How you deal with your Chinese private agent?

[anasbinti]

Guys I feel like my 1688 agent is not getting me a good deal when it comes to pricing, esspecially I’m going on scale and trying to push hard in terms of marketing inputs so I want to lower the product costs, can you share your experience on how you negotiate and how the price should be decided so both parts will be having a good deal, some items are really cheap on aliexpress than what they’re offering me that’s why I wanted to negotiate on pricing because I’m sure I can find a better deal

 

[Awesome_Me]

If you are scaling, negotiate based on the volume. Tell the agent your expected monthly quantity and the target price, then ask for tiered rates. Compare the total landed cost, not merely the product price. If AliExpress is cheaper, share that number with them and ask them to match or exceed it. A win-win is you paying less per unit, plus the agent getting steady throughput.

 

[NirvanaWolf]

There are more agents than there are sellers. Explore more agents or possibly direct sellers.

 

[anasbinti]

There are more agents than there are sellers. Explore more agents or possibly direct sellers.

where to find them ? talking about the agents

 

[NirvanaWolf]

where to find them ? talking about the agents

I no longer do this, so don't have any updated knowledge but a few years back these agents used to swarm FB groups related to dropshipping or FBA. Search for these groups, maybe you'll find them still lurking around.

 

[X39Rank]

You can show your agent the lower prices you found from other suppliers and ask if they can offer a similar or better price.

 

[Durava141]

Guys I feel like my 1688 agent is not getting me a good deal when it comes to pricing, esspecially I’m going on scale and trying to push hard in terms of marketing inputs so I want to lower the product costs, can you share your experience on how you negotiate and how the price should be decided so both parts will be having a good deal, some items are really cheap on aliexpress than what they’re offering me that’s why I wanted to negotiate on pricing because I’m sure I can find a better deal

looking at a wider perspective, I would try to find 3 to 5 quotes nd go by the total landed cost and not the cost per piece. In case Aliexpress is cheaper, then that can be used as a base for negotiation.

 

[belesingmarco]

Guys I feel like my 1688 agent is not getting me a good deal when it comes to pricing, esspecially I’m going on scale and trying to push hard in terms of marketing inputs so I want to lower the product costs, can you share your experience on how you negotiate and how the price should be decided so both parts will be having a good deal, some items are really cheap on aliexpress than what they’re offering me that’s why I wanted to negotiate on pricing because I’m sure I can find a better deal

Get quotations directly from some suppliers and use them to negtiate with your agent. imo after you increase your volumes, realistic order forecasts usually get better prices.

 

[dark.woden]

But I would compare prices offered by different vendors at 1688 before placing the blame on him, When you have actual orders, you can request factory prices.