This company is an absolutely awful company to deal with, and have cheated me out of a grand total of £209.90 or $345.40. They represent themselves as being, “The UK’s LargestWholesale Directory of UK Wholesale Distributors, Suppliers and Products.” The details of my experience with them are as follows: On the 25, March, 2009, I wanted to buy a Seller’s membership from this company’s website. However, whilst I was trying to make the payment, there was a problem and the page refreshed on me. So, I started again, not noticing however, that the page had reset my chosen membership to Buyer, by default. Upon receipt of my invoice I noted that I had purchased the Buyer membership by accident, and which had cost me £29.95. So, I thought, O.K. I’ll go ahead and get my Premium Seller’s Membership, contact the company and ask them to return my money for the unwanted Buyer Membershipfee of £29.95. Surely, it wouldn’t be a problem, as I’d gone on and bought their more expensive Premium Seller’s Membership for £150? Not so. It seems, that when once eSources have your money, no matter how they come by it, they have absolutely no intentions of reverting it back to you, for whatever valid or well-founded reasons. I contacted their “support”, and I use this term in the loosest form, and informed them of the situation, and was both promptly and roundly ignored. I then wrote again, explaining the situation once again. Still no response! I then informed PayPal of the situation, upon whose inquiry eSources then decided to respond to me in the following manner: “Nobody is saying you didn’t purchase two services, we are just saying they are two separate services billed separately. Please understand that should we receive a similar message in the future we will suspend your account permanently without recourse for a refund.” A deeply, deeply, unprofessional, and suspicious response, don’t you think? However, they therewith, admit that I held two memberships; moreover, they state that they were indeed two separate and distinct services. In addition to that, they blatantly ignore the fact that I, as a seller, did not either need or want the buyer’s account. Whilst similarly ignoring my request for the return of my funds. Then, right at the end of their very brusque and perfunctory email, comes the slap in the face, telling me that should I protest this claim further that they would indeed suspend my account, and keep all of my money. Who do they think they are? And with whom do they think they’re speaking? Nevertheless, as of 11, April, 2009, they suspended all access to my account on their website. To continue. Of course, I made further protest (who wouldn’t?) and, as per their promise in their previous email, they blocked my access to the website less than two weeks after receiving my first payments, and withholding my £179.95. Now, here comes the surprise! Yesterday evening, Thursday, 25, June, 2009, I received a text message from PayPal telling me that eSources had removed another subscription fee of £29.95. Can you believe the nerve of these shysters!? Of course, I thought I’d pop back to the website to see if I could log in; after all, they were taking another month’s subscription fee from my bank account.Here’s what I found:
Still taking My Money, But Offering Nothing In return!
As you can see, my account has been “temporarily suspended” since a little less than two weeks after they took my money in the first instance. An unusual use of the term “temporarily”, to which I had been previously unaware; and yet they still have the temerity to take another month’s subscription of £29.95, whilst still maintaining my so-called ‘temporary suspension’ from their services. So, what to do? Well firstly, my lawyer in the UK will be put onto this case. It isn’t the money, it’s the principal. Of course, that isn’t to say that I don’t want my money returned – all of it!I do, and intend getting it, plus costs. Secondly, I’m writing this blog article to alert you all of the dangers of dealing with this company, as once things go wrong with them, you will never see the light of day again. Their customer service is the most disgusting I have ever come across in 44 years on this planet. They wouldn’t know what service was if it ran up to them and bit them on the leg. Thirdly, I’ve asked my bank here, and they’ve agreed, to send a fraud claim to eSources‘ bank (Mr. Stefano Carboni’s (the man behind the scam). Fourthly, I’m submitting their website, and the case details, to FireTrust to have said website included in their list of 525,831 websites of known scammers. As that is precisely what eSources are. After all, what else can one call them, if they take one’s money and withhold the service the payment is for? Let’s face it, a spade’s a spade. Therefore, If the hat fits, wear it! SCAMMERS! By the way, I highly recommend FireTrust’s SiteHound software, and no, I’m not one of their affiliates, but have recently applied to be, as I think their software to be a boon to anyone trading over the internet. It’s a great anti-scammer site tool, which sits as a bar in your browser, and informs you when you come across a website of known scammers by popping up a lovely pink warning page. Additionally, after a brief search of Companies House in the UK, (Registration Details of all UK registered companies), which is where they claim to be based. I failed to find any business of that name, registered under the address they give, in the UK. Finally, I have no intention of ever removing this article from my site, and it shall sit here in the Hall of Shame along with any other scam sites I come across in the future. NEWS FLASH!!!Talk of the devil, and up he pops!Here I am writing this article, I hear an email come in, check it and discover it’s from the Companies Investigation Branch of the UK Government, with which I registered a complaint the same day my access was cut to the site, and they have this very day, this very moment, informed me that, and I quote:“Dear Mr. Stone… …it appears that eSources is not a registered limited company and therefore CIB does not have the jurisdiction to handle your complaint.”However, the UK Inland Revenue Service (Taxman), and the police, can handle the case. Well, life is sometimes surprising and entertaining, isn’t it? Eh?Just when you need something, up it pops!I’m now going to write to Mr. Carboni of eSources again, informing him of my newly found information, straight from the mouth of the UK government itself.Keep you posted…Safe Sourcing, all!
