Why Online Import Export Trade Leads Boards May Cost You Far More Than Their Extremely High
Annual Membership Fees
Import export trade leads boards - oh,
the nirvana of them all - just visit and find tens of thousands of hungry customers
to sell and export your products to. Or, if you are an importer, how can
you pass up hundreds of thousands of ready to compete product suppliers ALL
competing for you to be their customer?
This post about import export trade leads
came about because I had trouble posting the entire formatted post of an import
export business question to our blog of the same name. Every time I
attempted to save and preview, it took everything and jumbled it together.
I know, not information you need to know, but
what I am about to post below is the FULL, but slight edited question and answer
email exchange between myself, the publisher of the import export training
course we suggest and a recent customer of that training course.
Ok, without further delay, here is the entire
email exchange about import export trade leads boards and what I, a 23
year veteran international trader and import export services provider feel, deep
down in my heart.
Some of this Q&A is edited but with a savvy bit of use of the Internet and actually following the reference links in this post, you should be able to figure out what has been
edited, names have been left out to protect the privacy of those individuals.
QUESTION:
Ron:
I recently bought your Import-Export training course and have found the information/guidance highly useful, thanks for putting this together. I have a question for you on (the online trade leads platform considered by most to be the best). They have a pretty good feature now, wherein they are asking suppliers to pay $2000 to become (background checked) suppliers.
This group is also verified (background check etc) by the website. There are some current (background checked) suppliers who claim to only work with other (background checked) members. I am wondering, once I do start the business in a few months (I am still in the research stage), if becoming a (background checked) member of a site like this is worth spending $2000 on.
There are a number of sites like this, but (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) seems pretty well knit and also offers a number of useful features. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks
G.......
*******************************************
ANSWER:
Hi G.....,
The problem with answering most questions of the nature you have posed is neither the import export training course publisher, nor I, know all the details of what you are considering as to "why" you think this service would be good for you and your business.
This answer is much longer than I tend to provide but there is much to say about what you are asking, so please read carefully and check out the references.
We do not know if you are considering it because you are looking to "import" or export, that is an important consideration in either case. Everyone who purchases the courses has their own set of ideas and neither the import export training course publisher nor I can assume to know or be a subject matter expert on all reasons you are considering this service. With that said.....
In regards to (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best), I know they seem to be the top dog in the pound so to speak when it comes to trade leads but here is my "personal" take and you should make your own judgements accordingly.
Trade lead boards were great in the beginning of the Internet. They were both a place for importers to post seeking products and/or look to find potential suppliers. As a supplier, they were also a place where you could post your product information, contact details and expose yourself and company to a highly targeted group of potential product buyers.
As with anything new in business, especially the Internet, what starts out as a great service/idea often evolves into more of a cesspool for scammers and continued price increases to "separate" you from those who would scam you or others.
Your email brought something to my attention that I was not aware of and that is (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) incredibly large price increase for their (background checked) Supplier membership.
I have a Car Exporter who has been an advertiser with us for about 4 years now and he has been a (background checked) supplier member since he began advertising with us. Ironically, shortly after I read your message this morning, he called me. I asked him about the price increase and up to last year the price was $500 a year. Then a year ago he had to pay $3,000 (not 2 as you have been quoted). The 2K you have been quoted is probably an new sign up discounted rate to get you onboard?
He "was" a (background checked) supplier member for 7 years. I use the word "was" because he has left his membership lapse and simply remains a Free member. His words, verbatim, are as follows:
"In the first 3-4 years the price was $300 a year, then it went to $500 a year and he would basically break even, meaning he generated enough business to pay for his membership fee. He said last year they convinced him to pay the new $3K fee
and he still never made more than he used to (300-500) so he has dropped the paid membership" but is extremely selective and performs a high degree of due diligence on any and all inquires he receives which unfortunately consist primarily of "looky lous" (his words) and scammers (otherwise know as time wasters).
My personal take on this is that George Soros invested heavily in (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) about two years ago, then look at the time line on the membership fees, they went up 5-6 times what they were before? Basically to show a profit for Mr. Soros and keep him invested?? Not an investment analyst but the time lines certainly seem to correlate??
Second, if an experience (30 plus years) car exporter cannot make enough from his membership to pay for that membership and drops it, does that tell you anything about the potential for a new trader?
Third, it would seem that your $2k figure will most likely be a $3K figure next year.
