germex wrote :

Now I know why you spelled it "wore". Alibaba doesn't allow the correct spelling. Oh well... But anyway, let's hope this kind of thinking is not so common in the US, because it sounds rather chauvinistic and offensive. There is more to this world than the US and its way of being.

 

reply

from your ID it seems that your not american , so i guess you may not fully understand.

just in case your interested , i currently have 20-25 suppliers who work according to my needs and policies. i have dealt with a few that i dont deal with anymore and i recieve as many as 30 selling offers a day.

yes the spelling a changed due to alibaba policy , but i did not make up the line. i have heard it many times including CEOs and of companys traded on the NYSE . If you think bargaining is such a meanigfull way to do business , why dont you go to your stock broker and start bargining about your stocks.  whats the difference if it is trading for $10 , bargin him down for $8 . 

My point was as follows . To many people in the USA who do business , in almost all legitimate businesses things have a market value , things have certain overhead cost , therefore you can negotiate terms , and various other things , but that to always play games with prices make the business illigit . For that very reason among other reasons many large american companies do not do business directly with china.

therefoe to the one that asked the question who wanted to know what the problem westerners have the the chinese "culture "  of bargaining , i was explaining that in the USA the say bargaining as an act of a wore . yes i meant   whith an " h " because it is illigitmate busines. it is like small time bartering . One you get into the real game if you sit there bargaining you will waste more time doing that than making money.

second point is that because most big business is the USA are ligitmate and you cannot bargian. ( lets see you go into walmart , target , jcpenny , macys , sear, ECT and bargain.) Therefore the market here is set . if suppliers cannot get the prices they need they cannot survive, therefore the do not see any supplier who tries to bargain as a legit supplier for them.

therefore basically all chinese suppliers have one of two option. the have to realize that today they are in a global economy so the either can cater to the western market and give the prices needed without wasting time and bargaining or the can play theor price games and usually they will not be succesful to the USA market.

 

on a personal level i have come up with a system of sorting through all the people a factories contacting me , which is why i am down to about 25. i will reveal who i do it , because i believe that it is part of the secret of successfully buying from china and importing to the USA, but i will say as follows. to any importer looking to import into the USA  -----   if a factory bargain and plays price games , it means they do not understand the american market and you will just be wasting time. it may take a little longer to find a supplier who does not play this games but in the long run you will save a lot of time and energy.  let those who play these games deal with the middle east and africa and asia . and to factories looking to supply to the USA -- you need to understand your customer. if you play price games your not worth it to any serioud buyer, i know it may be hard to do it as your culture is still comming out of its bartering days , but if you want to deal with developed countries you need to understand how to deal with regulated business,

 

 

shimi wrote:

from your ID it seems that your not american , so i guess you may not fully understand...

Does it matter if I'm American? If it does for you, almost everybody in this world will tell you that you are the one who is wrong. This chauvinistic attitude - expecting the rest of the world to bow down to you and copy your style - doesn't get you anywhere. Understand, respect and accept that most people are not Americans and therefore don't think, talk and act like one. How can that be so difficult?

 germax wrote:

Does it matter if I'm American? If it does for you, almost everybody in this world will tell you that you are the one who is wrong. This chauvinistic attitude - expecting the rest of the world to bow down to you and copy your style - doesn't get you anywhere. Understand, respect and accept that most people are not Americans and therefore don't think, talk and act like one. How can that be so difficult?

 

i posted a reply to a queston about western business culture. The USA is by far the worlds largest inpoter and consumer even though there are countries with 2-5 times the population size.

did you ever wonder why international business is done in emglish?  maybe we should do it in spanish ?  because you can probably calculate that spanish is spoken in the most countires in the world.

the answe is very simple . the USA has complety dominated the international trade and international development for the past 100 years. weather you like it or not. the US mentality is what sets the tone for developement. structured companies have much more stability , companies that play games are here today gone tomorrow.  the chinese companies who want to get into the developed world will have to adapt to this mentality and they are. while it may be a minority , many of the factories are. unfortumatly those from backward or developing countries will take some time to understand it. i was just trying to be helpful in trying to explain the mentality of many of those in america. being policaly correct to a culture will not help your business grow in the USA. it will just help you get wiped out by the pros who really understand what they are doing.