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Sterling hits a two months low as the UK continues to lag behind. The British pound continues to fall sharply against the dollar as foreign exchange traders predict that the UK economy will continue to lag behind that of the US and the 16-nation Eurozone. UK short-term bond yields have hit all-time lows as analysts begin to predict that the Bank of......
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Well, what can I say? Setting up this blog has proven to be easy in some ways, but extremely difficult and annoying in others.
A Few Hours In To Setting Up The Blog
I’ve tried so many different skins for the forum, it’s starting to become tangible, and I feel like I’m changing my own skin, in a weird chameleonic way, and now I’ve started to hate themes.
Sour grapes, of course!
I’m discovering simplicity is what one needs, when dealing with themes. Those themes that throw up a “Home” tab, but then you can’t find a page called “Home” anywhere on your site, and which have bugged the hell out of me for seemingly endless hours.
In the end I found the current theme, and felt it provided me the easiest route into establishing a blog on which a)I could operate with relative ease, and b)where visitors could navigate their way with equal ease.
It’s all so crazily addictive, as I find myself sitting here like a man possessed, trying to figure this whole thing out, as I miss my meals, and unwillingly drag myself off to the toilet, afraid something will happen to my set-up. Perhaps I’ll buy some of those underwear being sold in Japan, into which you can calmly pee, and then later empty somewhere?
Still, one sore bottom, one splitting headache, twenty-three cups of ‘Pu-Erh‘ tea, and fourteen trips to the toilet later, I have a working blog!
I must look like a junky by now (I feel like one), what with my waxy, wan, drawn face, and my bulging staring eyes ogling the screen, whilst my hands shake and tremble from massive tea ingestion.
I think I can safely stop now, and take break before putting in any further additional content.
I’ve just been to the window for a quick look outside. A storm is brewing, as is evident by the very thick and low cloud, bring visibility right down. The sky has that electric green-grey look to it; and one has the feeling that should though anyone light a match in the city today, they would ignite the whole thing and we’d by wiped off the map.
Get the Canary and the cage!
And freak of freaks!
After getting the site just how I wanted it, I then thought to myself that my URL was just a tad too long. So, I thought I’d try and move it to another directory, which didn’t work, then I moved it back, and something got lost, and I buggered the whole thing up, and had to start again.
There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
At 44, having survived a multitude of physical and mental calamities in my life, I find myself almost broken by my …. Blog… Aghh…. Sob.. Sob…
Then, on the positive side, I have learned a lot, and now get to have my blog with a greatly reduced URL.
Choirs Of Heavenly Angels, Replace The Wailing Of Banshees In My Head!
Yes, folks, that’s life!
Sometimes it really does give you what you want. Just not in the way you wanted or expected it.
Still… Destination reached, and goal achieved, from the darkness comes the light.
Now all I have to do is put back all the content I’d so wisely saved.
