in this video you'll learn how to find
wholesale suppliers without alibaba
alibaba is not the only game in town and
there are much better alternatives out
there
[Music]
now alibaba is super convenient for
finding factories and suppliers in china
but it's not the only game in town in
fact many chinese suppliers cannot be
found on alibaba and you're severely
limiting your options by relying on
alibaba for all of your product sourcing
needs for example every wholesale
supplier that we use for our seven
figure online handkerchief store is not
on alibaba now the main benefit of
alibaba is that you can quickly access
thousands of suppliers and products with
a simple search and the interface is
intuitive easy to use and you can get
full audit reports on any factory on the
platform
but the main disadvantage of alibaba is
that everyone buys from alibaba the best
suppliers are often not on alibaba
because they already have an established
customer base and don't want to deal
with random inquiries in addition
alibaba is flooded with middlemen and
trading companies so you have to sort
through a sea of suppliers before you
find a good one now to expand your
wholesale supplier search here are my
favorite alibaba alternatives that are
as good or better alibaba alternative
number one is global sources global
sources is a leading online chinese
supplier directory that connects buyers
with suppliers all over the world with
over 1.5 million suppliers global
sources is considered one of alibaba's
main competitors that specializes in
electronics and accessories now overall
the suppliers on global sources tend to
be more established and higher quality
than alibaba and as a result the minimum
order quantities will often be higher
now in addition to their supply
directory global sources also offers a
wide range of value-added services such
as product sourcing market research and
logistics to help buyers get the most
out of their sourcing experience and
twice a year they also run the global
sources summit which is one of the best
sourcing trade shows in the world next
to the canton fair
so here are the pros of global sources
they're the second largest supplier
directory next to alibaba it's quick and
easy to find suppliers online they have
higher quality suppliers compared to
alibaba and they have better suppliers
for electronics than alibaba they also
hold their own supplier trade show in
hong kong twice a year and i would say
that global sources summit conference is
a must attend
but here are the downsides the minimum
order quantities tend to be higher than
alibaba on average and global sources is
smaller than alibaba in terms of the
number of suppliers
alibaba alternative number two is going
to the canton fair the canton fair held
in guanzo china is one of the largest
trade shows in the world for businesses
looking to source products from china
and the fair is split into three phases
with each phase featuring a different
range of products phase one is
electronics and machinery phase two is
building materials and home furnishings
and phase three is gifts and toys now
going to the canton fair is my favorite
way to find china wholesale suppliers
because
you can touch and see actual product
samples you can meet the factories face
to face you can find factories not on
alibaba and you will be working with
real factories and not middlemen now the
canton fair attracts hundreds of
thousands of visitors from all over the
world and it's a great opportunity to
see the latest products and trends from
china it's also an excellent way to meet
potential suppliers and manufacturers
directly and negotiate deals right on
the spot
here are the pros you can meet hundreds
of factories in the span of just a week
you can see and touch actual product
samples you can find factories not in
alibaba and you can negotiate and close
deals on the spot here are the downsides
of canton fair you gotta travel to china
and hotel and airfare can be expensive
alibaba alternate number three is to use
an import database now every sea
shipment into the united states is
documented on the u.s import records and
you can browse these records to find out
the exact factories that any company
uses
now the jungle scout supplier database
is a tool that allows you to search this
import record to see what any company is
importing the us and in what quantities
the exact factories that are being used
how often any company imports by c and
here's a demo over here on how to use
jungle scout to find the suppliers that
your competition is using and in the
show notes below there's actually a
coupon where you can save 30 on the tool
now here are the pros of using an import
database it's very easy to find who your
competitors are using as a factory you
can approximate the sales volume for any
company you can get product ideas by
seeing what other companies are
importing as well
here are the downsides the tools to
access the database cost money these
factories might be large and not be
willing to work with you and then
companies can also hide their
information from the public record
alibaba alternative number four is to
use a china sourcing agent a china
sourcing agent is a consultant that
connects you with factors in china to
produce your products and they typically
live in china and help you locate
manufacturers that cannot be found on
alibaba now a good china sourcing agent
