Top China Procurement Agents

Why do you need a China sourcing agent when importing from China wholesale markets? The answer seems simple, Production and manufacturing in Asia can be harrowing if you sit on the other side of the world.

It could be annoying when you receive a delay notice from the vendor. Things can go bad when you detect quality issues when the goods are already in your warehouse.

A qualified China procurement agent can support you on product sourcing. Moreover, you can get extra services like requesting samples, quality control, and shipping.

This article will list the best China procurement agents by different features and locations. It will help you choose the best one when importing from China.

Top 15 Best China China Procurement Agents – A Quick Recap!

The Best China Import Agents – A Detailed Overview!

Some agents offer complete sourcing, while others provide specific services. We will review the top 15 China sourcing agents in the table above.

1) OwlSourcing

OwlSourcing Ltd is a China sourcing agency founded by Andy Yu in 2016. The team consists of dedicated sourcing agents. The company provides professional product-sourcing services to various global importers.

Contact OwlSourcing if you belong to any of the following professions;

• Retailer
• Chain store
• Importer
• Online-wholesaler
• Amazon private label seller
• Distributor

OwlSourcing agent presents premium product-sourcing solutions to global customers. They provide sample review videos, master sample review videos, complete product sheet reports, on-site video factory audits, and quality inspections for their clients.

OwlSourcing Skills:

• Purchasing
• Procurement
• Supply Chain
• Contract Management
• Invoicing
• Communications
• Management
• Negotiation

 Regular Services

• Product Sourcing for OEM| ODM project
• Sample review and development
• Order track| Follow Up A-Z
• Quality Inspection
• Provide the Amazon Prep Service, Warehouse storage and inspection, and labeling service.
• International Shipping Solutions | FBA Shipping. (The sea shipping, air freight, and air courier)

Features

• Based in Shanghai, this company can easily arrange international shipping.
• The company supports Amazon sellers, small and medium-sized businesses, and online wholesalers.
• Affordable services with quick customer support.

2) Dragon Sourcing

This company has branch offices across Asia and Europe. They provide procurement services to importers all over the world.

Regular Services

• Products Sourcing & Consultation
• Procurement Outsourcing
• Quality Inspection
• International Shipping

Features

Dragon Sourcing is a leading sourcing company. It helps different types of businesses import from China or other south-east countries. They could be your partner if you want product sourcing in Asia, whether a small business or startup brand.

3) Foshan Sourcing

Foshan Sourcing is a local sourcing company in Foshan city. This place is known as the” China Furniture Town,” you can find various options in Foshan. The company provides sourcing services for furniture, light, sanitary, tile, and stones.

They’ve been engaging in the build material export business for years, so they can partner with you if you are looking for local resources in Foshan or other areas from Guangdong Province.

Regular Services

• Product Sourcing
• Quality inspection
• Project Guidance
• Warehousing and Shipping arrangement

Features

You can contact them when there is a project about building materials in Foshan. They can offer local resources on specific categories like tiles, furniture, etc.

4) Sourcing Bro

If you want to import electronics from China, this agent can help. It is a Chinese sourcing agent located in Shenzhen, China. 

They can help you outsource Chinese products in tons of varieties. Sourcing bro China Agents for import/export inspection of goods do everything from handmade gifts to electronics.​

Regular Services

• Free Product & Shipping Consultation (Chinese Trade Consultant)
• Assist with product design and sourcing
• Low-cost service fee

Features

Sourcing Bro company can work as a partner when you have a project in Shenzhen, and they can provide professional service to conduct the quality inspection, order follow-up, and arrange shipping.

5) IMEX Sourcing Services

This China sourcing agent provides product sourcing and other services for global e-commerce sellers or marketers. They support the business on Amazon or Shopify and help customers find the right product to import from China.

Regular Services

• China Import Consulting/China New Product Development
• Sourcing Service/Order service
• China factory audit
• Pre-production inspection/Mid-production inspection/Loading inspection
• Freight and door-to-door service/ China air courier service/Amazon FBA Shipping service

Features

The Imex Sourcing Service company focuses on providing excellent service in quality control and international logistics. 

They can be your partner if you have quality issues and need to solve them before shipping from China to the destination countries. Also, they are friendly if you need product consulting before placing an order.