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Further, and more recent email requests forWiis andAmazon Kindle 2 E-Book Readers, and similar products, have forced me toreiteratea point I have made on many forums before. There seems to be a common misconception that one can simply buy any branded product directly from China; I have to tell you that in most cases this simply isn’t true. If you wish to buy the product you want, you will have to go through an authorised dealer or distributor in your own country. Although a large majority of hi-tech toys, gadgets, and games are produced here in China;they are produced here to be legally exported to traders and dealers who have sole right of distribution in your country, or their other respective countries – not to be sold freely from China to anyone who wants them. Consequently, the only thing you will find here are knock-offs – or FAKES. So, all I can say to you is, that unless you can find those legal distributors in your own country, through a request to the parent company, or producer, then I’m afraid you will only ever be cheated. That will occur in one of two ways: 1. They’ll just take your money.2. They’ll send you fakes of either very good to crap quality (and don’t expect to get a real warranty).Is this sinking in yet?Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t buy from China. It just means that you will have to forgo the famous brands, and choose some of the excellent, high-quality, OTHER brands (or no-name brands to you), and which are available for legal export to your country, and for which you can get very good deals and make a very decent mark-up when you sell them. Customers don’t want them?Then buy some anyway, and TEACH your customers to want them. That’s how brand names became brand names – and that’s how a true salesperson works. It seems that the art of SELLING has been forgotten and replaced by the lesser art of TRYING TO MEET DEMAND or just jumping into the current trend or wave. Don’t try to meet demands – try and educate clients and GENERATE NEW DEMANDS. It used to be called – BREAKING A NEW MARKET. Responding to demand is easy, everybody and anybody can, and are doing this – breaking a new market, and REALLY selling,is a very profitable skill. In other words – Don’t follow fashions – SET THEM!
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Join The Safely Sourcing China Business Directory.
The Safely Sourcing China Business Directory
The Safely Sourcing China blog has opened a new service, and which is designed to assist those companies in the West wishing to trade with China, and those companies in China wishing to trade with the West, with a forum for coming together to assist and meet each others’ business needs and requirements.
Since membership is free, it costs you and your business nothing, except a minute of your time to complete the data input, to have your admission reviewed and included in the Safely Sourcing China Business Directory, providing you and prospective clients with a link back to your company website, email address, and telephone number.
The basic idea behind the Safely Sourcing China Business Directory is to bring entrepreneurs, and small, medium, and large businesses, with a specific interest in China Trade and Sourcing, a means of advertising themselves, and their services for free, in contrast to the many paid inclusion services available on the internet today.
Moreover, it also provides those companies who register in the SafelySourcing China Business Directory the opportunity to generate a healthy, non-black-hat, back-link to their respective business or corporate websites, and which will assist them in raising their web presence, and consequently their Google page ranking.
The Safely Sourcing China Business Directory is not a free for all, and will be moderated; therefore, if you have the idea of spamming the directory with your inapplicable or non-relevant data and links, your IPwill simply be blocked from further access to the blog, and your listing request deleted without ever being posted in the first instance.
That being said, we look forward to the many genuine Chinese and foreign companies wishing to post their details with us in the spirit of co-operation.
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More than a few people have discussed XBOX and Games Consoles, and I’ve often been asked about sourcing them.
I’d like to make specific mention of this issue briefly here.
The Parallel or Grey Importing of Goods.
Scammers Love You, Because You Love This!
I’ll talk about parallel or grey importing using computers as an example first, and then follow on to briefly discuss games consoles and Xboxes.
Brand name electrical goods and computers CAN be found here in China.
However, when you start trying to take them from China (or anywhere else) into other countries, then you fall into an area known as parallel or grey importing. Many companies are now really cracking down on this, particularly SONY™for instance, in co-operation with the EU, there has a been a dramatic increase in seizures of goods at ports.
Scammers Love Your Money - And You Love To Give It To Them!
For example: To export anything made by Dell™ in China, to the US, would be considered by Dell™ US to be poaching on their territory.
Sometimes the practice of parallel or grey importing is illegal, but not always so.
Many of the parties concerned with the parallel or grey importing of a good are usually the authorized agents or importers, or other retailers of an item in the target market. More often than not this is the national subsidiary of the manufacturer, or one of its related companies. In response to the ensuing damage to both their profits and their reputation, many manufacturers, and their official distribution chains will very often seek to restrict the parallel or grey market.
Manufacturers have the right to refuse to honour the warranty of an item purchased from parallel or grey market sources, on the grounds that the higher price you should have paid on the non-grey market reflects a higher level of expected service.
To The Scammer, 'You' Are The 'Apple' of Their Eyes!
Additionally, companies may provide the warranty service only from the manufacturer’s subsidiary only from within the intended country of import, and not in the diverted third country to where the parallel or grey goods are ultimately sold by the unauthorised distributor or retailer.
Are you prepared to make money at any cost?
Are you the kind of person who’d sell grey or parallel goods to someone, irrespective of the effective lack of any genuine warranty on those goods?
Do you not care about the end user, your client, and your own reputation?