will have a strong network of trusted
factories freight forwarders and
inspection companies to make your
sourcing experience simple and easy so
for example they will pre-screen
factories for quality they will
negotiate on your behalf they will
communicate with factories in fluent
chinese they help with quality control
and they will find you low-cost freight
forwarders to deliver your products now
depending on the agent or service a
china sourcing agent typically charges
five percent of your cost of goods
you're the pros to using an agent you
find pre-vetted companies without doing
any work you can find factories not in
alibaba you can negotiate better pricing
and you have a trusted person on the
ground in china
here are the downsides though it costs
money and you cannot bypass the agent
and work with the factory directly and
sometimes there are possible back door
deals between the agent and the factory
alibaba alternate number five is made in
china made in china.com is an online
directory that connects chinese
manufacturers and suppliers with
international buyers now the made in
china site offers a wide range of
products from electronics and machinery
to clothing and home decor buyers can
browse through a huge catalog of over 40
million products request quotes and
place orders directly with suppliers
made in china also offers a number of
value-added services such as quality
control and logistics and compared to
alibaba and global sources made in china
is the third largest b2b platform in
china however they offer more industrial
and construction-based products than any
other supplier directory now all the
suppliers i made in china are verified
for quality and you can view a full
supplier audit report to get more
information about every vendor here the
pros are made in china they are the
third largest supplier directory next to
alibaba it's a quick and easy way to
find suppliers online they have the
largest directory of industrial and
construction-based suppliers in china
here are the downsides though made in
china is smaller than alibaba and global
sources made in china suppliers tend to
be more expensive than alibaba alibaba
alternate number six is thomas net
thomas net is an online resource for
finding and connecting with
manufacturers and suppliers in the
united states their website includes a
search engine that allows users to
search for specific products and
services as well as a directory of
manufacturers suppliers and distributors
they also have a forum where users can
ask questions and share information
about their experiences with various
suppliers
now to find suppliers on thomasnet all
you got to do is enter your product into
the search bar you can search by keyword
product type or company name and you can
narrow down your results by location
industry or certifications so overall
thompson is a great way to find
factories in the united states here are
the pros it's easy to find factors in
the us you can interact with other
sellers on the forum there's a fast
turnaround time because you're dealing
with u.s suppliers and there's no
language barrier here are the downsides
though the prices are more expensive
than china and thomas net is
significantly smaller than alibaba the
next alibaba alternative is dhgate
dhgate is an online marketplace that
connects chinese manufacturers and
wholesalers with buyers from all over
the world they offer a wide range of
products including electronics clothing
shoes and more
now unlike alibaba the majority of
sellers on dhgate are individual
businesses and not factories as a result
dhgate is not good for finding private
label suppliers however it's a great
place to source a variety of products at
low minimum order quantities to test the
market here the pros at dhgate low
minimum order quantities on products you
have a buyer protection program which
ensures all purchases there's end-to-end
tracking and there's a large variety of
products here's the downside though
quality control is poor and the
merchandise tends to be cheap the next
alibaba alternative is tradekey now
tradekey is a business business
marketplace that connects chinese
companies with international buyers and
suppliers founded in 2006 they have over
9.6 million members from over 225
countries and they offer a suite of
tools and services to help businesses
find and connect with international
buyers and suppliers including product
and company directories trade leads and
a secure messaging system they also
offer a range of value-added services
such as market research trade show
promotion and web design and development
here the pro's a trade key it's a quick
and easy way to find suppliers online
and they have a large directory of
chinese sellers but the downside is
trade key is significantly smaller than
alibaba and to be honest with you their
website looks like it was designed in
the 90s but it gets the job done
next alibaba alternative is ec21 now
ec21 is a leading global b2b marketplace
connecting buyers with suppliers all
over the world with over 2.5 million
registered users from over 190 countries
they offer a wide range of product
categories including chemicals
electronics food and beverages health
and beauty minerals and packaging and
paper
now on the ec21 website you can post
trade leads buying requests and view
supplier company profiles buyers can
