Blog — one real sourcing question, answered daily
Straight answers to practical questions, one topic at a time. Long structure lives in Guides; this is the running notebook.
How to read a Chinese supplier quote — and what's usually missing
Six line items a real quote should contain, the two questions that catch 80% of confusion, and how to compare quotes you received years apart.
Guangzhou vs Yiwu: which market should your first China sourcing trip visit?
Category fit, order sizes, and how a first trip is usually split between the two — with honest tradeoffs.
Reading factory tier signals: what the office lobby, the sample room and the loading bay tell you
On-site evidence you can check in a 20-minute walk-through — before trusting any claim sheet.
Buying furniture for a small hotel project in China: rooms, rates and realistic lead times
A project-based sourcing tour: which suppliers, what approval chains, why 'one / same factory' rarely happens.