6) CnSourceLink

CnSourceLink is dedicated to providing an excellent sourcing service to customers globally. They understand the pain points when doing business in China without having someone to monitor the project status. 

So, they want to provide quality product development and quality control services to ensure the customer receives products in good condition.

Regular Services

• Product design and prototyping
• Contract manufacturing
• Product sourcing and procurement
• Logistics and freight forwarding
• Warehouse and order fulfillment
• Quality control and inspection

Features

As a China sourcing agent, both have offices in China and the USA. Then, it would be easy to communicate and follow the project status whether you are a startup or an eCommerce business.

7) Tonysourcing

Tonysourcing is a specific toy sourcing agent in Yiwu City. They’ve been doing toy import & export business for years and continue to provide excellent toy product sourcing services for global importers. 

They help customers source toys from the Yiwu and Shantou markets. Read our article “How to Buy and Import Toys from China 2020“.

Regular Services

• Toys Market Guide (Yiwu market and Shantou Toy markets)
• Yiwu toy market buying service ( translator)
• Toy product sourcing
• Arrange for the shipment

Features

They work as professional toy-sourcing agents and dedicate themselves to providing and sharing their toy knowledge with all the toy importers.

8) Bay Source

It is a sourcing company based in both the USA and China. The founder, David, realized that the best way to develop international trade is to have an office in the resource hub(like China) and a sales center in the target market (such as the U.S.).

Regular Services

• Product development and manufacturing
• U.S. Sales and distribution
• China manufacturing

Features

Bay Source is one of the earliest trading companies that set up an office in China, so they can be partners if you want to source products or distribute them in the U.S.

9) Penglight

Peng Light is a China sourcing agent that specializes in the light industry. They provide the one-stop solution for your specialized light-sourcing project when you import from China.

The sourcing agent aims to partner with any client who wants to develop and purchase a light product from the Chinese wholesale market.

Regular Services

• Specialized in LED lighting
• Shipping agent
• Product development
• Supply management/ Manage Chinese vendors
• DIAlux simulation

Features

Peng Light Sourcing agents are focused on providing a workable solution for a project with a specialized LED light. They could be a partner to work with if you have an LED-specialized light project developing in China.

Here is our post on importing LED lights from China.

10) Linc Sourcing

Linc Sourcing started China’s trade business in 1995, and the organization has been driven by global importers who wanted to buy from China’s wholesale market with low costs.

They help to make your purchasing process more efficient when purchasing from China. They committed to monitoring the entire process during an ordering period.

Regular Services

• China supplier sourcing/evaluation
• Business negotiation/technical issues discussion
• Order handling and quality control
• Supplier development

Features

It is a Chinese sourcing company with Swedish management for over 20 years. It has extensive experience selling to the European market.

11) Easy Imex

The Easy Imex company has been a UK-owned sourcing company since 2005. The company provides a one-stop risk-mitigating solution when importing from China. They also help the customer with sourcing, purchasing, quality management, and shipping.

Regular Services

• Product Sourcing/development
• Quality control
• Sampling & QA
• International Shipping

Features

The China sourcing agents in Easy Imex would provide dedicated service, especially when you are in categories such as wood products, furniture, construction, and pet products.

12) Meeno Group

The Meeno group provides free sourcing services for global buyers buying from the Chinese wholesale market. They took advantage of the location in Yiwu and could quickly source the specific product in the Yiwu market.

Regular Services

• Free Sourcing Consultancy
• Factory Audit and Quality Inspection
• Manage complex orders
• Logistic solutions

Features

If you are engaging with categories like apparel, textiles, furniture, and tools, then you can contact them for more support.

13) China Direct Sourcing

China Direct Sourcing is an A.U.-based sourcing agency that manages end-to-end importing from China with reputable Chinese wholesalers, suppliers, and manufacturers.

Regular Services

• Custom Manufacturing
• Off-the-shelf products
• Buying-trips to China
• Product sourcing and quality control

Features

This sourcing company can provide all major services when importing from China. They can support your business, whether you are a startup or a brand.

14) Jing Sourcing

It has been a sourcing agent based in Yiwu since 2015. The company aims to help small- and medium-sized companies drive value in China.

Regular Services

• Product Sourcing & Manufacturing consulting
• Import & Export Compliance consulting
• Warehouse storage in China
• Shipping Arrangement

Features

The company is from Yiwu. So, they can source products from the Yiwu market, the largest Chinese wholesale market. Check our article Sourcing Amazon Best Sellers Products from Yiwu International Market.

