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Help Visiting China
One of the services we offer is help with visiting China. Some clients like to visit the factories and experience the whole journey in to China, and why not? Not only do you get to experience doing business in China but it's also a fascinating country full of ancient history so why not take some of that in too.
So how easy is it getting in to China?
There are many "i's" to dot and "t's" to cross before you even step foot on the plane, so it's important that you have everything covered. We are able to assist with getting your visa flights and hotels all arranged, and whilst that sounds simple enough, it does require patience and time.
Chinese etiquette.
Doing business in China requires you learn a very specific subset of the country’s culture. Traditional Chinese business etiquette and customs are different than those of Western culture, so you need to brush up on them if you plan to visit the People’s Republic for professional purposes. Why? Because understanding Chinese business etiquette is vital so you avoid slipping up and offending your Chinese business partners (no one wants that).
Below we have put together some of the top tips you need to know before conducting business on a professional level.
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Why should I use Sourcing Maze rather than going direct myself?Like the saying goes "you get what you pay for". You can certainly go direct, but using our services, you are drawing on our experience and our knowledge of how to conduct business in China. When dealing with a country you have never dealt with before, it can be very costly when you don't know what you are doing. Also, your inexperience will show and most likely you'd be paying far more for your product (cost per unit) than you would off by our Chinese partners carrying out the negotiations for you. Our services are here to take the headache out of EVERYTHING, give you peace of mind and also cover many areas you had either forgot about or hadn't realised you needed to be concerned with.
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What is the minimum order quantity of my product?This depends on what you are looking to source. Factories have different requirements based on what you want to produce and how much tooling is required to make it. To give you an example, if you wanted to produce 10,000 iphone cases, then this would be possible. If you want 100, then the quantity would be too small and wouldn't be worth it from either our point of view or the factories.
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How do I know the quality will be ok when it arrives?Properly the most common question asked. The simple answer is - that's what you're paying us for. We will carry out inspections on your products during the manufacturing process and before being shipped, all to your strict guidelines. If they don't pass, they won't be shipped. Furthermore, with the aid of modern technology our team on the ground can Facetime you and talk you through anything in real-time meaning, there is no downtime. Unfortunately due to Chinese law WhatApp/FB Messenger and Skype are not available.
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Are goods manufactured in China tested to UK/EU standards?Yes and all quality standards required. Furthermore we request all CE certificates and check they are still current. We also require the technical files to accompany the CE certificate to ensure the correct testing has been carried out to the correct BSI EN numbers.
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Who makes all of the payments to factory, port authorities, logistics companies, and so on?"Sourcing Maze will arrange all payments to the relevent companies.
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When do I have to make payments to Sourcing Maze?Your first payment is your deposit with the order (normally around 30-40% of the invoice total); next payment when goods are all produced and ready for shipping.
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Can I have references from companies that Sourcing Maze have worked with?Not a problem, reach out to us and we will be happy to send some of our customers your way.
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Do I have to arrange my own shipping?No, Sourcing Maze will arrange this for you.
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Isn't it more expensive to use an agent like yourself to import my product?Of course we have to make money as a agency, however, it's a lot more expensive if you do it yourself and get it wrong. The good news is our handling fee is only a small % of the factory costs which we hope you will find worth it.
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Am I able to get a sample of my product first?Yes, in fact we would never go in to full manufacturing without you approving a sample first.
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Are samples free?Unfortunately samples are not free. Due to the complexity of some designs they can be quite technical, however, we get all costs for you to approve first.
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How long will it take to make and deliver me my product(s)?This can vary depending on the type of product you require, the quantity, the shipping lines and weather at sea. From order it's usually 30-40 days for manufacturing and around 30 days at sea. Realistically you should be working on around 12-14 weeks from order to delivery but this can change.
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What happens if I'm not happy with my goods when they arrive?Firstly we have our team check the goods before they are shipped in order to prevent this, however, it's not always possible to check every nut bolt and fixing due to quantities. Imagine if you purchased 100,000 cigeratte lighters, it's not feasable to check each one given the cost vs man hours. In this case what we do is a spot check on 5-10% of the order and should the order fail at any point during this, we would delay the whole order until such time the problem can be rectified. Once the consigment arrives in to the UK, if you are unhappy we would work with you and the manufacture to get the problem rectified.
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How long are the product guarantees?This depends on what you what us to agree with the factory. Normally 12 months, but this can change based on negotitations.
Social Media
You may or may not be aware that the Chinese government banned most of the most popular social media sites and as such they are not available to access whilst you are in China. The most popular ones include: Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Skype, Google Search, YouTube, Ebay, Amazon, Gmail, Pinterest, Tumblr, Snapchat, Picasa, WordPress, Blogspot, Blogger, Flickr, SoundCloud, Google Hangouts, Google Play and Hootsuite.
The main reason behind the government banning these is safeguarding the political affairs and prevent illegal content. With privacy maintained, the country isn’t dependent on other sites. Rather, it encourages local social media platforms to grow and indirectly help the country’s economy. Undoubtedly, this model has worked very positively for China, making it world’s safest cyber security country.
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