I talked with a supplier of memory cards.
In fact, I got to know them via one of my buyers.
My buyer would like me-a sourcing agent to has their office visited/verified and has the products checked
before place the order.
From my dialogue with the salesman, I think he made sense for some points which made me to think further about this topic.
It seems memory cards are the hot cakes to sell in the world.
So many buyers would like to buy cards from China.
They think cards in China can be cheap enough to make big profits-$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
As far as i know, there are 3 kinds of cards are available in the markets.
A. clone cards
They have the brand logo in the cards, but they are copies. It looks almost the same.
Some of them even are good quality as original ones (of course, if you are willing to pay higher, you will get good quality copy ones.
But if you bargain too much or compare the prices from different suppliers only and choose the cheapest ones,
the suppliers will give you the bad quality cards)
B. refurbish cards
They are original cards, the prices may be acceptable, but they may have virus or files, it may cause some problems.
C. original cards
Yes, it is original.
But you can imagine their prices are too high too expensive.
Maybe a little cheaper than the sales prices in your country.
But after you pay the shipping cost, import duty and other expenses, you will find little profits leave if buy them from China.
I always tell my buyers that it is hard to source the original products from China.
My exact meaning is it is almost impossible to buy from the authorized manufactories.
The factories have their own distributions and agreements with the branded company.
Plus there are only several factories have authorization for branded cards production.
It is not like thousands of manufactories on alibaba said they produce the original ones.
So the only way to source these products is to buy from the wholesalers, which the prices won't really that cheap to buy,
especially when you order small quantity. And PLS! don't forget to add shipping cost, duty and other costs into the prices.
If you are too foolish to think you can buy cheap cheap products from China and make big profits, the chances to get cheated is 90%.
I also would like to remind you: penny wise and pound foolish.
Maybe it is not an appropriate sentence. But I guess you understand what i implied at.
Just like what my supplier said, i hate those buyers who think USD100 can buy USD500 products in China.
He think THEY ARE DESERVED TO GET CHEATED.
I told him i understood the situation but this is not correct. You have to tell buyers what(quality standard) you are offering at that prices before they order.
He said, the buyers know the market, they know the prices, when you quote a price, they know what products you are selling.
But if they are too greedy, too childish, the market should give him a lessons!
It reminded me to think about another story. I help my buyer to solve a quality problem of cards with his supplier.
I argued with the sales lady why you gave him such bad quality cards? She said, the prices your buyers accepted are for such quality only!
I shouted at her on phone, you should tell him what quality you will sell at that price.
She said, every buyer want the cheapest ones. They only compare the prices from this suppier to another!
I can't say anything! They both have some points there, but I just felt sad for buyers and for sellers as a sourcing agent.
Anyway, this is business! People will learn from lessons and bad experiences.
