How do you get Chinese suppliers to take you seriously?
Lars HurkmansCo-founder22 April 2026Reading time 7 minutesChinese suppliers ignore your message because it looks like the hundreds of others they already received that day. You get taken seriously by being specific and honest instead of big and rushed: drop the CEO and biggest-brand claims, call yourself a purchase manager, negotiate calmly, ask why prices differ and treat the supplier as a partner.
You send fifty messages on Alibaba and almost nothing comes back. The explanation is uncomfortable: your message is one of the many hundreds the supplier receives that day, and just like the rest it starts with "Hi, I'm the CEO and founder of the biggest company in the Netherlands." This explanation does not come from someone who ordered something on Alibaba once, but from our own sourcing expert who works from China. She literally sits on the other side of that chat and sees every day which messages work and which are ignored straight away. Strikingly, much of what does not work is exactly what you are taught in courses. Below we walk through six mistakes, plus what does work.
What happens on the other side of the chat?
On the other side is a factory in Shenzhen that receives hundreds of new messages at once on Monday morning at nine. Before you know what you are doing wrong, you need to understand what that pile looks like. Roughly two hundred messages start with "we are the biggest company", another hundred and fifty with "your price is too high", and the last fifty with "reply in 1 hour or we leave". That is not an exaggeration, we hear it directly from our Chinese partners: it is their daily reality.
The uncomfortable starting point is that China does not necessarily need you. The economic centre of gravity lies in Asia. Chinese companies sell more within Asia than in Europe and America combined, and build on a trading history of centuries. So the supplier has to choose which messages to stop at, and your message is not automatically that choice. That is exactly where you solve it.
Why does it not help to simply send more messages?
Because you underestimate how many others you are competing against. You may think: I send five messages, so I will surely get a reply. The supplier thinks: I have eight hundred of these, so I have to prioritise. If you write the same as the other 799, there is no reason at all why they would stop at you of all people.
They only stop if you stand out, but in the right way. And that is the problem: most of the ways people try to stand out backfire. The five mistakes below are exactly those counterproductive ways.
Why does making yourself look bigger backfire?
Because the supplier has already read that claim dozens of times today. "Fake it till you make it" sounds like ambition, but above all it shows that you are doing the same as everyone else. They get "we are the biggest brand" from India, Brazil, Germany and the Netherlands, every day again.
And they know how it ends: roughly nine out of ten of those biggest brands place one order of a hundred units and then disappear again. That is their experience, not an official figure, but it does determine how they read your message. Worse still: if you say "we are the biggest" while you do the purchasing yourself, they logically think something is not right. Why does that CEO not have a purchasing team? Credibility gone.
What does work is honesty and concrete facts. If you have something to report, make it verifiable, for example: "we sell on bol and are in the top 100 of our category." That is specific. No track record yet? Also fine: share a realistic plan and be honest that this is your first step. A supplier respects that more than big empty words.
Why is it better not to call yourself CEO?
Because a CEO who does the purchasing themselves comes across as unbelievable. Many people open with "Hi, I am John, CEO and founder" because it sounds important. But the supplier thinks: if you are the CEO, why are you doing the purchasing yourself? At real companies the CEO does not do that, there is a supply chain team for it. If you do the purchasing and the marketing and also call yourself CEO, they read: a one-person business making itself look bigger. Maybe that is true, and that is not a problem at all, but do not make it worse by calling yourself CEO.
Instead, call yourself purchase manager. That works for three reasons. First, it implies there is an organisation behind you, because if there is a purchase manager, apparently more people work there. Second, it shows that you know what you are talking about, because that is exactly the job of a purchase manager. And third, it matches what you are literally doing. A small change with a big difference.
Why does urgency work against you when negotiating?
Because urgency tells the supplier they do not have to move on price. You are an entrepreneur, you are enthusiastic, you want action, so hurry seems logical. But as soon as the supplier knows you are in a hurry, they also know you will come back anyway. After all, you have no time to look for other suppliers. We hear this literally from Chinese sources: when a buyer shows urgency, they know they do not have to move on price.
What does work is negotiating as if you have all the time in the world, even if that may not be the case. Calmly ask for quotes, compare them, ask questions and show that you have options. That keeps your position strong. And do not just compare the bare unit price, but the total price including transport, import duties and VAT. How those trade terms for products from China work, we have explained separately.
What does it mean when one supplier is much cheaper?
Usually that something is not right. You send your specifications to five suppliers and the prices come in. If four say 35 euros and one says 18 euros, that last one is not a bargain. Behind it are cheaper components, lower quality, or a bait price after which the price goes up later anyway.
What many beginners do is take that 18 euros and tell the rest: "you are too expensive, I can get it for 18 euros, give me a discount." That creates two problems. One: you implicitly accuse a supplier who honestly charges 35 euros of lying. Two: every serious supplier knows that 18 euros is not realistic, and thinks: this buyer understands nothing about production.
What does work is asking why the prices differ. "You are more expensive than others, what is the reason?" Usually it turns out to be better components or a higher MOQ (minimum order quantity) at the competitor. That way you immediately learn how the market works and make better choices: not the cheapest is the best, but the best value. Also pay attention to certificates, because a suspiciously low price regularly goes together with a "CE certificate" that is in reality not a CE marking.
So what does work with Chinese suppliers?
Three things: be specific, use WeChat and treat the supplier as a partner.
Be specific. Do not ask "we want that camera", but name the resolution, the storage, the features, the logo, the colours, the number of pages of the manual, everything. The more specific you are, the more accurate the quote and the fewer surprises afterwards. How you build up such a first message and the rest of the sourcing process, we have worked out in how to source products successfully on Alibaba.
Use WeChat. You can keep chatting on Alibaba, but that is slow. Chinese suppliers use WeChat for almost everything, and there you get an answer in minutes instead of hours.
Treat the supplier as a partner, not an enemy. They also simply want to earn their money, just like you. If you understand what they need and they understand what you need, you both win. It is that mindset switch from "I am going to beat this supplier" to "we are going to make money together." Chinese suppliers are not vending machines you put money into. They are entrepreneurs like you, with the same pressure and the same frustrations. Behave accordingly and you stand out, in a good way.
Summary: the 6 mistakes and what does work
| Mistake | What the supplier thinks | What does work |
|---|---|---|
| You underestimate how many others you compete against | "Why would I stop at this message of all messages?" | Stand out in the right way, not with the standard opener |
| Making yourself look bigger ("we are the biggest") | "This is the two hundredth time I hear this today" | Be honest and concrete, or share a realistic plan |
| Calling yourself CEO while you do the purchasing yourself | "A real CEO does not do the purchasing themselves" | Call yourself purchase manager |
| Showing urgency to apply pressure | "This buyer will come back anyway, I do not need to do anything" | Negotiate as if you have all the time in the world |
| Using the cheapest quote as leverage | "This buyer understands nothing about production" | Ask why prices differ and choose on value |
And the three things that do work: be specific in your request, switch to WeChat, and treat the supplier as a partner.
These six mistakes give you perspective on what happens on the other side of the chat. If you really want to source your first product from China, there is more to it: how you find the right suppliers, write that first message, analyse quotes and negotiate. In our Knowledge Base, our sourcing expert takes you through that complete journey, with the tactics she uses from China every day.
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