Finding the right suppliers for beginners or seasoned experts is quite frankly, a stressful process. Where do you start?

So you did all your research and finally know exactly which products you want to bring to the market and now it’s time to find the right supplier in China. But where do you start?

1.  Alibaba.com

The very first I used Alibaba was back in 2001 when my college roommate and I decided to research top selling product on eBay. Back then we didn’t have software like Terapeak to research products so we used completed listings in eBay to conduct our research, and found that 6-second abs were a hot product.

We quickly jumped on Alibaba and found multiple suppliers. We just assumed that everyone was a factory so the only vetting we did was to order a sample.

We received our sample and everything looked legit and we started selling 20 per day at a $15 profit. Not bad for a couple of college students.

2. Global Sources

Global sources have been around as long as Global Sources. What I like about Global Sources is that they hold tradeshows twice a year so that you can come to Hong Kong and meet them face-to-face. If you are serious about finding the right supplier to help you grow, I highly suggest you come to Asia and meet them and also vet their factories.

You never know who you are dealing with until you meet them in person. Factories like any business come and go and you never know if you are dealing with a factory or trading company until you come out yourself.

3. CES

If you are looking for electronic suppliers. CES is a great opportunity to meet Chinese suppliers that here to stay. If a Chinese factory is willing to fly their staff to Las Vegas and pay for a booth, they are an established supplier.

Although they want to meet new buyers, their main purpose is to meet existing clients.

These types of suppliers are at the top of the factory chain and their price will reflect that as well.