Because, if your answer is ‘yes‘ to the first two questions, and ‘no‘ to the third one, then I really don’t see much difference between you and the scammers.
In my opinion, if you’re buying grey or parallel, then you’re obviously a bit shady yourself.
The response by scammers to the grey market is particularly evident in the electronic goods market, where I hear people crying loudly at having been ripped and burned regularly!
Have You Got Money To Burn?
Yes, it seems to be the people endeavouring to buy games and game consoles, along with iPhonesetc., who are the one’s who get burned most frequently by the scammers.
Just by virtue of wanting these goods grey or parallel, you put yourself at the scammers table, and if you’re unlucky (which you most probably will be) you’ll find yourself on a scammers dinner plate too.
If that’s you, or you’re thinking about entering this line of business, then I suggest you find another product line to trade in, one that you can get direct from a good OEM/ODM in China.
Remember, the scammers love those who love to buy grey!
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China Scam – Money Mules – And Why You Will Never See Your Money Again.
I’d like to point out to you, in very clear and marked terms, just why it is you will never see your money again, should you happen to lose to a scam in China; particularly those of you who lose money to companies whilst trying to buyiPhones, Nintendo, etc. Last week, I wrote about Mr. Stefano Carboni’s apparent involvement in the money mule scam; that is, getting other people to transfer funds through their personal bank accounts, as a means of laundering it to a final destination. Then only this week, I discover, through certain of my contacts here in China, the reason you won’t ever see your money again is based on similar grounds. Here is how it works: There are approximately 300 million agricultural workers in China, and approximately40 millionmigrant workerstravelling from city to city in attempts to find some kind of living. So, no shortage of potential mules! A quick review of salaries in China may provide you with a glimpse at the motivation behind the actions I’m about to describe.
A Chinese Farmer
In 2007 the average farmerin China earned around 4,140 RMB (Yuan) or approximately $605 USDper annum; the average salary for a construction worker in China is approximately 1, 064 RMB (Yuan) or $122 USD per month; whilst the average factory worker is earning around 1,100 RMB (Yuan) or $ 160 USD per month. As can be seen, by the above figures, the 300 million farmers in the agricultural sector earn less than 30%of what construction and factory workers can earn in a year. This fact is widely known in China, and it is to this sector of the community that the scammers go with their offer. So, what is their offer? It’s very simple, actually. They say to the peasant farmer, something along the lines of, “Look we have all these foreign clients, but we don’t want to pay tax and stuff, and so we need an alternative account for the funds to be transferred to, as a means of avoiding the tax. You open a bank account for us using your ID, our foreign clients transfer funds to it, and then move the funds on to another account, the details of which we’ll give you (usually Taiwan); and we’ll pay you a nice fat commission, and you and your family will be much better off. Your child will be able to go to a better school, and then on to university, and the whole future of your family will be changed for the better – forever.” Of course, from Taiwan, the money is then transferred to other destinations. So, the peasant, knowing a good thing when he or she sees or hears one; and who is always willing to make extra money for the family, says, “HaoDe!” or “HaoLe!” (Good! orFine with me!). I mean, why wouldn’t they? People in the West do exactly this when they get involved in fake cheque scams, and act as money mules for a variety of mafias. In actuality, the Chinese peasant farmer, quite probably has a better excuse than the greedy money-grabbing buggers in the West, who regularly sign up for this kind of business, as their lifestyles are a millennia apart, and is clearly documented and attested by many more than myself. So, personally speaking, I can’t really blame them; you make your own decision on that. Anyway, of course, eventually the whole thing gets tumbled, and the account closes, and the scammers recruit another peasant farmer, and start the whole operation again, with barely a blip in their action. The previous peasant farmer account holder is questioned by the police, and the police learn nothing, as the peasant farmer was him or herself duped anyway, and has absolutely no idea of the true identities of the people they’ve been dealing with. And, naturally, a physical description isn’t going to help much. I understand that to many foreigners, everyone may look the same here, but, that isn’t true, of course. People here do have very distinct personal physical attributes. However, without wishing to sound racist, and by sticking to reality, whether it pleases us to do so or not, the general physical characteristics are certainly much of a muchness; in as much as hair, skin, and eye colour, or whether he or she looked like an East European, had a certain Latino appearance, or shocking red hair and green eyes. I mean, can you imagine the interrogation of the