Why Use Sourcing Agents?

Sourcing Agents

You might think that using an agent is not a good idea, I actually thought this before….but not I can see huge benefit in using an agent….if you can find a good one!

Typically using an agent will cost you nothing….because they can normally negotiate a much better price than you!

Why using a sourcing agent is good for your business!!

          1. We know a lot of suppliers

• This can help you get the best price and also the best quantity! – we knows what the suppliers make and what they outsource
• You don’t want your factory outsourcing your order, there will be two levels of overheads and profits added to the unit cost, meaning it costs more than buying direct!
• It’s moved outside of your control, now the factory your buying from is controlling what is put into your product….and guess what 9 of 10 times they are trying to cost it down to make more profit!

2. We know which suppliers are the good ones

• Knowing the factories personally, know the owner rather than just the sales girl, knowing which ones are honest, reliable, will be helpful if there is a problem, rather than saying “nothing to do with us!”

3. We know which suppliers are the specialists at certain products

• You want a bamboo material baby blanket, your supplier says they can make it and they can, but there is another factory that just specialise in Bamboo material baby products, who do you think can make it best?

4. We knows the market trends

• We can advise you what are the hot products, can understand the raw material market, the labour cost in each region….is the price going up or down….

5. We have many customers….we are constantly understanding the market conditions

•  Are the prices in the market going up (she can give you advanced notice) are the prices coming down….she can make sure you get that revised quotation!

6. We know the market things like change in business direction, businesses being bought, businesses going bankrupt, businesses being sold and joint ventures

• You might not think it but all of these things can affect you in a large way but believe me they can, your selling budget product, but suddenly your main supplier is bought by one of their main customers and has a complete change of direction to only make premium products, the first you will know is when you start having problems with supply….we are on the ground and can be advising you before it effects your business.

7. We know the market value of the products

• You want the price cheaper, we know what the supplier might change to get you that cheaper price, we also know what this effects and what to look for during the quality inspection.
• An example would be change the toner powder in a laser printer from Japanese to Chinese….what’s the effect? As the cartridge starts to run down the powder the output will get lighter and lighter….Ie. when the cartridge has 20% powder, the colour of the print out is only 20% of the original colour when using the Chinese powder!

8. We have a lot of industry contacts

• We sell a lot of Laser Printer Cartridges, You tell us you’ve got a quality problem, your bought the cartridges around nine months ago, but now your end users are complaining the new cartridges do not print, the customer has taken the cartridge apart and found the powder has gone “rock hard”…..we call the factory and discusses with them, the sales girl says this is normal the cartridge has got too hot and it’s too old!, for you this would be the end of the communication, for us will now contact the technology guy in the company, he tells her the same story….So what now, from our extensive list of contacts in this industry we call the technology guy from a competitor, he tells us that this is not normal, their cartridges are guaranteed for 18 months and this is industry standard, he expects the reason is the Silca gel has been missed from the product packaging, on checking it’s not been missed, but been put into the box rather than the product bag, meaning it cannot absorb the excess moisture and hence the powder absorbed it instead…..
• RESULT: Factory agreed to replace the faulty items with the next order!