15) China Purchasing Agent

The China Purchasing Agent company is based in Shenzhen. They provide Amazon Prep Service and product sourcing services to customers from all over the world.

They also help customers inspect the goods in the warehouse before shipping from China while only charging a 3% fee as the service charge.

Regular Services

• Amazon Prep Service
• Shipping Forwarder Service
• Product development and sourcing
• Quality control

Features

The China sourcing agent company focuses on providing services to Amazon sellers and provides A-Z service from end to end.

They focus on working with e-commerce sellers and helping them source the products they need for their online stores.

You need a buyer agent if you are buying real estate. The buyer agent can support you in finding the right property and represent you to negotiate a better price. It’s the same if you want to buy wholesale from China and do import-export business. You may need assistance from a China sourcing agent.

Finding the right China sourcing agency is essential for establishing a long-term business target in China’s largest wholesale market. Most online sellers, large grocery stores, and supermarkets buy from China daily. But how?

This post will give you an idea of how to benefit by hiring a Chinese sourcing agent instead of doing everything yourself.

They help you manage the supply chain risk and let you focus on retail and marketing work.

Why Work With a China Sourcing Agent?

Why do you need a China sourcing agent or purchasing agent? I think the answer is to control the risk when buying from China. People are afraid of receiving products of poor quality, buying at a high cost, delayed shipment, and even scams.

All importers must obtain a safe China import process when buying from China.

E-commerce entrepreneurs, small businesses/startups, family-owned businesses, and some medium- to large-sized companies might need support from China sourcing agents.

You can manage all the things by yourself, but you need to know all these:

1. How to find a product from China eCommerce wholesale website
2. How to deal with the Chinese suppliers and get a reasonable price
3. The process of importing from China and international shipping
4. The correct way to follow up on the sample confirmation and production
5. Ensure the quality is no problem and ship on time.

You must consider and manage all this if you want to import from China directly. Is that the best way to do import business? I’m afraid you can do it much easier if you hire Chinese agencies to do all this for you, which keeps your focus on retail and marketing.

3 Common Challenges When Buy from China Wholesale Market

What are the challenges for those importers who want to buy China wholesale directly? We list several points that may occur during the Chinese trade business during imports from China.

1) The language barrier and cultural differences

You have to notice that Chinese suppliers have different backgrounds from yours. It’s easy to happen that sometimes you are just not on the same page.

We suggest you repeatedly recite all your requests to your vendors to ensure they get what you mean.

It is better to release all that you want by email or write down the requests to your China wholesale suppliers rather than just telling them in an online meeting. Always remember to have a summary email after meeting with your Chinese suppliers!

2) Unfamiliarity with the resource regions and China’s leading wholesale markets

We all have experience touring a strange city or country. Usually, we have to pay a cost when exploring new territories, which may recall some unforgettable experiences.

Why? We have no idea about the new territory we are engaged in and don’t know how to deal with it.

It’s the same as what you need to do in China. You will probably pay more if unfamiliar with the Chinese wholesale markets and resource regions.

For example, if you want to buy electronic products from China. Then, you should know that Shenzhen is the best place to get your niche.

We have listed the China resources distribution map in a recent post about how to find the best China wholesale supplier.

3) The difference between an “overseas buyer” and a “domestic buyer.”

When we visit a country that we have never visited, the locals might want to sell us souvenirs at a higher price than the local visitors. It happened all over the world.

Imagine that when you walk around the Chinese wholesale market, the suppliers can easily define you as an “overseas” buyer and then quote a higher price than usual. They are looking for more margins for their business.

It always happens if you are touring in the Yiwu market by yourself. Check my post about how to find the right products from the Yiwu market for more details.

Furthermore, it isn’t easy to control the quality and production lead time when sitting on the other side of the earth.

The Common Characteristics of China Suppliers 

1) Mr. Yes:

If you had the experience of doing business with Chinese suppliers, you probably went through the same thing: the suppliers would always say something like, “Yes/no problem/of course.“

Does that mean they understand what you mean? The answer is not really. It is part of the cultural reason that Chinese suppliers do not offend or refuse customers casually, as they always want to maintain a good relationship.

