Expanding
Sourcing from China
Türkiye is our base. China is where we are actively growing — because there are categories no other country makes as well, and our buyers keep asking for them.
Our approach
We meet suppliers in person, at expo
There is a version of China sourcing that consists of messaging strangers on a directory site and hoping. It is cheap, fast, and how most small importers get burned.
Our approach is the slower one. Our team travels to expo events in China to meet manufacturers face to face — walk the stand, handle the product, ask who actually owns the factory, and judge whether the person opposite is a producer or a broker in a borrowed suit.
The centre of that effort is the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, universally known as Canton Fair. It runs twice a year, in spring and autumn, split across three phases covering different product groups. It remains the most efficient place on earth to compare a hundred manufacturers of the same product in a week.
What we bring back
Verified supplier relationships in categories Turkish manufacturing does not cover well — consumer electronics and accessories, lighting, small appliances, tools, gadgets and higher-tech assemblies where the component supply chain is Asian by necessity.
Being straight about where we are
China is our growth area, not our largest book of business. We would rather say that plainly than imply a twenty-year Guangzhou operation we do not have. What we do have is regional managers covering China, an expanding set of factory relationships built at expo, and the same verification and inspection discipline we apply in Türkiye.
Trade-offs
What China costs you, honestly
Lower unit prices are real. So are the things that eat them.
Long transit
Sea freight to North European ports typically runs four to seven weeks port to port, before inland movement. That is working capital sitting on a vessel, and a forecast you have to make months ahead.
Duty applies
Unlike Türkiye, goods from China attract customs duty on entry to the EU at the rate for their commodity code, on top of import VAT. A low ex-works price can lose to a Turkish quote once duty and freight are added.
Higher minimums
Chinese factories generally want larger runs, and part-load sea freight is disproportionately expensive. This is precisely where order pooling earns its keep for a smaller buyer.
On tariffs and trade measures: duty rates, trade remedies and import rules affecting Chinese-origin goods change frequently, and differ between the EU and the United States. We do not publish rates that may be out of date by the time you read them — we confirm the duty position and landed cost for your specific commodity code and destination at the time we quote.
Want something found at the next expo?
If you have a product in mind for a Chinese supplier, brief us ahead of the next fair and our team can look for it on the ground.