Fourth, (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) got caught earlier this year with some employees working with scammers to build websites and provide them with "(background checked) supplier" status - the person who subsequently purchased (or thought they purchased) goods from their employee associated, fraudulent (background checked) members lost their money. Much of the details can be found on this fraud activity by simply searching google with:
(the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) + fraudulent
As I stated earlier, I am not sure if you were thinking of using (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) to list yourself as a supplier/exporter "or" looking to use it to find products to import but either way, my personal opinion is that at $3-500 they may have been worth a year or two but at $2-3000, there is no way I would spend that kind of money with all the bad press they have generated and knowing what I know from the car exporter.
I think your money would be better spend building a website to promote whatever products and services you intend to sell or buy?
With the Internet, most importers have no need to post their requirements on a trade leads board, especially if they have read how they will be blasted by both spa**mmers and scammers. Most simply search for websites containing the products they seek to buy or import.
For the exporter, the importance of having a website has never been greater for the above reason. Having a website allows the potential importer to contact you direct and "helps" to legitimize who you are. This is why I emphasize this so much
in my bonus resources.
If you were considering (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) as a means of finding suppliers to import products, then I would suggest you use the following link to download any and all electronic trade publications
(FREE) from Globalsources (GS)- http://tinyurl.com/y7u2ak9NOTE: they have both paid and FREE - you need this link to get the FREE.
GS does a cursory background check on the suppliers in their trade magazines, you still have to do your due diligence as I firmly recommend but GS has been around way before the Internet became an everyday word.
I have posted the full email text that was sent to me by our poc at GS back in February making me aware of (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best)'s problems and also announcing GS's 40th anniversary below (I think (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) may be 10 years old). Take a few minutes, read it and follow the links and read that info as well.
Bottom line, you must make your own business decisions based on the best analysis and information available to you. I have provided you with my personal and business take on what you have asked, now you must make your own, best, most informed decision.
LAST MINUTE UPDATE: I sent the above to the import export course publisher so I could provide a combined reply and the following is the import export training course publisher's input about (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) and similar paid trade lead services -
These sites are, in fact, simply an easy way to identify potential business partners, not a guaranteed way to find qualified business partners, (background checked) Supplier membership aside.
That having been said, I know of importers who have done well with (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best), although I have not heard the same from exporters. Due diligence and follow up checking and more checks of provided info are in order.
Do I think the 2K (or 3K) membership cost is worth the cost? Short answer: not for new and small-time traders. It may be useful for those with a broad spread of products but for newcomers the money could be better spent
traveling to a trade show or conducting research. Lot of new businessmen believe they can buy credibility ((background checked) Supplier, Better Business Bureau, export "certificates," etc.) but this tends to be a business about relationships and not "shingles."
Regards,
Ron Coble
*************************************************
The following was an email from a point of contact I have within what I feel (remember personal opinion here) is the best resource to find products to import informing us of their 40th anniversary and the news about the scamming that went on within the trade leads platform mentioned above - something I was unaware of until I received this email.....
*************************************************
Dear Ron,
In light of the recent press regarding the resignations within (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) due to
fraudulent suppliers, you may be wondering how this will impact B2B Marketplaces as a whole. For Global Sources, we acknowledge the uncertainty this may cause but remain confident in our B2B marketplace and the credibility of the suppliers we offer to our buyer community at our tradeshows, in print publications, online, and in-person private sourcing events. In this regard, our CEO offers a message, posted on our website, at
http://bit.ly/fyi1Zs
We hope you will read this and pass on to your members or colleagues who may be interested also.
We've also just published a new article: "Supplier verification: How to minimize online sourcing risk" at
http://bit.ly/i8TWGE and an article also written by Global Sources years ago on same topic at
http://bit.ly/glhq76 please feel free to share it with your members on your website.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. We wish you ongoing best of business.
Best regards,
X.... M....
*************************************************
In closing this quite lengthy post about import export trade leads boards, I wish to further note that just because someone pays thousands of dollars to get a background checked membership in an online trade leads board or they tell you that they are a "certified" this and that, if the certification or background check is not performed by a government organization, then it is only as good as the organization that performs it.
There are many, well established organizations, such as GlobalSources that have a 40 year reputation to uphold, but it still comes down to you, the importer or exporter, to perform your own due diligence and not be so naive as to believe that anyone other than yourself will have
"YOUR" best interests at heart. It is
after all, your business, remember that!
Ron Coble
International Business Services Center
If you find any of the links or any part of this web page
not functioning properly, please help out by visiting
our contact page by clicking on the following link and send us an
note to advise us of problem you may have encountered on the Import
Export Trade Leads page so we may get it corrected.