Sometimes they want to cheer up the customers, but that’s the start of the misunderstanding. In the end, you may find that the Chinese suppliers cannot catch what you mean, and that’s the reason why the situation messed up.

2) Complaining:

If you are currently doing business with Chinese suppliers, you will likely receive a lot of complaints regarding the prices, quality level, shipment, etc.

Sometimes, they didn’t mean anything but make the customers realize that it’s not easy to handle the projects, and they made it! In some cases, that’s why they can get price-increasing opportunities.

3) Always expecting big orders:

Whether the supplier’s business scale is big or small, they hope for big orders. Chinese suppliers can provide a very competitive price to start working with you, but after everything is clear and fixed, they may set up a higher MOQ for future projects.

4) High cooperation desire at the very beginning:

Some Chinese suppliers will cooperate with you very well at the beginning. But things will change if you cannot place the order on time or always have your requests about products, testing, quality, shipping, etc.

I always think an excellent Chinese supplier should always keep the same mindset towards any customer, whether they can place the order at the current moment or for the future schedule.

5) Encouragement is needed:

What is essential to Chinese suppliers? Respect. If you respect the Chinese suppliers and encourage their work, you will get a return and win the trust of Chinese suppliers.

Features of a China Sourcing Agency or Purchasing Agent

A product sourcing or purchasing agent’s main job is to help customers handle their orders so they can ship more smoothly. However, with the fast-changing business environment today, the work of sourcing agents also has the response change and the upgrade.

1) An excellent purchasing agent must be a full-service provider

Today’s retail environment forces sourcing agents to bring professionals together to implement customer requirements at a low cost and high efficiency.

Just like LeBron James (King James) in the NBA, no matter whether the front end or back end can do anything to create unique value for the team.

An excellent China sourcing agent should view themselves as one of their clients and support all aspects proactively when their customers are manufacturing products in China.

These procurement agents understand they will succeed if their customers drive the sales revenue well.

2) Do more work on the front side

Fully understand the product request and analyze the features of an item before sourcing the product.

To help customers identify the chosen goods, review the competitiveness of goods, and set up the product improvement strategy if necessary. They can provide helpful information to the customer and help them to decide if that’s the “high potential item” selling in the market.

Willing to share comments about the product details (color, packaging, printing). A reliable sourcing agent should think about how to help the customers to “sell” all these products. Any valuable comments about the products are helpful to the customers when they buy from China.

3) Give priority to prevention rather than solving problems

What’s the critical thing when you buy wholesale from China? Excellent quality and on-time should be on the list.

It would be a disaster if you found the products made in China were of poor quality when you opened carton boxes in your warehouse. Furthermore, it affects the selling schedule for your retail stores or online shop. It wasted much time to remake or even ask for a claim from the Chinese suppliers.

So, the right China sourcing agent or buyer agent should know the quality matter. They should realize that preventing the quality issue is even more critical to solving the problem.

A detailed check of the sample is essential to ensure its quality. You must know some tips on buying product samples from China.

Meanwhile, an on-site merchandise inspection is one of the best ways to check the quality level before shipping. You should make sure the products are in good condition before shipping from China to the destination.

5 Benefits of working with China purchasing agents

What’s the advantage of working with sourcing agencies like OwlSourcing in today’s dramatic international trading circumstances?

1) Working with China Sourcing Agency: Saving the Cost and Time

Working with OwlSourcing would help you address the cost when doing business in China, with no China visa cost, no air ticket cost, no accommodation cost, and no touring cost, and it would save you time on traveling.

Nowadays, 56% of the workforce in the USA are working at home, and it looks like sometimes it’s not essential to work on-site as usual. You do not need to visit every China factory on-site for the global importers because the China sourcing agent can help with this.

OwlSourcing provides China import services including but not limited to:

• Video Inspection(Zoom/Skype/WeChat): OwlSourcing agents will implement on-site inspections and make the inspection video report to the customers.
• Weekly Regular Conference Meetings for Project Status(Zoom/Skype/WeChat)： To avoid the customer being blindly about the ongoing project.
• We are your office in China (The vendors can’t cheat on you because you have the local staff! )

2) Analyze your project and make sure the Chinese manufacturer can meet your requests.

Sourcing agents act as a communication channel between sellers and buyers. Why do both parties never get on the same page sometimes? It happens because of incorrect communication!

