Disadvantages and advantages of sourcing in China as well as in the rest of the world. Where can you find suppliers, on which platforms, and how do you communicate with them. Things to watch out for when dealing with suppliers, and what to lookout for when working with sourcing companies. Just in case he’s in the panel discussion, here are the three key areas of discussion. 1. Diversification and optimization of your supply chain 2. Ways to optimize your own margin in your product purchasing cost 3. Dealing with suppliers outside of China and how to communicate with those suppliers.

1. Sebastian Herz
www.zignify.net
+49 892 0708861/
+49 895 4197859
Sourcing outside of China & 10+ hacks
when dealing with suppliers
Schedule a
FREE call

2. Sourcing outside of China & 10+
hacks when dealing with
suppliers
www.zignify.net
Schedule a
FREE call

3. Just imagine this was
your situation...
Product 6 USD a piece, China, 27%
3h: Vietnam, 1 USD cheaper
500.000 units = 3.000.000 USD
500.000 USD savings on product
810.000 USD savings on anti-dumping import
tariffs
(436.667 USD hourly wage)

4. 12 %
New supplier found
Savings: 60k on 500k USD order

5. $ 1.400.000
Within first 8 months
Savings at around 24 MUSD revenue

6. $1.000 per month
When saving 12% on $100.000
annual orders in production &
logistics, then you have…
…more to advertise & grow sales,
invest in new products for additional
revenue, new sales channels (brick &
mortar retail, bix box retail, TV
shopping) to grow your business.

7. Who we are?
The Zignify Team
•~60 women (PM & Sourcing) + Sebastian
•Founder:
•Ex-Flixbus Managing Director
•Ex-ABB Head of Marketing / BD APAC
•Selling on Amazon since 2014
•2 own brands online & offline
•Amazon event company ScaleForEtail
•Bringing ecom products into big box retail

8. What we
do
Finding manufacturers &
saving $$$ in sourcing
Find manufacturers
Production Management & Quality
Control
Logistics, import preparation,
photos
Optimize margin by reducing
purchasing cost
Help to sell successfully online & in
retail – Connect to others

9. Who can /should save money?
- AMZ & Ecom Starter
- Established sellers / brands
- Seller before M&A process
- Buyer after M&A process
… anybody who prefers not to spend
too much.

10. Experience
> 3000 products sourced
> MUSD 500 saved
From 1 employee to ~60
in <2 years
> 50% projects outside China
(incl Mexico, USA, LatAm,
Europe, Asia, etc)
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET

11. The goal is to find manufacturers around the world and
give you back your precious and optimize your supply
chain and prices
GOAL
Collaboration with AMZ vendors, retailers, distributors
and startups worldwide (from Panama to New
Zealand). No limitation on products or categories.
CUSTOMERS
The smallest customer has never sold before. The
largest Amazon customer had sales of $70,000,000 in
2020. The largest non-Amazon customer had sales of
29.7 billion in 2021.
IN NUMBERS
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET

12. Why
additional
options to
China, Asia?
Changes are here!
• Import taxes from China
• Increasing shipping costs
• Increasing lead times
• Increasing delivery times
• Increasing labour costs
• Increasing utility costs
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET

13. Embrace
local! www.zignify.net

14. Challenges to be
aware of when
sourcing in
Europe / USA
Higher MOQ’s
Lower product selection
Less flexibility
Language barriers
Higher price
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET

15. Good news:
Changes are
happening!
Factories are "adjusting"
Lower shipping costs
Faster deliveries
Low or no import costs
Hello USP's!

16. Sourcing China?
+ High likelihood to find
manufacturers
+ Cheaper production
+ Low MOQ
+ Fast production
+ Very good quality possible
- Freight costs & Import
- Delivery times (Production &
Shipping)
- Copycats
- Language / time difference
- Trust & Quality
Outside of China?
+ Low shipping costs
+ Fast delivery
+ Less copycats
+ Sustainability
+ USPs / Marketing
+ Also small MOQ possible
- Receiving proposals
- Language barriers
- Speed (quotations)
- Quality
- “It’s not China”

17. Which
products can I
source outside
of China?
• Household, Kitchen, Bathroom
• Food & supplements
• Baby & Family
• Pets & Accessories (Supplements)
• Cosmetics (personal hygiene)
• Health products (vitamins, powders)
• Wood (furniture, toys)
• Textiles (home, garden, clothing)
• Chemicals (home, garden)
• Art supplies (canvas, brush)
• Packaging (+ paper/glass related
products)
• And many more…
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET

