通过贸易公司采购的优劣
The advantages and disadvantages of using trading Companies
在过去约8年的时间里面,我们一直通过贸易公司作为中介在中国采购瓷砖,同时我们也有直接和工厂合作采购。那么,这两种方式哪种更好呢?
我想这取决于许多因素,以及你们公司的需求。而最终来说,我们寻找的是具有优秀品质,良好服务,沟通畅通的供应商,当然还有具竞争力的价格。请注意,我说的有竞争力的价格,而不是最低的价格。
我已经经历了很多次这样的情况,当你挤压供应商的利润,以获得绝对低的价格时,就是各种不好的事情的开始,首先是制造商开始使用质量差的原料,放宽优等品的标准,他们还可能会降低瓷砖的厚度,使用灰暗的底坯或者增加吸水率,甚至会让其他的OEM工厂生产你要的货物。你甚至无法察觉所有这些事情发生的可能性,特别是当你在地球的另一边(指美国与中国),你采购的瓷砖在下单后的60至90天后才能运到。让我告诉你,已经有很多很多这类可怕的故事发生,客户得到的与他们想要的产品完全不同,当他们打开从中国订购的集装箱的时候,往往充满着意想不到的“惊喜”。
其中一个最坏的例子:在所有合同文件已经非常完备的情况下,某个客户订购了200个集装箱的釉面瓷质仿古砖,但他最后拿到的是200个集装箱没有釉的仿古砖(当然这些货款是已经预先支付的了),里面只有烧过的底坯。后来,他试图与供应商联系,但这个供应商仿佛从地球上离奇地消失了。
所有这些典型的例子都迫使我们用一个更安全的方式去保护自己作为一个海外买家的权益――与贸易公司合作,这样的话不存在沟通问题,他们拥有更多国际采购经验、了解与中国制造商采购的风险。请注意,我并不是说中国没有值得直接采购的好公司、好产品,相反是很多很多!但是,当你是新手的时候,最好用一个更安全的方式去交易。
如果贸易公司能竭尽所能地达到客户的期望,那么与他们合作便和直接在工厂采购一样有优势,可能优点还更多,当然缺点还是存在的。
作为一个客户,您希望从与你合作的贸易公司能够:
1、站在你的利益立场,代表你找到生产所需产品的最好的制造商;
2、代表你谈判获得最好的价格;
3、代表你的公司做好产品的质量控制;
4、跟踪你的订单,让你知悉进度;
5、及时通知你采购的机会;
6、让你了解竞争对手和他们在中国购买的产品;
7、帮助你解决任何的质量投诉,以及与产品和制造商相关的问题;
8、帮助你解决运输,预订,沟通,翻译等等问题;
如果他们是按照以上所说的来做,那么这与直接从制造商采购是一样好的。但不幸的是,许多时候会发生如下的情况:
1、贸易公司利益放在第一位,带你去他们有利的地方采购;
2、价格高于直接在工厂采购的价钱,有时甚至高出很多;贸易公司除了约定的折扣外,有可能从制造商另外再获取一定的返点;
3、质量控制是非常差,甚至根本没有;
4、跟踪订单的时候,沟通并没有想象的那样好;
5、没有后续的反馈,他们只关注订单和业务确定的那一刻;
6、没有兴趣交流其他品牌的公司都在做什么;
7、当他们这一边出现问题时,你几乎都得直接与制造商处理,并且在大多数情况下,问题从来没有得到过解决;
8、只向你翻译对他们有利的话;
通过一家贸易公司开展业务从来都不是最完美最好的选择。幸运的是这些年来,我们一直在与优秀的贸易公司合作,他们做得非常好,一切工作的开展非常顺利。
最后在这里,我还是会说采购的方式一半一半,直接从制造商购买一半,通过贸易公司采购另外一半,我认为未来很长的一段时间这种采购方式仍会持续。
The advantages and disadvantages of using trading Companies
In the past 8 years or so we have been using trading companies to buy goods in China, but we have also been buying direct from the manufacturers. So, which way is better?
I guess that it depends on many factors and the also the needs of your company. But at the end of the day all we are looking for is good quality, good service, good communication and of course getting a competitive price. Please note that I said competitive price and not the lowest price.
I have experienced many times that when you squeeze the companies to get the absolute lowest price then all kind of bad things start to happen later like the manufacturer starts using lower quality raw materials, starts widening the first quality range, they may lower a bit the thickness of the tile, they may start giving you a darker body material or increase the water absorption and even produce your goods in another OEM factory. All of these things may happen without you even noticing, especially if you are in the other side of the world and get your goods 60 to 90 days after you place your order. And let me tell you that there have been many, many examples of horrible stories of customers getting something different than what they order and many surprises when they open to unload the containers they order from China.
One of the worst examples was a very well documented case where a customer ordered 200 containers of glazed porcelain tile and he received the 200 containers (Already pre-paid of course) but of tile with not glaze. It was only the bisque tile fired. Later when he tried to contact the supplier it was impossible to find. They magically disappeared from the face of the earth.
All of these type of stories led us to start in a more safer way using trading companies that act on your behalf protecting you as a customer, with no communication problems, working with people that have much more experience dealing with International markets, that know much better than you all the challenges of buying and dealing with manufacturers in China. Keep in mind that I am not saying that there are not good companies that you can buy direct from. There are many! But when you are new in this it is better to go on a safer way.
When the Trading Companies do everything the customer expect, then buying from them is as good as buying direct and actually there may even be some advantages over buying direct but also a few disadvantages.
As a customer you expect the following from a trading company:
1. Act on your behalf and find the best manufacturer that produces the goods you need
2. Negotiate on your behalf the best price possible
3. Do quality control on behalf of your company
4. Track your orders and keep you informed of their status
5. Keep you informed of buying opportunities
6. Keep you informed about competitors and goods they are buying in China
7. Help you solve any quality claims or issues related to product and the manufacturer
8. Help you with transportation, reservations, communication, translation, etc
If they do all of the above then it is as good as buying direct from the manufacturer. But unfortunately many times what happens is the following:
1. The trading company’s interest are first and take you where it is more convenient for them to buy from
2. The pricing most of the time is higher than buying direct and even at times much higher due to the fact that the trading companies instead of just making the rebate % they add more margin to the selling price from the manufacturer
3. The quality control is very poor or inexistent
4. The tracking of your orders or communication is not as good as expected
5. No feedback of opportunities, they just focus on the existing orders and the business of the moment
6. No interest in communicating of what other companies are doing
7. When there is a problem they set aside and let you deal direct with the manufacturer and in most cases the problems are never solved
8. They only translate what it is convenient for them
It is never perfect, it is never like the top part but when it is close then it is a good deal doing the business using a trading company. In all these years we have been fortunate in dealing with excellent trading companies that have done their best for us and everything has worked well.
At this moment I would say that we buy half and half. Half direct from the manufacturer and the other half from trading companies and I think it will stay that way for many more years to come.
With Great Respect
Humberto Valles
ICC General Manager
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