5 Key Things When Dealing with Manufacturers

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Prospective private label sellers, I need to talk to you. Creating your own product from scratch is a very satisfying process. While it may take a good while before you have your item in your hand and ready to put on the market, the results can make you question why you didn’t attempt to do it sooner.

I’m assuming you have some capital ready to use and plenty of ideas ready to bring to life. Before you start contacting companies that may be able to assist in bringing it to life, there are a number of things you need to know first.

Don’t contact a single manufacturer on Alibaba or anywhere else until you have read through them all.

1. Inflate the Size of Your Company

When you make inquiries, never introduce yourself as the director of the company. These manufactures deal with businesses with hundreds of employees, for which there will be a specific buying team that have a set budget. Assume the role of someone with that team that has been assigned a non-moveable budget, not the director, who would have the power to increase that budget or even take out credit to secure the goods. Unless they’re able to meet you at a price that falls within your budget, you have to walk away from the deal.

It’s a key thing to remember from the outset, as it will become the difference maker as to how much money you end up having to spend to bring a product to market. Let’s try to keep that figure right down.

2. Never Accept the First Quote

It should go without saying, but you need to get as many quotes as you can first. The more companies you take into consideration, the better you’ll know what a fair price looks like to manufacture your product. It also gives you the ability to barter with them to knock prices down further or reduce the order quantity to a more manageable figure.

Keep building up your negotiating power, so you get the best deal available. There’s never going to be an exact number on how many quotes to get as it depends on what product you’d like to create. Some products may only have a few manufacturers that specialise in making whatever it is that you need.

3. Request Samples

Once you have narrowed down your search and eliminated the options that are too pricey for you, it’s time to request that some samples are created and sent out to you. Ask all of your favourite options to send a single sample by air freight and see what happens. See how quickly each can get a single unit created and how efficient the process is for each. Note that some may charge for this (and refund once you make a full order) while others may be willing to send out a freebie. Don’t judge a manufacturer based on this.

Never sell a product that you haven’t tried out for yourself first. You don’t want your customers to find a fault or a problem blind to arise before you do. Testing the samples for quality and figure which you feel is the best for your needs.

4. Know Your Terminology

There’s a lot of terminology that will be completely unfamiliar to you until you go through the process of getting a product made and shipped from overseas. Thankfully there are plenty of resources to get your up to scratch before you find yourself in the middle of these conversations.

I feel like the most important term you need to know from the outset is FOB. More often than not, someone making their first private label product is going to want to request FOB prices for their items, so remember to stats it when you make your quote, as it’s likely to make a significant difference to your price.

5. Be Clear in All Communication

Never leave a single question unanswered. Never make assumptions. Make sure everything is in writing. You’re most likely going to order hundreds of units. You will be kicking yourself if there’s some sort of imperfection with the product caused by the fact that you thought that they would alter it for you.

Once you’ve received your sample, it’s important to note down every single element that is wrong with it to make sure that they fix it for the final version. You may even want a follow-up version before you spend however much it is to bring it to market. Get the goods you want and get them to market with complete confidence.