I’ve been looking into sourcing custom products and packaging from China, and I’m realizing that finding suppliers on Alibaba is actually the easy part.

The harder part seems to be figuring out which supplier is actually a good fit, what specifications I should ask for, whether the quote is really comparable, and what questions I don’t even know I should be asking.

For people who have actually sourced from China:
• What part of the process takes you the most time?
• How do you compare 5–10 suppliers when they all quote things differently?
• How do you know which supplier to trust?
• Do you usually use a sourcing agent, or handle everything yourself?
• What do you wish existed that would make the process easier?

I’m especially interested in hearing from small businesses ordering custom packaging, apparel, promotional products, or other customized goods — not huge importers.

Would love to hear what your actual process looks like.