

a. High-Value or Small Size Products

Shipping is always a big problem for small quantity importers. Because their shipping volume is always too less for LCL, usually less than 2 CBM, and have to choose air freight or express, which cost 8-10 times higher than LCL sea freight.

Products with large size or large package, like mug and teddy bear, is not suitable for small quantity importers, because both express and air freight fee is charged by dimension weight (length*height*width).

fashion accessories
Fashion accessories are good choice for small quantity buyer

This means your shipping cost is even higher than products’ value, but your competitors import by LCL sea freight which costs 80% less than you. Then you have no chance to compete with them in local market.

So for small quantity importers, high-value, small-sized products are better choice. Shipping cost won’t be high, sometimes only 10% of product’s value. Such as fashion accessories, small electronic products, watches, etc. Most importers of them won’t choose sea shipping because of the timeliness, so no need to worry about your shipping cost is higher than competitors.

b. Choose Interesting Products, Instead of Normal Items

Small quantity buyers can try to find some special and interesting products, and avoid those common products which can be bought everywhere.

Some people think that daily used products, such as socks, are very easy to be sold as everyone needs them, but it’s not true. Because there must be numerous people importing and selling these items with low profit, and it will be hard to compete with them. But you can think about importing some special socks, such as “non-slip children socks”, or socks with good designs.

Common products in daily life are not suitable for small business, either. For instance, we received many inquiries of from different countries (European and Middle East countries), and they want to import 20GP container of A4 printing papers.

toilet paper
Interesting toilet paper with pictures printed

But they only found that the total cost to import from China has no big difference from the price in their countries. Because this kind of product has no much added value, and the cost is mostly depending on raw material. So the price is very transparent, even with large demanded quantity.

Toilet paper is also a very common product, but our Czech customer select those with interesting designs printed: such as US dollar, Euro, Heller, and even Kama Sutra. These special toilet paper can be easily sold in several times higher price than the common one.

3.How to Find Chinese Suppliers for Small Quantity Buyers?

Most small quantity buyers find Chinese suppliers on Internet. Even customers who buy larger quantity (around USD 30,000-50,000 for each order), they seldom actually come to China for finding suppliers, except attending some fairs.

First is the high cost, including air ticket, hotel fee, and traffic allowance, and it will cost totally around USD 4,000 for a week visiting China. Second is finding a good Chinese supplier is a tough task, except you go directly to some places like fairs or Yiwu wholesale market. Or you already contacted suppliers before coming to China.

a. Alibaba

No matter for large buyers or small quantity buyers, searching Chinese suppliers on Alibaba is the best choice. But If you are buying too small quantity (less than USD 400 for each item), Alibaba suppliers probably can’t sell you because usually they have higher MOQ.

Maybe you can pay for products in higher price, and sometimes suppliers will sell you. If not, you have to turn to DHgate or Aliexpress. Don’t spend much time on persuading them that you will buy big quantity in future, and this is for trial. Because Chinese suppliers are hearing this from clients every day, and it doesn’t work at all.

If you want to learn how to find good suppliers on Alibaba, please check another article: Tips for Sourcing Good Suppliers on Alibaba. You Never Knew Before.

b. Dhgate and Aliexpress

If the Alibaba supplier’s MOQ is still hard for you to reach, maybe you can only go to DHgate and Aliexpress. Usually DHgate tends to small quantity wholesalers whose buying quantity is between Alibaba and Aliexpress. Aliexpress more tends to retailers, though it claims itself for online wholesale, and this truth is known by most Chinese suppliers.

4.How to Ship Cargo from China When Buying Small Quantity?

I have to say that shipping way is really a big problem for small quantity buyers as mentioned in the beginning. Sometimes small quantity have to give up importing from China because express is the only way to ship, and it’s too expensive.

a. International Express and Air Freight

International express is suitable for cargoes under 300kg, while air freight is suitable for over 300kg. But air freight needs the same import & export processes as sea freight. You also need to pick up your cargo at the airport.

