What Services Do Sourcing Agents Provide?

Online Shopping Products From China is quite popular. However, it is also quite challenging. This is especially the case when you are looking for many products, often to resale in another country. Here, there are so many things to do and factors to consider before purchasing the products. You have to be careful not to buy products that clients will not purchase. This is where sourcing agents come in.

What is a sourcing agent?

A sourcing agent is an agency or person that represents buyers to source commodities. Sourcing agents purchase products that are out of reach for buyers. They are critical in international trade. For instance, a buyer in the United States may want a product from China. Naturally, they may have to travel to China or buy the products online. A sourcing agent will source for the buyer’s suppliers and make sure they get the exact product they want.

Services provided by sourcing agents

The services provided by sourcing agents differ from one to the next. However, below are the standard services that all sourcing agents provide.

1. Selecting the right supplier

The first and most important role or service of a sourcing agent is selecting the right supplier for a buyer. What happens if a buyer approaches a sourcing agent and forms a contract. The sourcing agent gets the required information from the buyer. This information includes; the type of products, qualities, materials, quantity, and the specifics of the products.

Using this information, the sourcing agent will search for the best supplier. This is easy for the sourcing agent because they are always located where the buyer wants to get products. For instance, a US buyer looking for Chinese products will get a sourcing agent in China.

2. Negotiating prices

The sourcing agent is also tasked with the role of negotiating prices on behalf of the buyer. This is a significant role since the client is not around or does not have access to the suppliers. Naturally, the buyer gives the sourcing agent a price limit, and they have to get them the best products for excellent prices. Therefore, a sourcing agent will take care of all the negotiating, so you do not have to worry about it.

3. Following up on production

After making a deal and agreeing on the prices with the supplier, it is also the sourcing company’s work to follow up on production and make sure that everything goes well. Here, the sourcing agent will make sure that deadlines, design, and duality requirements are met.

4. Quality control, product compliance, and testing

After the production is complete, the sourcing company will handle all the product compliance and testing procedures. They do this to ensure that the products that reach the buyer are all in a perfect state. Therefore, if there is something wrong, the buyer will not reach out to the supplier but the agent. Therefore, they have to ensure that everything is perfect before shipping.

Final word

The sourcing agent also handles the shipping and logistics of products after they are tested and produced. The sourcing agent will ensure that all products reach the buyer within the specified deadlines and in a perfect state.