peasant? Policeman 1: So, what did this man look like? Peasant: Well, he was maybe 30 years old, about 5 feet 6 inches, had short black hair, yellow skin, slanted dark brown eyes, and a wide or flat nose. Policeman 1: O.K., So we can rule out all the women and men under 30 years of age in the country. That just leaves the rest of the population. Hold on! What Kind of accent did he have? Peasant: He sounded like he came from Henan Province to me. Policeman 1: Ah ha! From Henan you say. Well, that’s a lucky break for us, as there are only 100 million people in Henan. So, if we discount all the women, that brings us to about 70 million males. O.K. that’s god, that’s good… Then we discount those under 30 years of age. and those above 40 years of age… Let me see… Yes…, that leaves us with only… Great Scott! Only 21,000,000 men to search through; By George! We’re on to them now. You can tell Mr. Stupid Bugger in England, that we’ll soon have his $300 dollarsback for him. Policeman 2: But, Sir. What if the perpetrator doesn’t live in Henan anymore, and is living… well… …somewhere else in China? Policeman 1: Damn it, Caruthers, you’re right! Stop that telegram to Mr. Stupid bugger in England. Now, (He paces the room thoughtfully, clenched fist, arms folded and thumb to top teeth, looking into nothingness on the floor before him) Mmmm… yes… Yes, this really puts the cat amongst the pigeons. I think this may take a little longer than I at first thought. And that’s it basically.
A Submarine In Your Bathtub
That’s why, if you lose your money here, the chances of you ever seeing it again, are about the same as you taking a bath, and a nuclear submarine surfacing in it, raking you with machine-gun fire, stealing your rubber duck, submerging, and then going back to base for debriefing, a plate of hot and crispy cod and chips (fries) with brown sauce, washed down with a warm cup of hot cocoa, and all before bed-time. Now, if you’re sensible, then you’ll go back to the OLD FASHIONEDWAY of doing things, and hire an agent, like me, to protect your interests, and to ensure that you don’t find yourself taking a bath with a submarine. The choice is yours. You’ve been warned. Again!Safe Trading!
Personal Finance Lessons Learned the Hard Way Today is the first anniversary of the Tough Money Love blog. I am honored by those who read what I have to say and thankful for all of your comments. Your input is always educational and, at times, quite entertaining. I hope that you can say the same about my......
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Here are a few extra notes on safely sourcing products in China, from the Safely Sourcing China blog. Learn what you can from your prospective ‘supplier’s’ website, or lack thereof.
Web Presence.
Firstly, if they don’t have their own website, drop them like a hot rock. That includes those “companies” in possession of the rubbish little “pages” on Alibaba, etc. No Domain – No Hope! Although, personally I do know of companies in China who are real, but their marketing sucks so badly they haven’t managed to organise a web presence. But, I’m a graduate of the ‘better-safe-than-sorry’ school, when it comes to this particular aspect of doing business in China. If your prospective “supplier” owns a website, then check that the area code, given in the contact section, matches the postcode, or town or city name, given in the address. You can check postcodes here. If they don’t match, drop them like a hot rock. The following mobile telephone prefixes will allow you to determine which mobile telephone network is being used by your “supplier”, in case you need to connect with the service provider, to check if the number is still working, when calls fail to be answered by the person you’ve gone sent your money to, whilst failing to perform any of the checks given here. The service provider name follows the prefix number.130/1/2. -China Unicom, 133. – China Telecom, 1340 -1348 – China Mobile, 1349. – ChinaSat, 135/6/7/8/9. -China Mobile, 150. – China Mobile, 151. – China Mobile, 152. -China Mobile, 153. -China Telecom, 155. – China Unicom, 156. – China Unicom, 157. – China Mobile, 158. -China Mobile, 159. – China Mobile, 185. -China Unicom, 186. – China Unicom, 188. – China Mobile, 189. – China Telecom. You can visit this very nice page on WikiPedia for a more complete listing of area codes by major municipality and province. If they don’t have an address on their contact page, forget them. After all, if they aren’t willing to disclose their address, then you must ask yourself a one word question – “Why?
”.
On The Subject Of Addresses.
My business is registered in a residential property, as we are a Small Office Home Office (SOHO), as we neither manufacture, store, stock, and we very rarely have business visitors; due to the fact we supply nothing more than ‘information’, we go out to visit Chinese companies, and our foreign clients are just that – foreign, and live abroad, and so we needn’t waste money on having an actual office. My computer is my office. However, someone claiming to manufacture, stock, or supply must have an office, for the same reasons I don’t need one. An office will normally be in a building with a name, for example: Room 602, Floor 5, Great Dragon Bldg., Haidian District, Beijing. Whilst a SOHO, like us, will run as above, but minus the building name, and is indicative of a residential area.
