Working With Overseas Suppliers

by WholDir on 02-05-2016 in Drop Shipping Central

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Working With Overseas Suppliers

Working with wholesalers and suppliers, whether under traditional supply chains or drop-shipping, is one thing under a domestic arrangement. However, it takes an entire new twist when working with an overseas wholesaler. Even if things go completely wrong with a domestic company, there is always the ability to seek domestic legal recourse. However, when the relationship goes international, the risk goes up. Australian Drop Ship Suppliers are probably the most fonforming bunch to work with as the consumer protections las are in Australia are some of the strongest in the world.


Preventative Steps

To make sure things don’t go wrong with an overseas supplier, research is probably the easiest and lowest cost approach to prevention. First off, overseas wholesalers are businesses like anyone else. While there are few black sheep, most focus on trying to capture business for long-term revenue. This allows them to grow, to bring in new clients, and expand their market reach. Second, those who have a long-term pattern of delivering don’t want to foul it up. This gives them referrals and recommendations, which they can then use to win new clients. However, overseas wholesalers don’t always hang out their good reputation on a shingle. Retailers have to do their research and find them. Fortunately, the Internet as well as other retailers can provide a fairly good background on a wholesaler in particular industries.

Don’t Create Initial Big Exposures

While overseas suppliers can provide significant cost savings in prices versus domestic suppliers, they come with a higher risk being outside of the retailer’s country. So starting off, orders with a new foreign supplier shouldn’t be the most critical transaction or supply that could make or break a retailer. Instead, a retailer should make the first few orders minor supplies as tests. This allows the retailer to see how the new supplier performs, how the quality of the goods measure up, and how delivery schedules are met. If all goes well, then orders can be increased over time with larger and larger schedules.

Always Have a Safety Net

Even where everything is going well, sometimes problems occur. A shipment can be delayed if the boat it is on doesn’t leave or arrive timely. Customs can hold things up for their own reasons. A production schedule may get hampered or delayed with a strike or labor problem. None of these things are necessarily the direct cause of the supplier in most cases. However, they occur even under the best circumstances. Because glitches happen, retailers that have a backup plan and a fallback domestic supplier they can rely on in a pinch tend to survive such unexpected events.

Use Credit Card Accounts for Payment

One of the easiest and best ways to make sure payment transactions are protected with overseas transactions is to use a credit card as a payment tool. One, the immediate cash flow for the payment is with the credit card company’s money, not your own business. If the goods don’t arrive, then you have the ability dispute the charge. With documentation, the credit card company can reverse the charge and pull the funds out of the overseas account. This keeps the retailer’s bank account untouched while the would-be cheater ends up with nothing in the end.

Conclusion

Ideally, the best wholesale or drop-shipping relationship with a domestic or overseas supplier happens with trust, communication and clear expectations. It doesn’t hurt to make a personal visit once in a while too for meeting face-to-face, depending on how much business is involved. So while legal protections, credit card use, and wise order planning to reduce critical exposure all help, ultimately a retailer has to make a decision whether to go all the way with a foreign wholesaler or not. This should happen when there has been plenty of time for research, evaluation and relationship-building with the foreign supplier.
 

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Did you know that over 75% of the wholesalers and drophippers featured in the SaleHoo directory are open to establishing a trade relationship with resellers in other countries?  That's over 6,000 possible verified supplier contacts that will work with you.

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