Posts by fadedpanther15

For everyone constantly whining about how bad Chinese products are. Look, the first Chinese people you run into in your neighborhood are usually folks from rural areas who aren't exactly looking for luxury. They buy what they like, which isn't really our taste or our standards for quality. As for the stuff sitting on the shelves in our local stores? You should probably thank your grocer. They’re the ones going straight to China to specifically order junk that fails every quality test just because it's dirt cheap. It's all about the bottom line for them. Then, they try to build something out of nothing because that's what Americans demand from China. In the end, they just sell you a sob story about their "craftsmanship" while charging you a 20x markup.
From my own experience, I'd say the stuff you see in New York-London-Milan is available right here with the exact same quality, just at a price people can actually afford. It's just that nobody cares about that, since you can't make a 20x profit on it.

If you guys are currently doing business or even just thinking about working with China, you really ought to start organizing yourselves. Our market here in the States is way too small to swallow up full container shipments on its own—but if you coordinate
sharing shipping costs among three or four importers, you aren't burying your own capital as deep, shipping rates drop, and once everything clears customs in the US, those overhead costs get split up.
For anyone just starting out and feeling a bit nervous about dealing with Chinese suppliers—honestly, I’d say 99% of them are pretty straight shooters and aren't looking to scam you. I actually live with them (over here in China) and
can tell you they’re incredibly polite and honest (concepts that feel pretty foreign to us most of the time). Sites like Alibaba don't necessarily highlight the best manufacturers; they mostly just show whoever has enough cash to pay for the top ad spots. If you have the means to visit China—you should definitely do it, especially Shenzhen. You'll come back with a great impression and see a side of China that's nothing like what you see on the news. Greetings from China