The Floral Hustle

  📍 Hello, flower friend. This is Jen. You are listening to the Floral Hustle Podcast. On this week's episode, we are going to talk about sourcing overseas. Sourcing overseas seems like a very complicated process to many Flos and. Obviously there isn't a book out there. You can just be like, okay, how do, how does this work?

How do I trust suppliers? How do I, how do I do this? Period? I don't get it. And so let me break that down for you. As someone who has personally sourced a lot of products overseas, and I say overseas because most people denote China as being overseas, but I have sourced from India, I have sourced from Pakistan, I have sourced from Bangladesh, I have sourced from um, Korea.

Uh, Thailand. So sourcing isn't inclusive of just China. If you use a site like alibaba.com or the app for Alibaba, that is a whole huge list in of countries and manufacturers that are available, um, and just are enrolled in the Ali Alibaba supplier program. And so I use alibaba.com. There is also DH Gate and a couple other random, um, sites that are similar to that.

There's also Ali Express, so it's Alibaba Express, and that is more of small quantities that you want to order. Uh, if you just need like six of an item or something like that, you can find that on Alley Express pricing is not as competitive as. Alibaba, but usually it's items that are in stock that can ship fast and you could buy lower quantities.

But I wanna talk today about sourcing on Alibaba. Alibaba is a, uh, directory of items that are listed that are. Supplied by a manufacturer. So just like you have a menu of items that you can potentially make and you have customizations, those similar approach to, um, selling is listed on Alibaba. So you could have somebody that is selling a specific item like we sell bridal bouquets, but.

We sell bridal cas with roses and enemies and vernaculars and tulips. They can make sometimes, depending on the factory and the item, they can make customizations to it. Then you go on and let's just say you are searching for a glass vase, um, with ribbed glass vase or um, Nordic taper candle hor holders or whatever it would be.

You're looking for this specific item, you find it on the summary page, which is the collection of items that are showing up under that search word. You can see the, usually a photo of the item, the description of the item, the price. At their M O Q, it's usually the lowest price they have available is on that summary page.

Then that M O Q means minimum order quantity. That minimum order quantity is what you need to order. From a minimum standpoint, like they don't do business unless, so think of it similar to if you have a minimum for a full service wedding, they have a minimum to do this order. Then you click on it, you can see the factory information, you can see their rating on Alibaba.

They have, uh, as long as you're paying through Alibaba, they have guarantees in place to help you make sure that you are vetting. A factory that is a upstanding factory that isn't shady. Hopefully otherwise they will get removed from the platform if they get bad review. Those are posted, all the reviews are posted, so you can see a insight into there, but as long as you pay through them through Alibaba, you are going to have the, it, it's a guarantee that they, um, are going to stand behind the factories that are on there, and those factories agree to those terms of service.

So you're on what I call the product page. And you're looking, you can see the information about the factory, you can see the pricing information. Sometimes if it is a ready to ship item, they will even have the shipping costs, uh, you know, based on quantities. And cuz they, they're basically weighing it and they're normally shipped by c pricing.

You. Then what I do next is I email them directly. I don't ever just buy something without connecting with the person. I'm asking them with whatever quantity I want, what is the price? Cuz I've had them be different than what was listed on their page in a negative and a positive way. So I'm just clarifying what that is.

And then I'm also asking what it would it cost for a sample. If I'm really interested and I'm asking at my quantity that I want, what is the price to ship it by air and ship it by C, and when I'm asking for those prices, I'm asking to my door. And you most likely will need to give them the address. But the reason why is because I've had companies try to say that I'm shipping it to the port for you.

And they're asking if you have a freight forwarder, which is somebody that specializes in freight logistics. And I don't have that. So I want it just sent to my door and their freight forwarder is dealing with it. I also want that price because I want to know any tariffs, any fees for being imported into the United States where I am, but you would want this in whatever country you're in.

You wanna make sure that those are also covered and that you're not having to figure that out. So I would tell them inclusive of any tariffs or fees being imported into my country. Then I would ask for a sample. I ask for samples to be sent by air on average for an item that could be anywhere from $50 up to 150, but in my opinion, especially if you're ordering a lot, ordering a sample is going to probably be worth it.

Sometimes I've gotten samples for smaller items for $35, including shipping. You wanna make sure you're asking, including shipping. Because, uh, you know, it's small enough and shipping it by errors just by, usually by like weight and size. And so if it is smaller, you're able to have more flexibility. But I order samples because I, I've been surprised.

By the size when something A actually came, I've been surprised by the color. I also, sometimes even before I order a sample, say, do you have one of these products that you can snap a picture? And then I ask for a photo of part of it that isn't already in the photos. I know you have the photos listed, but I know sometimes those are generic or I'm really looking to see this part of whatever you want.

