How To Find International Wholesale Buyers For Export Goods

Finding wholesale buyers for your product is a daunting task, as it is essentially the lifeline of your business.

Thanks to the internet and the rise of e-commerce, selling online (B2B and B2C) to anyone in the world is much easier than years past. This allows to further expand your sales, even to an international base.

However, it is slightly more complicated than just listing your products online, as there are various factors you have to consider.

For instance, you have to evaluate the following:

• Your branding
• Your online presence
• Your product market
• Where to list your product

Even though you’re the seller, it is still important to know as much as you can about your buyer. Why? If you want to establish a business relationship, you have to know if your buyer is capable and legitimate. A great way to do this is by using import and export trade data.

That’s where our software, ImportKey, comes in to provide a smoother experience while you find international buyers for export goods.

About Import and Export Data

Not many people who casually buy and sell online know about import and export data. Except, it’s the most powerful information you can use right at your fingertips, especially for serious buyers and sellers in B2B.

Import and export data allows you to see transactions that have occurred overseas between buyers and sellers.

The most important document is called the Bill of Lading, which is proof a transaction occurred between two parties. It shows where it took place, the quantity, the description of the cargo, and more.

When doing business, especially internationally, the biggest fear is being scammed online. To lessen the chances of that happening, you need as much information and confirmation as possible about a business that will give you the trust and confidence to initiate a transaction.

Even though import and export data is best used for potential buyers, you, as a seller can also use this information to confirm you won’t get scammed either! Granted, wholesale buyers who are just starting may not have much information available, but it’s up to you if you would like to take that chance.

Our software, ImportKey, provides the latest up-to-date information on countless suppliers and buyers. See our guide “Brief Overview of ImportKey” to be familiar with the platform.

Establish Your Online Presence

Building trust and an impression will separate you from other sellers. Google and other search engines provide valuable information about any legitimate entity. However, the information on Google scratches the surface. Once someone sees some viable information about a seller, they will more than likely pursue and want to know more.

To give a good example, if you wanted to find your competitor’s suppliers, you would do research both online and possibly using sophisticated software, such as ImportKey (more information soon).

If someone wants to do business with you, they have to make sure you are a legitimate company. The best way to do this is to put out as much information as you can about your company. For instance, having an online presence and readily available to answer questions is an excellent way to entice buyers, especially international wholesale buyers.

An online presence includes:

• Marketing and branding; a first impression
• A website with support (contact box or email and a live chat)
• Social media presence including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google My Business, etc.
• Photos! People love to see photos of the owners and staff

For example, “Ring” is the hottest selling wifi camera security on Amazon. On their “About” page on their official website, the CEO’s picture and contact, as well as a photo of the facility is shown. On the bottom, it has a chatbox for any questions. Granted this company did a lot of marketing and appeared on a television show, but marketing was a part of their success.

You will be surprised at how much this can impact potential buyers. International buyers especially are wary of doing business overseas, and knowing they can trust you as a seller will give you a leg up on the competition. Marketing is underutilized today in B2B marketing, which is why platforms like Linkedin are growing year by year, but that’s another story!

In all, make sure when someone searches for your product or business on Google, you want them to find you easily and access the information they are looking for without having to do too much digging.

B2B Selling Platform on Alibaba for Export Goods

If you want to find international wholesale buyers for export goods, the best place is Alibaba. This website is known for finding Chinese suppliers, but it is excellent if you want to outside buyers. Sellers from the USA, India, Italy, Germany, and other countries also list their products for international buyers (see below).

Let’s say you are a seller from the United States. You will be on a page like this with your products:

Products are shown right away from various categories.

As you scroll down, there are others in the marketplace as well, ready for international wholesale buyers.

It isn’t just small businesses, of course, companies like Office Depot are even on Alibaba’s U.S. suppliers list! (see above)

As we continue to scroll, various products are showing. Let’s say we see a competitor of yours in this same space. For example, let’s say you sell sportswear similar to “Nfinity Athletic, LLC.”

You can look them up on ImportKey, as in researching their import and export data. This will show you their suppliers and may give you a competitive advantage. It’s also a good way to know if you have to adjust anything in your marketing to appeal to international wholesale buyers

To show you how quickly you can do this, head over to the ImportKey dashboard and type in “Nfinity Athletic LLC,” where we see a match.

Here we can see this is a legitimate company that sells to international wholesale buyers on Alibaba, so you’re in good company. But also, this is is your competition, and they already know about using Alibaba to sell their export goods!

Here you can see their suppliers and top products (see above).

Down below under “Shipments,” you will see the Bill of Lading for each transaction.

Next, you’ll see their suppliers and all their information, even phone numbers!

Next, you will see any connections to other suppliers or buyers to the products in “Relationships.”

We did this to show how you can use ImportKey for a competitive advantage in your market. That was a small portion, however, and you’ll have to do more research in Alibaba. Luckily, finding out information is easy once you become more familiar with other competitors in your niche.

Lastly, you can use this same process to search your buyers if you are contacted through Alibaba. You will see if they are a company that has done legitimate transactions and if they have any prior buying experience. This will give you the confidence to create a business relationship with an overseas buyer as well.

To get the benefits of selling to Alibaba’s huge platform, you must sign up. Signing up to Alibaba is easy. On the homepage, scroll to the bottom where it says, “Choose Your Suppliers By Region.” If you’re in the U.S., click “USA.”

Scroll down to the end, and you will see “Become an Alibaba.com supplier.”

Here, you will see the two plans Alibaba currently has with per year fees. Alibaba has various tools for sellers to succeed in the marketplace (down below).