I have met many many times, that buyers told openly they don't like to do business with trading companies.

My friend is in a trading company and he told me recently that his order has just ruined again only because the company he stayed is a trading company but not a manufacturer! As I am his friend and I know how hard he worked and how excited he was when heard that his buyer was satisfied with his hard-working and products.
He was puzzled and not understand, is trading company so bad-impression in buyer's mind? Is there still have a room for trading company to survive if all the buyers like to contact with manufacturers?

I also don't understand, so here I post and hope could get answer if there're some buyers could see. And what should trading company do if they don't want to close their office?

Replying to [Raindrop]:
Also a trading company is exactly like any other commercial companygiving services and charging the countervalue of the service.
No one may work and earn alon , and all the possible profits form the row material upto the retail price.
On the economyc studies we learn that every step has his own cost , eother you made it by yourself or you give somebody to do it.

I realise that many unskilled people from both side buyer or seller or even trading companies making mistakes and charging so high profits that , buyer is trying to find the direct and real soruces , but also this is a matter of cost, To find and to investigate even on the net or ALIBABA ned time and effort.

With the respect tothe world of tchnology no body has to forget that beyond of the technologies and computers the HUMAN brain is conducting everyting.

Trading company or manfacturer doesn't matter as far as behind of the DEAL standing A PERSON (man or women ).

If the person standing behind of the deal is not skilled or open brained no one willbe satisfied and will try for another source or trading company even manufacturer can be replaced.

The name of the game is service quality and RELIABILITY,

Hope no one of us will fall down to do business with fullish people.

RAFAEL SADI

Replying to [Raindrop]:If you deal with a trading company you have no guarantee that your second order will come from the same manufacturer.

Warranty ? it is hard enough to find a quality, honourable manufacturer and to deal through a trader is impossible.

Service ? with a requirement for technical support a trader will be guarded and not allow a buyer access to the technical knowledge of the manuafcturer.

So, is there a place for traders NO. all they do is increase cost and are a barrier to a long term relationship.

Replying to [Raindrop]:
Hi, i still beleave that trading firm has a future,its only the approach which should be towards the target,as for buyer its always better to work with a trading firm,as sometimes trading firm gets better prices as they are working with various manufacturers and buyer has to work only with that trading firm for all his orders and all the bad work is done by the trading firm.so if trading firm has a better team of professionals who can take care of quality and on time delivery than lots of hastles are taken care by the trading firm instead of the buyer.

Replying to [Peter_WoodShop]:
Some of these trading companies especially in China get machinery from cheap sources. You have a problem when it comes to after sales service. From my experience, on 2 occasions, machines were shipped having failed to work at source.

These are the problems of trading companies. It is better that you hire an expert in that field to inspect equipment from the manufacturer. Manufacturers should normally have a track record.

The future for trading companies is bleak because they cannot guarantee standards and after sales service.

Replying to [Raindrop]:
If agent (trader) wants to stay on the market, he must add some value to his transactions. Buy cheap and sell does not work since we all have unlimited acces to information because of the internet.

Agents must give something extra:
- keep stocks for his klients,
- provide information and market inteligence research
- analize and make market prognosis
- take care of all transpoprtation, banking etc. formalities
- use barter trade

and so on. Simply since you are not producer - give to your customers something that producer won't give.

Replying to []:of course ,there is some room for the trading company. why ? because i have heard a trading company boss said, the foreign clients have a lot of difficulties to deal with the factory directly. the foreigner's thinking way is different from Chineses, they think Chinese people is very complicated, so they are often headache when they handly some problems with Chinese.then at that case, the foreign need a assistant---the middle man---to help them to resolve the hard things. i believe the company boss because i have seen such a case before, my foreign friends also think it is very difficult to understand a Chinese people doing way!!! do you believe me , there is always a room to develop a trading company unless all the people in world have the same thinking and doing way however it is need a very long time to reach such a world.

Replying to [Raindrop]:
Whay many foreign buyers do not understand is that not all manufacturers have an export licence. Additionally, manufacturers usually focus on producing a specific product range. Trading companies become useful when they start adding value to a product or a set of products.

An example is an enquiry received some time ago for 40,000 magnetic white riting boards. Each board was required to be packed with 4 white board erasers and 24 white board marker pens. This required contacting minimum 3 manufacturers and then bringing their products together to package as per the customer's requirements.

I know several large trading companies who are serving the mega buyers like Wal Mart. However, these are huge trading companies with warehouses overseas who are also acting as wholesalers and stocking custom made products for their customers.

Agreed, it is increasingly more difficult for a company who is simply trading to get customers in the age of the internet. However, trading companies who add can communicate with their customers how they are adding value by managing the supply chain and ensuring consistent quality from multiple factories are still able to survive.

I was once making travel luggage, business cases, and small leather goods for a company who had the licence for Guy Laroche. It was important that every product used the same raw materials to ensure consistent quality in the complete product range. Obviously, a large travel luggage factory is not equipped to make small leather goods or quality leather business cases. This job required me to source all raw materials and fittings and distribute them to several factories who we outsourced the labor to. Was I a manufacturer or trading company? I was a trading company who was adding value and allowing the customer consistent quality and one stop shopping from several factories.

So, to answer your question, yes, there is still a need for trading companies who add value.

Robin

Replying to [Raindrop]:ghght
gtt

Replying to [Raindrop]:trading companies are as good as the people managing them are.

Replying to [Raindrop]:


I have some different opinion on what you said,

yes, indeed now many big buyer like WALMART, TESCO , ARGOS, ETC had decided going direct business stragedy w/ manufacture, but I think the trading company still have more room to go business w/ them. You should aware that what you can provide to buyer, how to serve them, how to use your advantage , etc, it should be positively thinking. Now the internation trading is not the simply style like 1980s', be a middle man role. You should develop more add-value to buyer. I also worked in a trading company(37 history compnay) in shenzhen. That we still had business w/ Wal-mar and Tesco, because our good service , good price, new design product, professinal engough, provide one-stop buying, ect. So not be negative thinking the trading company in a bad siutation, it just represent the competion is more and more in every industy, and you shoud create more valve to your customer.


Regards.

George