Sourcing your Products

Our answer to this will always be YES!  The more eyes on your product, the more you will sell, and the faster you will double your investment.

We DON’T recommend any other sites other than Alibaba.  There are thousands and thousands of suppliers here and they are easy to deal with, most with good English skills.  They are based in China and we have the logistics in place to ship from China to the US, the UK and now into Canada.  WE DO NOT have the capability to ship from any other countries at this time (such as India, Vietnam etc). If you source from these countries, you will have to arrange your own freight forwarders and logistics to get your products into Amazon.

Yes you can download this from Module 5 - Video 2.

We suggest using this as a guideline and adapt it to the product you are asking for information on.  Remember to personalise the script!!

First of all - have you tried using different key words or phrases to describe your product?  

Second - have you potentially reached out to suppliers that sell similar things and see if they could source or make that product for you?

Lastly- if all else fails - We are here to help!  We have a sourcing agent in China that you can use for a small fee.  Email Support for more information on this.  

Most often the “samples” are FREE, but it’s the cost of Air Shipping them to you that can be costly.  They typically will use DHL or FedEX. However these prices vary from $50 - $100. Anywhere in between is quite normal.  It’s a business expense and it’s an absolute MUST before you order a substantial amount on your initial order. Quite often you can negotiate the price of the sample off your first shipment as well.  It depends on the supplier though but worth a shot!

PayPal is the most convenient and quickest.  But Bank Transfer/Wire is also an option.

This isn’t necessary from the start.  We recommend keeping your packaging simple in either a poly bag or simple gift box.  It’s good to always ask your supplier what kind of packaging they have already for this product and work from there.  Since we are “testing” the market with this product, we don’t want to spend a lot of time or unnecessary packaging costs on our first order.  The packaging can evolve over time. A simple sticker with your UPC, brand name, SKU, and product description and “Made in China” can be designed as outlined in the course and applied to the bag or box by your supplier.

If the bag opening is bigger than 5 inches, then YES you will need a suffocation label printed and applied to your polybag. The font size required by Amazon is related to the size of the packaging. You can find more information in the User Guide by using this link, including translations for different languages.

Open

Trade Assurance provides a full set of protections for buyers in global trading. Alibaba.com will refund the buyer for the supplier if the supplier does not meet the shipping time or the quality of products fails to meet contract requirements.

Trade Assurance is Alibaba.com’s order protection service, which ensures your product is produced to the quality you expect, paid for securely, and shipped on time. If it’s not, Alibaba.com customer service representatives are there for you through the dispute resolution process — from investigation to mediation and reimbursement.

While disputes are uncommon, the unexpected can happen so it’s good to be prepared, and make sure upfront that your order will be protected by Trade Assurance. Here’s how:

• Ensure you are working with a supplier covered by Trade Assurance (Look for the icon).

• Keep all your conversations with suppliers on Alibaba.com rather than speaking on private third-party apps. That way, we can use the chat history as evidence should there be a dispute.

• Create a Trade Assurance contract on Alibaba.com (or ask your supplier to), and make sure to include product quantity, product specifications, and shipping information. Depending on who is arranging/responsible for transportation and insurance, make sure the correct incoterm is reflected in your Trade Assurance contract. If you are arranging your own transportation (EXW, FCA, FAS, FOB), please make sure the shipping fee section is left blank as freight charges will be collected separately. Have attachments of your specifications uploaded to your Trade Assurance order so Alibaba.com can refer to them in case of a dispute.

• Make a secure online payment using credit card, T/T, Online bank payment, Online Transfer etc.

Should you see a problem, immediately file a dispute and Alibaba.com will step in after case escalation.

Note: The period within which you can file a dispute with your supplier may vary depending on the shipment method in your purchase contract, but it shall not exceed 30 calendar days after the date of confirmed receipt of the products.

In short - If a supplier on Alibaba has a US trading company (or runs their business through a US company) they are now requiring sellers to pay sales taxes.  If you have a reseller certificate you can upload it to Alibaba - this should exempt you from the tax. More information from Alibaba’s site: https://service.alibaba.com/page/search?pageId=125&keyword=sales%20tax%20collected%20by%20Alibaba&language=en

Marketplace Tax Collection Obligation

In general, marketplace facilitator is a platform who contracts with third party sellers to facilitate the sale of the sellers' products through the marketplace. Alibaba.com is thus deemed to be a marketplace facilitator to promote the sales of third-party sellers through Alibaba.com online platform.
The marketplace facilitator rules and legislation have shifted the liability for sales tax collection and remittance from a third-party seller to the marketplace facilitator. As a result, Alibaba.com is responsible to collect and remit the sales tax for goods sold by third party sellers through the online platform to states where marketplace facilitator rules and legislation are effective.
Buyer may confirm participation in the ASTEP (Alibaba US Sales Tax Exemption Program) which can easily help buyer identify himself/herself as an eligible tax-exempt buyer. Learn more about ASTEP

Sales tax calculation

The tax rate and calculation of sales tax may be varied depending on many factors such as:

• Whether the buyer has sales tax exemption certificate

• The type of goods or products sold

• The destination address where the order is shipped to

Enrolling in the Alibaba US Sales Tax Exemption Program (ASTEP)
https://service.alibaba.com/page/knowledge?pageId=128&category=1000088728&knowledge=1060997810&language=en

https://service.alibaba.com/page/knowledge?pageId=128&category=9207661&knowledge=1060989318&language=en
When purchasing from Alibaba.com, if the buyer has an active exemption certificate on Alibabba.com for the destination of the order, sales tax exemption will automatically apply to all items in the order as appropriate. It is the buyer’s responsibility to remove any items that shall not enjoy such exemption from a tax-exempt order before checkout.

Please note that the exemptions are only available to eligible tax jurisdictions where the buyer has successfully registered under the ASTEP.

Enrolling in the Alibaba US Sales Tax Exemption Program (ASTEP)
https://service.alibaba.com/page/knowledge?pageId=128&category=1000088728&knowledge=1060997810&language=en