Gary Huang describes himself as Born in USA, Made in the China. He’s living in Shanghai these days and in addition to running his own very successful Amazon business, is the founder of 80/20 sourcing and the 7-figure seller summit. He’s a busy man.
He’s an expert on sourcing and was one of the senior coaches at the India Sourcing Trip so we struck up a friendship together while we were there.
Today I thought it’d be great to get his take on sourcing from India and the differences between China and India.
For the Free Sourcing from India Cheat sheet we spoke about: https://www.8020sourcing.com/auseller/
Raw Machine Translated Transcript:
Chris: [00:00:00] welcome back to another episode of the Australian seller podcast. today I am thrilled to have grant Gary Huang, who I met recently at the Indian sourcing trip in new Delhi at the trade show there.
[00:00:10] The, . India home and handicrafts show, I think it was called Gary, is that right?
[00:00:15] Gary Huang: [00:00:15] Yeah, I think you’re right. The Dehli Fair.
[00:00:18] Chris: [00:00:18] Yeah. Yeah. Much easier. Um, and we had a great trip. I mean, it was a week of not only sourcing from the trade show, but a lot of education as well.
[00:00:27] We learned a lot about the sorts of products that you can source from India. We had an extraordinary day where we went down to the Taj Mahal and many other things that we did too – a day trip around India. Really? wish! Uh, around new Delhi and um, yeah, it’s just amazing. So what I wanted to do today was really just pick your brains, because I think this was your first trip to Uh, to India, and you’ve done a lot of sourcing – in fact that you own a sourcing agency out of, uh, at a Shenzhen, right?
[00:00:52] Or no, you’re actually in Shanghai, isn’t
[00:00:54] Gary Huang: [00:00:54] that right? I used to, um, I used to offer sourcing services previously, and I’m based in Shanghai. That’s right. Yeah.
[00:01:02] Chris: [00:01:02] Cool. Anyway, I’m so sorry. I’m kind of just talking and sort of holding an interview all by myself, so why don’t we just, uh, get, get, get on with this show and let’s, let’s have an introduction from you.
[00:01:13] Tell us about you and your story.
[00:01:16] Gary Huang: [00:01:16] Excellent. Thank you so much, Chris. First of all, for having me, I’m very honored to be on the Australian seller podcast and I know there’s a lot of enthusiastic and eager entrepreneurs down to under, so I’m happy to.share anything of value that can help out.
[00:01:31] And I’m super honored to be with your two, uh, with you today. Um, so quick intro, I’m so, I’m, my name is Gary and I was born and raised in the U S. Uh Hmm. You can’t tell by my accent. I’m, I like to say that I was made in the U S a and exported to China. So, uh, born and raised in Los Angeles, grew up there, went to university there, and I came to China in 2008.
[00:01:56] Uh, long story short. Uh, I kind of stumbled into a job doing sourcing from China based in Shanghai, uh, did that for many years. Um, so basically I’ve helped clients, uh, manage multimillion dollar stores in campaigns. Um, so I visited like over a hundred Chinese factories. So I’ve really seen like the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of the whole, you know, trying sourcing.
[00:02:18] Um, so. Um, it was about 2016 when I created a website called 80, 20 sourcing. So I really wanted to bring some light into what some people call it, like a black box, because there’s a lot of unknown unknowns in sourcing world. A lot of, you know, tricks people play. So I’m, so I run a site called 80, 20 sourcing.
[00:02:36] And also, um, I, um, host an online virtual summit called the seven figure seller summit where I interview various million dollar e-commerce sellers and entrepreneurs. Um, and then, um, you know, learn how they do it. So, um, the listeners can do it too. And yes, going back to your question, this was my first time going to India.
[00:02:57] It was a very amazing experience, not just on the business side, but also on the cultural side. I’m just learning about the vast differences and some similarities, uh, you know, sourcing from China. So I’m, uh, happy to share more at five, if that’s a good, good enough intro for you.
[00:03:12] Chris: [00:03:12] That sounds fantastic.
[00:03:13] That’s exactly what I want to focus on today. So, um, obviously there are some pretty big differences. So why don’t we just sort of talk first off about the main differences that you see between, um, sourcing obviously from China and versus sourcing from India. What were the main sort of takeaways there for you.
[00:03:30] Gary Huang: [00:03:30] Yeah. I think the number one thing that a lot of sellers are worried about right now, sourcing from China is the trade tariffs, you know, with the whole U S China trade war. So that could add another, you know, 25% or 30% on top of your already, you know, your, your costs. Right? So. Number one biggest difference is if you source from India, you can really circumvent these tariffs, so you won’t be privy to the same 25%.
