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Do Sales Contracts Work When Importing from China?

Posted on September 3, 2017July 9, 2025 by Fredrik Gronkvist — 2 Comments

Supplier Sales Contract

Most quality issues are the result of misunderstandings. A Sales contract, can prevent those misunderstandings from occurring in the first place.

In my opinion, the sales contract is the most important mechanism of the entire importing and product development process.

But do Chinese suppliers really care about sales contracts – and how do you make them follow the terms?

And, can you draft a contract on your own?

These, and many other, questions, will be answered in this comprehensive guide on sales contracts for startups and other small businesses importing products from China.

1. Make sure to include these terms in your sales contract

Term	Comment
Manufacturer	The manufacturer name, business license number and address must be defined. This entity is ultimately responsible.
Seller	Many suppliers use companies in Hong Kong to receive the payment. This company shall be defined as the seller.
Product Specifications	List all product specifications and attachments. Don’t leave any product information out of the sales contract. If it’s not in the contract, you cannot demand a remake from the supplier.
Defect list	Write a definition of defective product (i.e., mold or scratches), and an accepted defect rate.
Compliance Requirements	List all applicable product safety standards and regulations, to which the product must be compliant.
Penalties	Define penalties that apply if the supplier fail to pass the quality inspection and/or compliance testing.
Product Packaging	Specify the product packaging design, dimensions and materials
Export Packaging	Specify the export packaging type, dimensions and materials (i.e., freight pallets).
Quality Control / Testing Terms	Write the quality inspection and lab testing terms
Payment Terms	Normally, the buyer pay a 30% deposit, and ties the remaining 70% to the quality control and lab test result.
Shipping Terms	Define mode of transportation, incoterms and more
Bank Account Details	List all account details of the seller
Late Delivery Clause	Penalties for delayed production

2. Communicate your design and quality requirements to avoid misunderstandings

Continue reading Do Sales Contracts Work When Importing from China?

How to Utilize Freelancers for Your Ecommerce Business: By Mike Michelini

Posted on August 27, 2017July 9, 2025 by Fredrik Gronkvist

Asian Freelancer

Managing RFQ procedures and day to day communication with your supplier, can be very time consuming. Especially when you consider the time zones. Before, the only option would be to hire a procurement agent, and adapt to their procedures (and perhaps even use their suppliers).

Or, setup your own office in Asia – which is not a realistic prospect for startups and small businesses.

But things have changed. Today, you can go on Upwork.com or Freelancer.com, and tap into a huge pool of freelancers, that you can pay by the hour or on a per project basis.

A Freelancer, that will likely be based in Asia, can keep up to date with your supplier, coordinate shipments – and even negotiate prices, while you spend your time doing something else (rather than calling your suppliers at 10 PM).

In this article, the Shenzhen based founder of Global From Asia (www.globalfromasia.com) shares his best advice for hiring and managing Freelancers, and how they can free up hours of work, every week.

How have you been using remote workers in your businesses?

I have been using remote workers on my team even before I read the Four Hour Work Week in 2007. It started with customer service for my e-commerce business when I hired “military spouses” who wanted to work online as their spouse (normally husband) was traveling often for work so they couldn’t get a “normal job”.

I was blown away (this is 2006) that I could have a work at home professional customer service rep help me at all hours of the day or night. These were “moms” based in USA (Kansas and Texas – Michelle and Janet – you rock) who really were moms of my business.

The hardest part about working with remote workers is the setup of tools and systems – which is a ton of upfront work.

Once you get a good flow with you and your remote team, it is like working next to them.

I have used remote workers for almost every part of my various businesses now for over 10 years – starting with customer service to graphic design, video production, web design, app development, community management, marketing – basically every kind of role except meeting clients face to face (waiting for the teleport technology to develop more for this).

Basically, if a task can be repeated, it can be delegated. If it can be delegated, 95% chance it can be done by a remote worker. The trick again is the upfront training and tools, and then the ongoing management. Continue reading How to Utilize Freelancers for Your Ecommerce Business: By Mike Michelini

Guide to China Supplier Directories: Alibaba, GlobalSources & AliExpress

Posted on July 16, 2017July 9, 2025 by Fredrik Gronkvist — 1 Comment

Supplier Wholesale Directory

Alibaba.com is often synonymous with the term supplier directory. While Alibaba has become a household name, it’s not the only platform for finding qualified suppliers.

In this article, you will learn how to choose between the major platforms, including Alibaba.com, Globalsources.com, HKDC and Made-in-China.com

In addition, we will also take a look into wholesale platforms, such as Aliexpress and DHgate.

Alibaba.com

Alibaba.com, founded by Jack Ma in 1999, is the world’s largest supplier directory. Today, Alibaba is home to hundreds of thousands of suppliers in basically every industry.

Perhaps, Alibaba.com is too big for its own good. In the past, many buyers have criticized Alibaba for allowing scammers to list on their platform, while only siding with their suppliers in case of dispute.

As we have explained in many articles, things are not simple. In fact, importing goods from China would have been far more risky, without the supplier data provided by Alibaba.com.

Unlike many other directories, you can find verified company data for each verified supplier (also called Gold Supplier), such as the following:

a. Registered capital
b. Year of registration
c. Registered address
d. Legal representative
e. Business license number

Alibaba.com is also becoming so much more than just a supplier directory. A few years ago, they launched their Trade Assurance program, and offer a range of payment, sourcing and supplier audit related services.

Alibaba.com is here to stay, and the coming years will be very interesting, as they keep rolling out new services to importers.

In addition, more and more manufacturers and wholesalers in Vietnam, India, the European Union and the United States join what used to be the exclusive domain of Chinese companies. Continue reading Guide to China Supplier Directories: Alibaba, GlobalSources & AliExpress

Case Study: How We Helped a Customer Launch a Watch Brand in 4 Steps

Posted on May 12, 2017July 9, 2025 by Fredrik Gronkvist

Suggestion: Watch the 10 minutes video tutorial before reading this article

Lanna Watches AB (Sweden) contacted Chinaimportal.com in October 2016. In this Case Study, you will learn how they used the Starter Package 2017 to develop and launch their first product.

All the features and functions mentioned in this Case Study are included in the Starter Package.

Note: The process in this case study can be applied to any product category, not only watches.

All companies and names mentioned in this case study have been altered. The case study is based on email records, images and protocols.

1. Prepare Product Specification

Before even sending a first email to a supplier, the customer created a product specification. This exact process is outlined in Part 1: Create Product Specifications of the Starter Package.

a. Download template and create spec sheet

As all suppliers make products according to the specifications, John (co-founder of Lanna Watches) had to be sure that all technical details were covered. To make sure that they get their specification right, they followed the process in Part 1: Create Product Specification (Above).

To speed up the process, they used Template 1A: Product Specification Sheet, to list all technical details and quality requirements.

b. Research all applicable product regulations (using Module 7 of the Starter Package)

As Lanna Watches AB is based in the European Union, which is also their primary market, compliance with all applicable product regulations is crucial.

Failing to ensure compliance can result in the goods being seized by the customs authorities, something that would be disastrous to a small startup like Lanna Watches.

The problem, for John and his partner, was that they have no clue which regulations apply to Watches in the EU. Luckily for them, the Starter Package includes an entire module for product regulations, in the EU and US, for all the products we cover.

Continue reading Case Study: How We Helped a Customer Launch a Watch Brand in 4 Steps