Sourcing from overseas is the most profitable business, as you can gain the advantage of foreign technology, as well as lower costs, especially if you’re sourcing from China. Below are three common mistakes most newbie buyers will generally make:
1) Sourcing from the lowest price. This is an entirely wrong decision as this step will target your customers who purchase at the lowest price; generally, this will not help you make a good profit. The customers who prefer the lowest price is a customer group in related to those who prefer the best quality, this kind customer group is generally classified into lower income group, and relatively inferior educated, thus even you purchase the lowest-priced goods, your customers will still need the price down further, which means you will not only buy the poorest quality products but also can earn the lowest profit. Consider selling lower-quality products as higher-standard products to increase your profit. But this step is almost impossible; even if you can cheat a minor customer group, the majority of customers will realize it. Customer complaints can wipe out all the profit you had made, forcing you to compensate for the bad product problem. Finally, the product you planned to purchase, which was the lowest-priced option, ultimately resulted in a complete loss and a bad reputation for your business.
2) Being stuck-up and picky with your suppliers. This is also a complete wrong deed to many buyers, as most of them are wrongly think they have too many suppliers to choose, thus all suppliers need to beg them for business because they don’t see the truth. Firstly, all suppliers, traders, wholesalers, and manufacturers are human; they’re not robots and machines without feelings. Buyers can’t only see the profit and ignore building business relations with them. Secondly, each supplier is selling different products based on their own technology and materials. Some of the products may be suitable for your market, while others may not. Thirdly, in case you’re not reselling only once, all suppliers’ products could be what you need in the future. If you break business relations, you won't be able to regain them. Fourth, you also have customers, thus if you’re bad to your suppliers, how about your customers doing the same thing to you?
3) Don't trust people. Why has a business running for over 10 years had customers say they don't trust the company? Not trusting is a psychological effect that many buyers may experience, especially when dealing with a company for the first time. Without trust, business is almost impossible, and all that has been discussed could be in vain. The most prominent reason buyers don't trust a business is that they may have experienced poor service or simply heard rumors from others. Actually, if they don't trust, they're more importantly stopping themselves from profiting from the business and giving up their own company the chance to grow, not specifically the suppliers.