About Us.
If they haven’t included and about us page in their website, or it is very sparse, then drop them. Obviously, if they have little to say about themselves, there’s a reason.
Google Them.
The next thing to do is Google their company name + scam, and also their company URL + scam. That alone should give enough of a heads-up on who you’re dealing with.
Mono-Lingual Websites.
Finally, as mentioned in my previous article Quick Checklist For How To Spot A Chinese Scam Site, if the website is devoid of Chinese, and only has an English language page, the chances are they’re scammers. Well, that’s it for today.Trade Safely!
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TsingHua TongFang (THTF) Name Beijing Based Your China Trading Partner As Their New Agent for Europe, North America, and Africa.
TsingHuaTongfang
TsingHua TongFang (THTF) is presently ranked in the top 10 leading manufactures in the world, in the first 6 in the Asia-Pacific Region, and number 2 in the Chinese domestic market (IDC figures), and which also owns the largest and most advanced PC production factory in the world with a total area of 50,000 square meters and a production capacity of 5 million units per annum, has namedMr. Ken Stone, of yourchinatradingpartner.com (YCTP) in Beijing, as their new European, North American, and African sales and marketing agent as of the 30th of April 2009. This multi-billion dollar Chinese brand currently holds the number 2 position in the CE, PC, OEM, and ODM China markets, and as such is a world leader in the production of computers and associated technologies.
Mr. Lu ZhiCheng, President Of TsingHua TongFang Co. Ltd.
THTF, a state-owned enterprise or SOE, and which is partnered with TsingHua University in Beijing, which holds the largest equity stake in the group. As the commercial arm of TsingHua University, THTF’s main goal is to build industry chains within the information and environmental energy industries, and which include the production and servicing of products as diverse as PCs, laptops, notebooks, netbooks, mobile telephones, LED chips, security systems, and digital TVs. Currently the THTFEnglish language website is still under construction however, any queries or information requests regarding any THTF computer related products may be directed to Mr. Ken Stonevia the Your China Trading Partner website on yourchinatradingpartner.com. YCTP are a Beijing-based Sino-Anglo family-owned product sourcing and due diligence performance company; predominantly servicing small to medium sized foreign enterprises and businesses seeking to source products, to have a representative presence in China, or to protect their investments or purchases against cyber-crime or cyber-fraud through their due diligence services.
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The following are a list of some of the more common questions people seem to have regarding trading with China. I have sought to answer them as directly and frankly as I can.
Why am I worried about sourcing from or manufacturing in China?
Firstly, if you aren’t concerned, you might as well open your window, set fire to your money, and start shoveling it out of the window into the street. There is risk in anything we do in the world of business, and to think otherwise is to fool oneself into a false sense of security. Moreover, to believe that one can safely self-source from China is equally as absurd and dangerous. Your concerns are valid, as they would be even if you were sourcing from Israel, Portugal, or any other country; and trading or dealing with China is no different. China has its’ own set of cultural and business subtleties and values, to which you as a foreigner or someone unaccustomed to dealing with China, may be totally oblivious to; but to someone such as myself, having lived here for 8 years, are not lost to me. And it is precisely for these reasons that you need someone here you can trust, who is culturally familiar with those nuances of business and social culture, and who can operate in and on your behalf.
What about quality? Isn’t China famous for producing poor quality goods?
That may well have been true at one time. However, you need to ask your self whether you’re happy with the quality of your iPhone? Because Apple have been producing in China for a number of years, along with a plethora of other famous High Street brands. Of course, that isn’t to say that quality doesn’t or can’t suffer. It does, as with anywhere else in the world. However, if you ensure that random quality checking is employed before the goods leave port, then one can drastically mitigate this risk. Furthermore, when once you develop a successfullong-term relationship with a manufacturer, they will understand the benefits of not cutting their own throats. To my mind, one of the reasons China has gained its’ reputation for poor quality, is also in part due to a failure of buyers to perform the necessary due diligence and oversight that they should. However, allow me to reiterate a point I’ve just made: Sound partners, and a representative presence in Mainland China, able to perform your due diligence, and maintain an oversight of quality, plus developing your long-term relationship with the producer, will go a long way towards drastically mitigating the issue of poor quality to a level acceptable in the West.