Hazardous articles such as liquid, power and products with battery cannot be shipped by air in cargo. Balancing scooter is also one among them. (You can check another article-Importing Balancing Scooter from China: Problems You Should Know)

b. LCL Companies That Offer All-in Price Shipping Service

This kind of LCL companies are the best choice for small quantity buyers. They usually are specialized in certain ports or areas, and offer all-in price shipping service. They will handle all custom and shipping process, and you just need to pick up your cargo in their warehouse, or sometimes they can deliver to door. Their price is very low even you ship 0.5CBM, because the container is shared by 10 to 40 clients.

(You can learn more by check another article: How to Ship Products When Import from China: Complete Guide)

But these kind of companies are hard to find, not existing in every area or cities. You’d better ask some experienced importers in your country, and maybe they know.

I know some of this kind shipping companies as a China sourcing agent, and I’d like to share them. You can leave your email and country in the comment, and I will send you contact information via Email.

There are companies offering $80/CBM to Malaysia & Singapore, delivering to door; $280/CBM to Kenya but you have to pick up cargos at their warehouse in Nairobi; $280/CBM to Sydney/Melbourne warehouse, etc. The rate is just for reference.

c. Consolidate Cargoes from Different Suppliers And Ship Together

If you are buying from different suppliers, then you can think about consolidate them in one shipment, and you will save shipping cost. Because even use international express, heavy cargo is charged in lower price/kg than light one.

It makes more sense for sea freight. If you import 5 different products from 5 suppliers, each product 0.5CBM, then you can consider to consolidate them together by LCL sea shipping. By doing this, your shipping cost will be 80% less than express. Or you have to pay for 5 international express separately, because there’s no cheaper solution.

So you need a China sourcing agent to consolidate your cargoes in China. One solution is to find a reliable forwarder who has its own warehouse, then you can use it for consolidation (usually free of charge). However, most of forwarders don’t have warehouse, and they just pick up your cargo from the supplier, then send to LCL shipping company to load in container. (This may due to the particularity of Chinese shipping agency industry, which we will introduce in future article)

Another Solution is you can choose one reliable supplier, and let other suppliers send all the cargoes to him, then the forwarder can pick up cargoes together in one place.

We strongly recommend you find a  China sourcing agent to try to consolidate cargoes, so that you can gain more import experience. Then congratulations, you moved the first step of expanding your business, and you can try to purchase larger quantity next time.

Consolidate cargos from different suppliers and ship together
Forwarder are picking up consolidated cargoes in customer’s warehouse

5.How to Avoid Scam When Buying Small Quantity as a Business Beginner?

Many starter business are afraid of being scammed when buying products on Internet from China, but the truth is seldom people were under this case.

No matter you are buying from Alibaba, Aliexpress, or DHgate, none of suppliers can take your money without sending the products. Because on this kind of online platforms, all suppliers are required to offer their Chinese ID cards, or company registration information in the beginning. Then they have to pay certain amount fee every year to become suppliers on these platforms. Such as for being Gold Supplier in Alibaba, you have to pay CNY 29,800 (around USD 4,730) annually for member fee; pay for USD 4,700 deposit to become suppliers in Aliexpress.Gold Supplier on Alibaba

One interesting thing is: many people believe that Gold Suppliers are qualified suppliers verified by Alibaba, that’s also what Alibaba tells. But it’s not true. All suppliers on Alibaba are Gold Suppliers, because they already paid for it. So you can just ignore the Gold Supplier thing when searching suppliers on Alibaba.

So the worst situation is the products sent by supplier are in worse quality than you expect, or less products you received.

What you should do when finding suppliers online is being careful, and do not only focus on lowest price, because you already can get good profit in retail. Or you will take risk of receiving cheap quality or problem products. Even you want to return the products at that time, you will find shipping cost is high, and most Chinese sellers don’t accept return and refund. So you should get a China sourcing agent to help you.