[00:03:54] Um, I think that that is the biggest thing, um, in terms of the cost savings. But number two, the biggest difference is, um. Just in terms of this selection of the products, because you know, obviously China has had a headstart, you know, in, in terms of the whole manufacturing world, the whole export world, I’d say they’re probably the 15 years ahead of where India is at.
[00:04:15] So you really cannot find the same broad selection of products that you can find in China. I mean, there are some, some strong, um, you know, industries that we can find. In India, I think, you know, we can talk more about that if you’d like, but just in terms of the selection, don’t expect you can replace, um, you know, China with the India just overnight.
[00:04:35] Um, I think those are some of the key differences. Um, one of the biggest surprises for me personally, I don’t know about you, Chris, is the fact that in India they’re willing to do. Minimum order quantities or MOQ as low as like 25 pieces or 50 pieces. If I talk, you know, went up to a Chinese supplier and I say, I want to order 50 pieces, there’ll be like, get out of here.
[00:04:55] You know, by, you know, they’re, I mean, interested in talking to you, unless you’re talking at least like 500 to a thousand. Yeah. So I think that’s another, um, you know, big difference that I was surprised about. They can work in your favor. Um, if you are e-comm seller because you can, you know, afford to place a smaller bets, you know, smaller initial trial orders to kind of test out these products.
[00:05:15] Um, just, yeah, just some high level thoughts that come to mind.
[00:05:18] Chris: [00:05:18] Yeah, I agree. And one of the things that they entertained as well often was like an MOA. So. That was sort of saying, well, if you spend $5,000 with us, everything that’s on show here at our booth is, um, is up for grabs. You can order, you know, one of those and 10 of those.
[00:05:32] And you know, so the MOA or the minimum order amount was a, another really interesting approach that they took. Uh, but the MIQ is, I was just ridiculous. And you could have quite a big range of products that you can be hitting Amazon hard with, uh, for not very much money and, uh, and have a wide variety of, so you don’t sort of load up on one big Sku.
[00:05:53] Um, you can, you can sort of find some little test shots with some of the products that you find it
[00:05:58] Gary Huang: [00:05:58] there, the new daily trade show.
[00:05:59] Chris: [00:05:59] So. Yeah, it was. It was super cool. Um, yeah, I think you’re
[00:06:04] Gary Huang: [00:06:04] right about the
[00:06:05] Chris: [00:06:05] kind of the product selection you can’t really go to the India, trade show and expect to, or the new Delhi new Delhi trade show and expect to pick up like Silicon spatulas for example, is sort of, yeah, there’s, there’s not a lot of that sort of Silicon spatula plastic molding side of things happening there at all.
[00:06:22] Um, and very little electronics as well. It was much more kind of handicraft wood, leather. Uh, what else? They have a lot of textiles. Glass heaps of Christmas decorations and things like that as well, which were really good. A lot of metal. And yeah, quite a lot of furniture too, which was quite interesting.
[00:06:39] So, yeah.
[00:06:40] Gary Huang: [00:06:40] That would also eco friendly products as well. Chris with like eco-friendly, biodegradable products. Um, I think some of them were made from recycled, um, like water bottles. You know, I think they were very innovative in terms of doing that. And he, India’s really big on, um, you know.
[00:06:57] The whole equal friendly scene. And I think the local law in Delhi is that they don’t even allow any plastic bags anywhere. So if you go to a supermarket where you go to like a convenience store, they don’t even give you like a plastic bag. You can’t even pay for one. You know, there is like no option.
[00:07:13] So it just goes to show there and they really have like a very equal, friendly attitude. Um, when it comes to the environment there.
[00:07:21] Chris: [00:07:21] I do. It’s funny, I was talking to one of the locals there who was saying that. Five years ago in India, or maybe even 10 years ago in India, or particularly new deli, there were like plastic bags just being thrown around in the wind.
[00:07:33] And now today you just don’t see any plastic rubbish really much at all. So, uh, yeah, it’s been extraordinary the way that they’ve turned things around there. And, um, yeah, they’re trying to do their bit. There was a lot of, just on the product side, just talking about eco friendly products, there was a lot of, uh, things like Palm leaf plates, um, for example, a lot of, um, kind of bamboo, you know, forks and spoons and things like that that.
[00:07:56] People might use it, a party, you know, sort of, um, compostable and degradable biodegradable products. The gassy was one as well, which is a cornstarch, um, material. It’s kind of like a paper, sort of semi cardboard made from waste, cornstarch, or on a, I can’t remember exact material that was made from, but again, totally compostable, biodegradable.