Um, so you're asking them to actually take a photo and so you can see the real product that is taken with the camera of the salesperson so that you know that it's real and this is what it looks like, and it's not like some mockup. Then depending on what you wanna do next, if you're shipping it by C, that process usually takes a couple months.

Shipping by air usually takes. Less than a week, but that is not including the time in factory There is. Processing time, just like you ha you know, when you order from Amazon, there's processing time before it ships. There's a similar processing time, but it depends on if the item is produced. Depends on if it is, uh, a really busy season.

Um, which I wanna talk a little bit about. There, there are times in um, China especially, They will shut down around Chinese New Year. They shut down all factories for three weeks. So I also am cognizant when I'm ordering something, if it is near a holiday, you wanna get your order in early because they have this influx right before and then everything is closed.

It's the weirdest thing. They actually just closed down the whole country basically for three weeks or two weeks, and that's several times a year with different holidays. Alibaba is not only China. There are tons of other countries that are listed in there, so you have to be aware of, okay, in Korea or in Bangladesh, or in Pakistan, in India, like all of the things could function differently as well as the time zones are different.

So I am in the United States and when I am getting ready for bed, so at nine, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock at night when I have quiet time to work, that is when. A lot of these factories are coming online and answering your emails, and if you are wanting to do something quickly, especially you wanna make sure you're probably checking your communication.

I have the Alibaba app so it dings on my phone, but you wanna make sure that you are checking that communication in a timely manner because of the time difference. Also, they're English in a lot of these, um, different factories. They're using a translator. And if you don't understand what the hell they're saying, tell them.

I tell them I don't think that you're understanding what I'm saying, or your translator isn't translating it correctly. And I will just tell them I don't understand what they're saying when I'm asking for specific details. Especially if you are customizing something like that is no joke. You don't want that to be screwed up.

So I will. Be so clear on a, asking more questions, and that is totally your right, and if they get pissed off, then you don't wanna deal with them because if you have a problem, then you're not gonna wanna deal with them on that problem. I also, once I've agreed, they're sending me my sample, I ask them to send me the tracking number.

I ask him even when I'm ordering, to send me the tracking number as well, because I want to be able to track that. And you need to ask what source are you using FedEx once it gets here off of the boat? Are you using u P s? Are you using? Um, D H L? Like they use different things, so you just wanna clarify what carrier they're using.

Once they get into the United States, then make sure you are paying with Alibaba, especially for samples, they will ask you to pay via PayPal. I've had that happen a bunch on a sample. I am okay with that, but I try whenever possible, even with samples to just pay through the app, there is a fee, just like a credit card fee.

There's a processing fee to do that, but I think it is more than worth it to have that payment protection on your product. Then I also want to make sure however they're shipping it, that I remind them and make it. Strongly worded, please make sure that my items are packaged safely in a double, um, double, you know, walled box, uh, or just something very secure so that my product doesn't break.

Coming over there, I've actually paid a couple companies to have thicker boxes, which seems really weird, but I don't want my things after two months. Of it going on a carrier. I don't want them to be smashed when they get there, so I'm just further explaining how important it is to make sure that they're, it is a really strong box.

Then when my product gets here, I am inspecting it within 24 hours and inspecting means taking everything out. I'm unpackaging it, I'm, there are boxes usually. I don't know why they do this, but it, it is a thing. They take tape, like packing tape and wrap their boxes in it so that the boxes are even stronger.

I don't know why someone hasn't invented this plastic covered box for somebody in China, but almost everyone comes in that. Then, uh, I would ask, um, if there are any problems, I would take photos and then I would communicate that to them. But it's really, I've never had a problem when I've had an issue with them either replacing it or refunding me.

But of course, it's an individual, uh, factory by factory situation. But just like your wholesaler, when you're sourcing things and things are broken, if they're reasonable people. And you've received a sample and you're getting what they originally sent. Usually I don't have any problems, so it's a great way to find fun things.

It's a great way to find things that are at a lower cost. You wanna make sure that you're also submitting your tax exempt information, otherwise you will get charged sales tax for your state. They used to have it that you didn't have to enter that, but that has changed. If you ever have any questions, you're like, oh, I don't know if I'm doing this right.

You can always ask questions, send me a dm. I'm happy to order. I've probably ordered 50 to 60 times, so I feel like I'm an expert at it, and I would be happy to help answer any sourcing question that you might have. I appreciate you listening to the podcast. Thank you so much. And if you could go and leave a review.

Reviews are so important for people to be able to see the podcast, and I would really appreciate your support with a five star review. Thank you so much for listening, flower Friend, and have an amazing flower filled week.