Why now is a bad time to order products from China
Anaita explains that despite normally recommending Alibaba, current factory holiday closures and extreme shipping delays and costs make sourcing from China a poor choice right now. She advises producing locally or sourcing from India, Thailand, Vietnam, or Bali unless you have time and strong margins to absorb the delays.
The lessons
Check factory holiday schedules before placing bulk orders abroad.
Factor in sea freight delays and inflated air freight costs when planning inventory timelines.
Consider local manufacturing or alternative countries like India, Thailand, Vietnam, or Bali when China sourcing is slow.
Only source from China right now if you have both time to spare and a big margin cushion.
Questions people ask
Is it a good time to order products from China right now?
No, Anaita says it's not worth it right now because factories are closed for holidays from June 31st to July 6th and won't take new orders, plus there's a backlog when they return. Sea freight is delayed and air freight is at least four times more expensive than usual, so she recommends producing locally or sourcing from India, Thailand, Vietnam, or Bali instead.
Transcript
if you want to start a business now is not the time to be ordering products from china usually i'm a huge fan of alibaba to source your products but it's not worth it right now because of three things one is that they're going on holidays from the 31st of june to the 6th of july and so they're not taking any new orders right now after they get back they're gonna have a lot of brands waiting on their orders so even if you place your order now it won't be ready for a few months number two is that shipping times right now are ridiculous i'm talking about sea freight specifically maybe you think you can do air freight nope because air freight right now is at least four times more expensive than what it used to be my advice is to produce locally and if you can't do that go to countries like india thailand vietnam or even bali but if you have time and you have a big margin on your products then manufacturing in china is still a good thing
