Buyer-side sourcing guides
Wholesale Sourcing Guides for Ecommerce Sellers
Independent guidance for ecommerce sellers: how to find a counterparty, what to verify before money moves, and how to read a quotation so the first order is survivable.
- Find the right layer
- Verify before you pay
- Price the landed cost
Independent publication
Why these guides exist
These pages are written from the buyer’s side of the table: how to find a counterparty, what to verify before money moves, and how to read a quotation, a trade term or a minimum so the first order is survivable.
They are not a catalogue, a directory or a sales channel. We do not sell goods, hold inventory, appoint distributors or rank named vendors. If a sentence ever sounds as if we are the supplier, treat that as a mistake.
Learn more 32 Guides Dated articles, each citing a source list
5 Hubs One destination per buying decision
6 Years Operating ecommerce, not selling stock
3 Policies How we publish, correct and disclose
Guides organised the way a buyer decides
Each hub is a destination in its own right — not a list that appears once it has enough articles.
The sequence a first order follows
The order of the steps matters more than skill at any single step, because each one constrains the next.
Specify the product
Materials, tolerances, packaging and certification — written before anyone is asked for a price.
Shortlist counterparties
Manufacturers, traders, distributors and agents all call themselves suppliers. Separate the four first.
Request comparable quotes
Same specification, quantity, trade term and lead time to everyone. Anything else is not a comparison.
Read the trade term
EXW, FOB and CIF allocate cost and risk. They do not decide ownership or when payment falls due.
Calculate landed cost
Unit price is a minority of the number that matters once freight, duty, handling and defects are counted.
Verify the supplier
Legal entity, bank account name, trading history, then a facility check. Cheap checks come first.
Approve a sample
The approved sample is the production standard. If it cannot reject a shipment, it is decoration.
Size the first order
First orders should survive being wrong. Minimums move with volume and risk, not with persistence.
What you should see on a finished guide
Topic selection follows a decision a buyer actually has to make. Pages that would answer the same question are merged, not opened.
Jack Lau writes the guides. Credentials stay limited to operating experience that can be stated without inflation.
Policy and procedure are cited from the issuing body. Competitor blogs are not used as evidence.
A one-paragraph answer appears only where the question can actually be answered in a paragraph.
How to send a disputed sentence and a supporting source is published. The inbox is not a sourcing desk.
Questions readers ask first
Do you sell wholesale products or hold inventory?
No. This is a buyer's-side knowledge site. We do not take orders, appoint distributors, or represent suppliers. If a page reads as if we are offering stock, that is a wording error and should be treated as one.
Who writes the guides?
Jack Lau writes them. He has six years of ecommerce operating experience, mainly in sales data analysis and product-trend work that informs buying decisions. The perspective is the buyer's, not the supplier's.
How should I use these pages?
Use them to structure a decision — which checks to run, which term to ask for, which number to compare — then confirm the live rule, rate or document for your own shipment. Jurisdiction-specific items such as duty and certification are not settled by a guide.
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A missed delivery date wastes an eBay order. Record who holds the stock, who ships, and who takes the return before you list.
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This is not a sourcing desk
The editorial inbox reviews source errors, broken claims and requests to correct a page. It will not quote, broker or introduce a supplier. If you need a buying decision structured, start with the guides.