18. Quelle: https://www.e-commerce-magazin.de/amazon-marktplatz-das-sind-die-besten-kategorien-fuer-hohe-umsaetze/

19. NEARSHORING
•Political instability
•Trump and other
taxes
•Long shipping
•Long financial
turnaround
China USD 37
Turkey USD 41
Poland EUR 43
Mexico USD 47
Bulgaria Euro 30

20. A few
examples –
which
products from
where?
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET
Material / Product Country
Wood (local European)
Poland, Czech, Turkey, Romania,
Hungary
Wood (exotic like
Bamboo)
India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka
Fabric/ Textile Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
Metal Turkey, India, Pakistan, Germany
Cosmetics/ Make Up
Germany, Italy, Poland, Turkey, South
Korea
Glass Poland, Italy, Turkey, Germany
Plastic Poland, Turkey
Carton/Packaging Poland, Germany
Cork Portugal
Tools Germany, USA, India
Knives, blades Germany (high quality), India
Gold/ Silver India
Toys wooden Poland. Hungary, Romania
Toys plastic Turkey

21. Where to find
suppliers?
• Alibaba
• 1688
• Global Sources
• Europages
• Wer liefert was (German)
• Ali Express
• LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram
• Google, Google, Google
• Baidu, Baidu, Baidu
• Vitamin C
• Call, call, call

22. What to watch out for? Part 1
Not only 2 - 3 proposals, but find 30
– 60 potential suppliers!
Get enough proposals - for
best prices
The power of referrals!
Bad webpage = bad
company?
Traders increase price
Manufacturer or trading
company?
OEM, ODM, Adjustmenst, Changes,
Willingness
Flexibility &
Communication
Web page offers vs. reality, no
webpage, but products
Products possible at all?
Business Reg., Export Licence,
Financial situation, Reviews, how
long on the market, size,
management
Background Check

23. What to watch out for? Part 2
Sellable products, regulations, laws,
guidelines (get prio to pricing!)
Licenses, certificates
German seller, but production
somewhere else?
Where produced
indeed?
All contacts, percentages of order
volume, bribes, number of offers.
When working with sourcing
agent / company
Long term relationship, like a
marriage, differences, arguments,
conflict.
Don’t marry a stranger
100% in advance vs 20 / 30 / 50
MOQ & payment terms
Already produced indeed? Or
vague outcome expectation?
Offers vs reality in
production

24. 11 hacks to
negotiate with
suppliers &
sourcing
companies
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET
1. Contacting 3 or 30 suppliers?
2. Contacting only from existing database?
3. Are you getting contact data of suppliers?
4. Is a fixed rate per product even possible?
5. Bribes to sourcing company by
manufacturers?
6. Percentage of order volume really in the
interest of a seller?
7. Payment to the supplier?
8. QC: For both samples & mass production!
9. Oustide of China: Patience & persistence! 3
emails & 4 calls is not unheard of!
10. Don‘t contact aimlessly! (Shotgun-style)
11. The Undercover Hack!

25. 22 products
Started with 1 product, now
(in parallel launch!!!)

26. And of
course:
Why Zignify?
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET
• Offices in Germany and Singapore
• Team speaks 20+ different languages
• Accumulated over 200 years of experience in
global sourcing
• All-around services (product sourcing, SCM,
logistics, product development, product research,
others)
• Sourcing Professionals located across the Globe
• Full transparency. You get ALL the data, not just
some
• On-staff designers, technical packs developers,
patent specialists
• Over EUR 300 million in savings for our clients
• Average savings (on optimization projects are 25%)

27. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuliyablinova/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastianherz/
Yulia Blinova 余莉 Sebastian Herz 贺思安

28. Amafest Offer:
30 min sourcing
consultation
+ 1 lucky draw: FOC
verification stage (6h
China, 10h rest of
world)
WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET

29. WWW.ZIGNIFY.NET
SERVICES
• Global Product Sourcing
• Quality Control
• Supply Chain
• Product Photography
• Logistics
• Labelling/product
requirements verification
• Certification application (e.g.
TÜV und SGS)
• 3PL/Storage
• And more...
www.zignify.net
hello@zignify.net
+49 89 5419 7859 (DE)
+ 49 176 3239 3675 (EN)
Book a Zoom-Call:

30. Money is made when you buy,
not (only) when you sell.
https://docs.google.com/presentatio
n/d/1Ew7OypZe-eKE0pjaqVC6nnyz
G9BwI8q41pGhZz5yr5Q/edit?usp=
sharing

31. Sebastian Herz
www.zignify.net
+49 892 0708861/
+49 895 4197859
Schedule a
FREE call