How to purchase building materials through a buying agent?

You might think of buying building materials in China, but how can you get there and communicate with the suppliers? Finding an agent sounds a good idea, but do you know what should agent do, and how to recognize a reliable agent and a terrible agent? This article might make out some of your puzzles.

Building materials do not like other stuff, they are more diversified and complicated. Different parts of building materials have different markets, like tiles market, sanitary market, lighting market etc. Each materials and packages also are different. A reliable agent can save the buyer lots of time. Through this article, the buyer might know what agent should do, and agent’s duties are also as follows.

To Be a Guide and Show the Buyer Where the Market is

It is critical for an international buyer to find a reliable agent. He or she gets familiar with the building material markets, so he or she can show the buyer where the most suitable market is quickly. For example, you want some modern style sofa or nature marble tiles, then the reliable agent can bring you there directly to save your time.

An unreliable agent might show the buyer wrong markets or expensive locations. Which will wastes the buyer’s time and energy. If the buyer cannot find out what he wants in a strange country, he might feel desperate because of the terrible agent.

However, a reliable agent can provide the buyer for correct locations of markets, arrange the schedule properly to save time. Do good translation as well as good negotiation. What’s more, a reliable agent will take good & detailed photos of the products the buyer wants, collect the details of products and do a SC or Invoice for the buyer. Only one thing should the buyer do, that is, to tell the agent what you need clearly.

To Effectively Communicate with the Suppliers

You might make order from than 50 suppliers! It could be a nightmare or waste time for you to talk with more than 50 people. Some of them even don’ t speak English. But the agent will easily handle this issuie between the clients & suppliers no matter how many suppliers the buyer has visited.

A reliable agent will be good at both Chinese and English, in addition, the agent’s mother language is Chinese and they are at the same time zone, so it is convenient for him or her to communicate with the suppliers. The agents can call the suppliers or WhatsApp them to get immediately response. They can even visit the suppliers to have a face to face visiting if needed.

By the way, its not very suggested for the client to talk with the suppliers separately about the order. As there are many small orders and there maybe something wrong if the clients not able to inform the agent in time. Take tiles as an example again, tiles are divided into several grades, such as defective tile, A grade tile and AAA grade tile. AAA grade tile is the best one, and defective tile is the worst one. Therefore, the buyer should always tell the agent clear request and not inform the supplier separately about the order.

To Inspect Goods the Buyer Has Ordered

A reliable agent will have a field visit to the suppliers’ factory/warehouse, then inspect all goods before delivery in case of the suppliers afford the buyer bad quality goods. Take tiles as an example, they are very fragile, so they need to be packed well with wooden pallet. After inspecting all goods, the agent will make an inspection report for the buyer. Through the report, the buyer, who just stays at his or her country, can see all inspection details of goods. Besides, the buyer does not need to worry about whether the agent will tell a lie. A reliable agent is very professional and good at international trade operations, so he or she will definitely be responsible for the buyer and will not let suppliers have any chance to cheat the buyer. Only in this way can the agent develop long-term cooperation with the buyer.

To Arrange the Loading of Container

Again, you might order from 50 suppliers, how can you collect the goods and load them properly? The agent will handle this perfectly.

On the day of loading, the reliable agent will supervise the workers to place the goods appropriately to the container. Building materials have many types. Some are very big size but strong, others are small size but fragile, so the agent need to supervise the workers carefully avoiding place the goods inappropriately.

Before loading, the agent will check carefully the container’s number, the truck’s number, seal number, the marks and the goods. While loading, the agent will supervise the workers, take photos of goods (where and how they place), and count the number of goods. Everything the agent does is to make sure everything is going well, and to be responsible for the buyer. After loading, the agent will send all pictures and files to the buyer. With the agent’s help, the buyer can safely and happily receive his or her goods.

To Associate with Shipping Department

After confirming all goods and paying the deposit, the agent starts to deal with the shipping. The agent will help you to book a container, custom declaration and custom clearance. Generally speaking, lots of international trade company do not have their own Shipping Department, not like ours. Our company has a sound system, we not only have the Merchandiser Department, but also have the Shipping Department. It will cost the buyer a lot if he or she finds an agent does not have the Shipping Department, and will waste the buyer’s time to find another shipping company. Not every shipping company has good English-speaking staff.

All in all, we hope you can have good experience for buying building materials in China. We provide professional buying service in China for 12 years, we have rich experience in building materials & furniture, if you are planning to come to China then we are pleased to assist you.

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1 Comment

Alice Carroll says:

20/01/2024 at 11:06

Thanks for also talking about the amount of time that could be saved when planning to buy new building supplies. I want to find a good supplier soon because I plan to have a vacation home built this year. Being able to find a good way to make it easier to plan out that project will be very important in the long run.