How to choose the right agent to import furniture from China
We have been sourcing furniture for a long time. In this article, we’ll tell how to choose the right agent and risks of choosing the wrong one.
Why it might be risky to work with private translators at Foshan furniture markets
There are a lot of private translators in Guangzhou and Foshan, 98% of them are Chinese. Despite the huge choice, finding a good one can be challenging. Even if your friend recommended this translator, you can still encounter some of these problems:
- It can be a superb translator but not experienced in furniture, its quality, materials etc.
- Foshan furniture markets are gigantic and with a translator not specializing in furniture and those markets you’ll lose at least a couple of days when roaming around and looking for the right model (people often contact us after wasting their time with translators and not finding anything they came here for).
- Translators (usually) have no experience in quality control.
- Translators don’t know how to place orders at furniture markets nor what they should pay attention to when doing it.
- They won’t be responsible for the order after you’re gone.
What are the risks of buying furniture in China on your own?
Some people even try to buy everything on their own, without a translator, agents or any knowledge of Chinese (sometimes even without English). The calculator is your best friend — this is a popular headline on many Indian forums. Why would you pay someone else if you can just haggle with the help of a calculator, the language of numbers is very international.
What risk do you take in this case?
- You have to blindly trust vendors since all documents handwritten and filled in Chinese.
- There is no one to check on the manufacturing process and do quality check after.
- Chinese suppliers understand that there is no control which means they can give you bad quality items (this does happen so we do 100% quality check to prevent it).
You can’t even object, because you have no leverage in the situation.
How to choose a reliable company to buy furniture from China (Foshan furniture markets)
What are the key points when choosing a reliable sourcing agent?
Translators with experience in buying furniture in Foshan furniture markets
Translators should have experience in buying furniture and not just do mere translation work. Our company provides experienced managers who know where and how to buy furniture in Foshan and do a quality check.
Quality control
It is very important to control suppliers on all stages: from placing an order to the after production quality checks. Our employees go to factories or its warehouses for quality inspections. That’s the only way to save yourself from furniture defects and regrets later.
Office in Foshan
One of the most important things is an office in China. Without one, you can't effectively coordinate work processes and employees. If a company does not have an office or every time you want to visit it, they move into a different place or have a renovation, that would be suspicious. It might be they don’t have an office at all.
A company without an office can easily block you after receiving your money and there is almost no way to find them.
Our company has an office in Foshan because our work requires competent managers and attention to details. We always take customers to our office to discuss work details and sign a contract.
In-house Logistics Department
Another important thing is logistics. Many companies and private translators trust logistics to a third-party with a dubious reputation.
In this case, the company can’t control the order from consolidation to delivery. If any problems, agents start blaming the logistic company and logistic company blames the agent. Ultimately, you can only blame yourself for choosing such a company.
Our company is one of the few that carries out worldwide logistics so that we give the lowest possible prices and guarantee safe delivery.
We’ve been working in China for more than 10 years and have a lot of experience working with Chinese suppliers.
We work with clients from all over the world and have shipped furniture to more than 40 countries. Contact us if you want to buy furniture, lighting, sanitary ware and finishing materials in China.