find products by just using the search
bar browsing through product categories
or by creating a buyer request you can
also find suppliers by searching through
the supplier directory or attending one
of ec21's many trade shows now ec21 is
open to all companies and the website is
free to use here are the pros it's a
quick and easy way to find suppliers
they have a large directory of chinese
sellers and you can actually post buying
requests and have the sellers respond
but the downside is that ec21 is
significantly smaller than alibaba and
there's no real vetting process for
sellers
the next alternative is e woo go
ewu go is the official supplier
directory of the iwoo market the world's
largest small commodities market located
in iwo china now more than 1.8 million
different products are sold in the ewo
market which is divided into five
districts with over 10 000 shops
generating over 5 million in
transactions per day now this market was
established in the 80s and has become a
major hub for small commodity trade in
china it is actually a major destination
for domestic and foreign buyers and it's
known for its low prices and wide
variety of goods now this market is open
all year round and is busiest during the
chinese new year and autumn fair periods
now they specialize in jewelry toys
clothing shoes and bags and other
products that carry a low dollar value
think dollar store products the minimum
order quantity is low at around 10
pieces and you are responsible for
shipping and negotiating with suppliers
here are the pros of ewoo it's a quick
and easy way to find suppliers online
and there's a directory of over 10 000
chinese sellers the downside is that
it's significantly smaller than alibaba
there's no real vetting process for
sellers the products are cheap and poor
quality and there's a relatively small
variety of products compared to alibaba
next alibaba alternative is 1688.
1688 is an online supplier directory
that's actually owned by alibaba that
caters to chinese businesses now in fact
1688 is nearly identical to alibaba
but targeted towards chinese customers
and the site offers a wide range of
products including electronics machinery
apparel and more
and everything on 1680 is in chinese
though so you need the help of a
translator or google translate to
understand the website so overall it's a
clone of alibaba except in chinese and
you'll find many of the same products
and suppliers on the platform but be
careful when using 1688 because the
standards of quality are lower in china
compared to the us and the eu many
suppliers on 1688 are also not
accustomed to exporting products to
foreign countries but the prices will be
cheaper than alibaba here are the pros
of 1688 quick and easy way to find
suppliers online there's a huge
directory of chinese sellers the prices
are lower than alibaba here are the
downsides the website isn't chinese the
products are lower quality and the
suppliers may not be used to exporting
to the us the next alibaba alternative
is china brands china brands is the
leading global dropship supplier from
china and a light bulk wholesaler for
businesses of all sizes they source
their products from a network of
reliable suppliers and employ a team of
professional buyers who negotiate the
best possible prices now because china
brands is a drop shipper they ship
merchandise directly to your end
customer with your logo which means you
don't have to invest in stock now
overall china brands offers over a
million products across different
categories like apparel jewelry home
goods and auto parts
here are the pros there's no minimum
water quantities on products and they
are probably the best chinese supplier
for drop shipping next to aliexpress
there's a large variety of products and
the shipping is relatively cheap and
some products can be customized
the downside though is that shipping
from china is slow the merchandise is
unbranded and can be of poor quality
the next alibaba alternative is
chinavasion chinavasion is a wholesale
marketplace that specializes in selling
chinese-made electronics and other
consumer goods to international markets
the company was founded in 2004 with the
goal of providing quality goods at
competitive prices and today it offers a
wide range of electronics such as cell
phones tablets computers home appliances
and more
now products can be purchased directly
from the china invasion website and
there's no minimum order quantity and
they also carry famous chinese brands
like huawei and xiaomi
here are the pros there's no minimum
water quantities they have a large
variety of electronic products with real
chinese brands there's a one year
warranty on products but the downside is
that shipping is expensive and quality
can be poor
now the point of this video is to tell
you that there's more out there than
alibaba while alibaba is a great place
to source products for sale it's not the
only place to look and in many cases
it's not even the best place the biggest
downside of using alibaba is that
everyone uses alibaba now by going down
the road less traveled and using the
sourcing methods in this video you can
find suppliers that no one else is using
which will give you a competitive
advantage hope you enjoyed this video
now if you like what you saw there's
actually a lot more where that came from
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