So, how many people will have their fingers in my, production and purchasing, pie in China?
Well, the people, or groups involved could be as few as one, if your goods are coming from one of the larger companies, such as TsingHua TongFang, whom I represent as Agent to Africa, Europe, and North America; or they could be several, for one of the smaller companies. Of course, the amount of fingers in the pie will play a very definite role in the cost of your goods, and sometimes even the quality. However, the role of ‘GuanXi’, or what we would term ‘relationships’, plays a significant role in Chinese society at all levels, and particularly in business; as it has done for several thousand years, and the power of which shouldn’t be ignored or underestimated, and which is an unavoidable necessity and phenomena. This is a deeply ingrained and necessary interpersonal skill, and which is tightly bound and woven into the fabric of the Chinese psyche. I’m sure that should you check your own embassy websites in China you will come across the term ‘GuanXi’ several times. No ‘GuanXi’, no help! It is precisely for this reason, that should you intend doing business in, or with, China, you need a mediator to act as a conduit to facilitate smooth and safe trading. Your conduit can form relationships on your behalf, that you are unable to form due to geographical distance, language, and cultural distance. You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours; is precisely how it works in China.
What if my goods aren’t delivered on time or the quality isn’t what I requested?
Well, in that case we incorporate into the contract CIETAC’s model arbitration clause. NOTE: CIETAC(China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (A government department and Part of MOFCOM- The Chinese Ministry of Commerce). Here’s the clause:“Any dispute arising from or in connection with this Contract shall be submitted to China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission for arbitration which shall be conducted in accordance with the Commission’s arbitration rules in effect at the time of applying for arbitration. The arbitral award is final and binding upon both parties.” The same clause can be used for the safety of your financial transaction, in addition to opening a Letter of Credit (L/C) rather than a Telegraphic Transfer (TT) of funds. Of course your letter of credit can dictate additional terms before funds are released; these terms can be specifically directed at shipping windows and parameters, levels of acceptable quality, processing of any and all necessary certificates and forms, proper and correct carton and packaging markings, and any necessary Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Standards compliance. Consequent to which, should the terms not be met as defined in the terms of the contract and in the letter of credit, then it will be up to you to decide or determine whether the funds be made available to the seller. So, that’s it for today. Safe Trading!
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YCTP – Fighting Cyber-Crime And Online-Fraud In China
Due to the increase in claims by small, medium, and even some quite large foreign firms, complaining of having been the victims of cyber-crime or cyber-fraud, Your China Trading Partner – Beijing (YCTP) have decided to open a new area of service for foreign clients, as a means of minimising or eliminating such risk.
YCTP Fighting Fraud
YCTP is a small product sourcing company based in Beijing, China, and predominantly servicing small to medium sized foreign enterprises seeking to source products, or to have a representative presence in China.
As far back as November, 2006, the 17th Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum, held in Busan, South Korea, China endorsed the APECPrivacyFramework along with representatives of the other 20 member countries and territories, as a means of combating threats in the form of a then growing gang of highly-organized cyber-criminals.
Since then the government of the Peoples’ Republic of China has taken proactive steps in a targeted and co-ordinated approach, by bringing together a group of the World’s most practiced IT experts to devise and discover ways and means of mitigating cyber-crime. Yet still this form of crime is still prevalent on the mainland today.
In 2009 the Internet Crime Complaint Centre released its latest annual report on victims’ complaints received and referred to law enforcement departments in the US.
YCTP Fighting Cyber-Fraud
Between January 1st, 2008 and December 31st, 2008, the IC3 website was in receipt of 275,284 complaint submissions. This being a 33.1% increase on those of 2007 when only 206,884 complaints were received. The greater part of these submissions was composed of complaints primarily related to fraudulent activities perpetrated via the Internet.
Non-delivery of merchandise was the most predominantly reported offence, and which comprised a total of 32.9% of the total referred complaints.
To meet the necessity for security in trade, and its’ accompanying growth in demand from foreign businesses, YCTP have now incorporated a new background checking and referencing function into their business, as a means of assisting foreign buyers, private or B2B, in protecting their investments, or purchases, against cyber-fraud; this being achieved through on-the-spot face-to-face due diligence services.
Queries or information requests may be directed toMr. Ken Stonevia the YCTP company website on: www.yourchinatradingpartner.com
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