You need to talk more to your wholesale suppliers before sourcing products from China.

3) Help oversea clients to check the sample quality

How can you evaluate if the Chinese factories can give you high-end products as promised initially?

It is based on the continuous detail check about the sample quality they submitted. The China sourcing agents can help you check the samples and notify the vendors about potential product detective points.

The quality of the matter should be improved during the whole production or sampling process.

4) Get the excellent price, Manage the Order process, and Control the quality

I hope you know quality control in China very well.

Quality is a priority when manufacturing in China. You might need the sourcing agent to monitor the order process, which ensures the Chinese suppliers can complete the production on time without quality issues.

5) Provide helpful Shipping Solutions

The purchasing agents can share the opinions of different shipping service solutions when you intend to ship from China to your destination. You can save the cost of the solution that works perfectly for your shipment.

Finding a Reliable Sourcing Agent in China

Of course, there are many ways to get a genuine agent in China. However, I recommend the below methods to find a perfect sourcing company for your needs.

1) Attend the China Fairs

China has the biggest wholesale markets in the world, so every year, there are many specific China fairs from which you can find sourcing agents.

Please check my post on how to find the right wholesale supplier in Canton Fair for details.

The most popular Chinese fairs, such as the Canton Fair and the Hong HongKong Mega Show, are excellent opportunities to explore how to hire agencies when doing import-export business with the Chinese market.

2) Access the best eCommerce sites

You can visit B2B sites that list Chinese suppliers. You have options like Alibaba, Made in China, and Global sources. These sites can help you find good agents that work for you.

Check this post for more details about sourcing the right product safely on Alibaba.

3) Ask for recommendations from your peers or friends.

You can ask the opinions of those who can share the proven good sourcing agents with you.

4) Search on search engines like Google for more information

Undoubtedly, you should check on Google to see if you can find the ideal sourcing agent for you.

You can contact sourcing agencies like “OwlSourcing” for their professional service.

How Much Does the China Sourcing Agency Charge the Customer?

It is one of the most popular questions when discussing hiring a China sourcing agent or purchasing agent to support you for your China import business.

How much is the proper rate that China sourcing agents charge their customers?

It depends!

1) Service rate: Charge by a specific rate

Most overseas importers, such as grocery stores, supermarkets, and retail stores, pay the Chinese purchasing agent a particular percentage of service when they buy directly from China. The service rate will be according to the annual purchasing amount and reach a target after negotiation.

The rate range starts from 3%-10% and differs from case by case.

2) All-inclusive Quotation

Some importers will accept the purchasing agent or trading company’s quote with an all-in price for a specific project.

Under this term, the China sourcing agent leverages the service fee directly into the product’s unit price and then quotes it to the customers.

The customers can agree with the offer if the price or other terms look reasonable and acceptable.

3) Hire an individual sourcing agent or purchasing agent directly

You can hire one person as your sourcing agent if their ability can meet your requests.

With the rapid growth of the E-commerce site and Outsourcing Service website, you can find those individuals who promote their service and want to provide their service to customers. For example, you can find people offering product-sourcing gigs on freelancer websites.

You can create a “job” and pay for your specific project or hire one person who can provide long-term service for you.

The fee charged by a sourcing agent depends on their skills and the value they bring to your business.

The uncertainty is that you never know if the individual can fulfill your project well or if they want to find easy ways to make money.

Read More:

• What is a Sourcing Agent (Procurement Agent)?
• Alibaba Sourcing Agent
• How to Find Suitable Suppliers for Your TikTok Shop Products?
• How to Buy from Pinduoduo Outside China?

Over to You!

Now you know the top China sourcing agents offering various services to businesses. If you have been an expert in import-export from China directly for years, you may not need a China sourcing agent.

But if you want to save time to enhance your performance in retail and marketing, you might need to hire a sourcing agency or agent to fulfill your project. They can help you avoid the hassle of China imports and make your job easier.

This list might confuse you. If you want a reliable global sourcing partner, consider OwlSourcing to help you get your products from China. We offer excellent sourcing services tailored to your business needs.

read the article “Buy import from Yiwu: Sourcing Amazon Best Sellers Products from Yiwu International Market” for details.

Please check my post on how to find the right wholesale supplier in Canton Fair for details.