The purpose of this article is to prevent you from making similar mistakes that I made when I started sourcing suppliers for my fitness-fashion brand.
Let's go back to 2016, when I was avidly looking for a supplier to create my new brand. I needed a supplier who was affordable, provided excellent quality, who could help me (as I really had no idea what I was doing) and who had great communication. Don't we all need that...
I started by simply putting a search into Google, which evidently came back with no viable search results, and the only ones that might have worked led me to suppliers who's minimum order quantities (MOQ) were in the thousands.
This left me stuck in the mud, really unsure how to find a good supplier. That's until quite a few suppliers messaged me from Pakistan on Instagram promising the best quality and affordable prices, and I jumped to the offer like any other naive, young entrepreneur would.
Often, if something sounds too good to be true, then it usually is and this definitely was.
After going back and fourth for months with these suppliers and sending as little as £20 for a sample over Western Union, I received samples that couldn't even be improved. They were so bad it was like they hadn't listened to what I asked for and had taken their own initiative to produce what was an awful product; one I definitely wouldn't be happy releasing to my customers.
Fast forward two years and the best advise I could give to anyone looking for supplier is DO NOT be enticed by the price- especially for samples. Materials come in different weights, and if you're being quoted a very low price, then it's definitely going to be a low quality material they're using that will fall apart and cause more headache than it's worth.
Don't look for the cheap option, it'll always come back and bite you in the arse.
So, what do you do?
I'd advise doing your research properly. On the company, and check out reviews and definitely sample! As a company, we'd never advise not going through sampling, in fact, we'd rather send you samples to check even if you're reluctant because the last thing we want is you to be left with stock you're not happy with because we didn't confirm minor details within the sampling phase.
Essentially, what I'm saying is you don't have to work with us, but if you do decide to find your own manufacturer then vet them properly- take your time and don't rush the sampling phase.
Lastly, if you want the easiest option then just hit the contact us tab on our website!
Comments