Episode 98: How to Deal with Factory Shutdowns in China with Gary Huang of 80/20 Sourcing

"Definitely I would be vigilant like in an initial screening process. I know most online sellers probably don't have the luxury of being able to see all of their factories but if they do, if they do go to Canton Fair, I highly recommend it. Just so you know what you're dealing with and if you're not comfortable with that, definitely have some backup plans." - Gary Huang, founder of 80/20 Sourcing

One of the best perks of going to the Global Sources Summit is that I get to meet many people who are a wealth of knowledge for my business. One of these people is Gary Huang, founder of 80/20 Sourcing, a blog dedicated to show entrepreneurs how to source from China efficiently and cost-effectively. I heard him speak at Global Sources and I knew I just had to invite him to be a podcast guest so that I can share with you the valuable things I learned from him.

Gary lives in China and this episode was recorded via a call I made to him from California. The call quality suffered from the Chinese internet connection which, as you know, is not exactly zippy. Nevertheless, this episode is fully packed with great value for anyone who imports anything from China so it will be worth powering through the bad call quality to get to the good stuff.

Gary's topic at the Global Sources Summit is about supplier negotiation. There are so many things you can negotiate with your supplier aside from price of goods, and we talk about that a little bit in this episode. As a bonus, Gary has been awesome to give EcomCrew listeners access to his Negotiations pack, which includes the Online Seller's Guide to Negotiating with Suppliers e-book, a negotiations cheatsheet, and a "Secrets of Successful Sourcing" Masterclass video. You can get them all here for FREE.

Here are the highlights of our conversation:

• Gary's ecommerce background and why he started 80/20 Sourcing
• Why he moved to China and what it's like living in the midst of pollution
• His direct insight on the ongoing factory shutdowns
• The positive and negative effects of stricter Chinese environmental laws
• How to deal with the shutdowns as an Amazon seller
• Why visiting your factory or doing a third party inspection is very important
• Direction of Chinese manufacturing
• Is it a good idea to start sourcing from other countries such as India or Vietnam?
• Outlook and best practices for sourcing for 2018

We hope you find this episode useful, as I did when I listened to Gary during his Global Sources talk. Don't forget to go to 8020sourcing.com/ecomcrew to get you FREE Negotiations pack.

Resources mentioned: AsiaInspection Stamped.io 8020sourcing.com 8020sourcing.com/ecomcrew

As always, thanks for listening to this episode. We'd love to have your feedback at iTunes and if you'd like to reach us, you can do so at support@ecomcrew.com. Until next episode, happy selling!