  Hello jasmine how are you? i am ds kumar from india smb overseas managing directer,i like in your business items so pls give your company specification and profile!if you like sent me your all details with photo!!!!!!!reply me,thank you.

shimi wrote:

 the USA has complety dominated the international trade and international development for the past 100 years. weather you like it or not. the US mentality is what sets the tone for developement. structured companies have much more stability , companies that play games are here today gone..

The US is - or should I say "was" - indeed controlling the world, but a good look at history and the present economic situation will tell you two important details.  One is that they controlled via brute force, not intelligence. The other is almost a consequence of this: their economic system is in shambles and going down the drain. That's what you expect us to copy? Your suggestion makes me remember the well known American expression, "forget it!"

Ocassionally I'm (very carefully) dealing with American businesses, but they either get the drift or there is no business. I'm not interested in repeating their mistakes. And from what I deduct from the other contributions to this thread, nobody else is either. But have it your way and suffer the consequences.

This has nothing to do with chauvinism or xenophobia; it's just about common sense. The American model has created a short-lived economic boom and (we are almost there) utter destruction. You might disagree with this assertion, but I hope you understand that everybody who shares my opinion (and that's the vast majority of the world population) will also share my reluctance to copy the US in any regard... including the opposition to bargaining, the subject that brought us here in the first place.

Very glad to share your ideas on business culture shock. I have learn a lot from here. Thanks all of you here, since I am a new comer for international trade. I feel despressed, for I even didn't touch one potential customers by email or msn for1 month. It's hard to get access to foreign buyers for me .So pity.Can someone here offer some fine ideas on how to get access to overseas customers?
Thanks in advance!
faithfully

hopefaiyear wrote:

Can someone here offer some fine ideas on how to get access to overseas customers?

Thanks in advance!

faithfully

Though it's not related to the subject at hand, I would say, "look for other countries, besides your traditional customers". I really do believe that it is time to look for other options. At the very least, it won't hurt to diversify and have customers all around the world.

I seems that a couple of you have side tracked from the actual topic. Also allowing personal issues to become the topic. If one looked closely at the crisis that hit the USA, one would see it was the foolishness and greed of about 50 powerful businessmen. To state a "countries" way of doing business brought them to failure, is short sightedness.
I am both a buyer and seller. Doing business in 43 countries, lived in Italy 8 years, China 4 years, Brazil 2 years. The GOAL is the same everywhere, only methods are different. Both sides must be willing to give and take a little. My business is much more difficult than most. As we design items the world has never seen before. We build 1 prototype for the buying customer, he must then find a factory to mass produce it.
In some countries like China, finding a factory to help produce 1 item is almost impossible as they do not see the profit in it. (my buyers usually mass produce from the factories which helped produce the prototype) Other countries want the chance to bring a new item to market. Many foreign customers looking to produce new items in China give up quickly when they hear the phrase "this is no easy". My customer looks at 'possible' salesin the future and invests a lot of money into the development. His investment is a good sign that his product will sell well (usually)and assumes the risk which goes with introducing a new item to market.. The factories see this as an UNTESTED market or item and refuse to help develop it because the profits may or may not come. Both sides have their view. Both are right FOR THEM.
Make it simple- If you do not "feel" right doing business with someone, try someone else. If you take business personally, you only get old fast.

caldwellrdengineering wrote:

I seems that a couple of you have side tracked from the actual topic.

Yes we have, and I apologize for that. Unfortunately sometimes it's necessary to do that to get somebody off his high horse and make him think before he talks. The evident attitude of  "oh, in my country we do everything right" isn't useful for anybody. So please take my previous words with the necessary grain of salt.

Otherwise, I'm surprised by your experience (which is also only marginally on topic). Occassionally I also look for manufacturers who are willing to fabricate a prototype, and on an average I would say that about a dozen respond at first, while about half of them later drop out because they don't want to produce that sample. But that the ones who hang in there are still enough to do my job.

The ones who respond are the ones who are willing to negotiate, bargain, adjust, etc., and therefore the ones we like to deal with. If in our job we would only receive simple "yes-no" answers, we would be in real trouble. So there definitely there isn't only _space_ for bargaining, but a need. And that opinion is fully on topic.

I think alll the same to do bussiness all over the world