[00:08:17] Uh, yeah. So there was a lot of those sorts of products as well, which is really exciting.
[00:08:21] Gary Huang: [00:08:21] Yeah, definitely.
[00:08:23] Chris: [00:08:23] What’d you think of the quality is some of the products that were on show.
[00:08:26] Gary Huang: [00:08:26] I think the quality at the show, I was surprised the quality was quite high. It was higher than I expected. I mean, this was my first time going to India, and I had always heard about like, you know, the, the cheap labor for us, I assumed the quality would be cheaper or lower than China, but I mean, maybe it was this trade fair, you know, they just specialize in high quality products.
[00:08:49] But I was very surprised. I mean, in terms of like some of the lighting fixtures, you know, I. You know, I would see the same thing in like a, you know, like a lamps are us, or like, you know, one of the top notch, you know, lighting supply stores that you see in the U S um, so I was pleasantly surprised.
[00:09:06] Um, what do you think, Chris? I’m curious.
[00:09:08] Chris: [00:09:08] Oh, stunned. Actually, just by the quality of, of the production, the timber, the finishes, the, uh, the joinery that, you know, the, the ceramics, the glass. Uh, even the leather products, you don’t like the bags. the other things like aprons and oven mitts, made from leather, that was just, yeah.
[00:09:28] And the stitching and the quality of those products was, was fabulous. And just on the leather, I mean, we were lucky enough to also enjoy a factory visit as well to a leather leather factory, didn’t we? So, yeah. what was your impressions of that? So compared with the leather factories of, say, China.
[00:09:43] Gary Huang: [00:09:43] Yeah. Um, so this factory I’d say was about one hour outside of downtown Delhi. And, um, this was, it actually was a couple of factories adjacent to each other, if I remember correctly. So it’s the main one specialized in like leather manufacturing, like leather bags on leather wallets, on purses.
[00:10:04] And then, um. I noticed that one of the key things there is just like, everything was like very manual labor intensive. So they, the workers had, you know, in the workshop it was very, um, you know, close quarters, but it was still very organized. It wasn’t dirty at all. You know, it was nearly like, um, you know, like dirt list.
[00:10:25] I don’t know if they like. No, clean it up because they knew we were coming, but at least, you know, when I was there, I was pretty impressed by that. Um, in terms of the equipment, I saw like more reliance on like very traditional sewing machines as they were sewing the leather. Um, you know, these are like the machines from like our parents’ generation, Chris.
[00:10:42] So I mean, they’ve been around for maybe like a hundred years, you know. Um, and then, um, in terms of, um. You know, they were like hand finishing and a lot of like, you know, the leather, they were like hammering it. They were cutting it and sewing it. Um, if you compare that to China, um, typically you, you do have manual labor, but you have more machinery, more automation.
[00:11:06] Um, so for example, the following week I went to Shenzhen, I visited a factory there and granted they weren’t doing leather. They were doing like backpacks and bags. Um, I, I saw. Another sewing machine, but this sewing machine was semiautomated. It had like a nice L LCD monitor with like a passion OD.
[00:11:28] So basically like the stitching was already digitally saved and inputted into the sewing machine. So all the worker had to do was just like place the fabric there and then the machine does all the sewing itself. So I have removed some of that labor, uh, the manual labor out of it. Kind of like the human error and also in terms of like the time savings.
[00:11:47] So I think that’s one of the key differences between India and China, because India is still very relying on the labor force because they still can do it because the labor force is a lot cheaper in India than in China. Whereas China on a whole, you know, they’ve. Progressed over the last 15 years.
[00:12:04] Now they’re trying to rely more on automation, um, equipment to take advantage of that. Um, yeah. If that makes sense. And just one other thing. One of the thing that jumped out to me on when we were at the factory, Chris was, um, you know, the leather was domestic, right? It was from India, but some of like the trim and like the zippers and stuff, I noticed like I saw it in the hallway, there was a box there, like a paper carton, and then it had Y K, K, you know, like the white kids zippers and, and I saw the address.
[00:12:34] It’s a Chang HAI, China. So apparently they’re importing like a lot of You know, maybe like the more high quality zippers or like these types of, um, you know, buttons, et cetera, you know, from overseas. So I think that that’s a difference as well. If you do want to get like some of, like, the nicer, like, um, what do you call it?
[00:12:52] Like yeah, you may want, the factory may have to be import from China, which is fine, but you have to consider the additional lead time and the cost. I think the lead time that, that’s another key difference. Um, you know. Kind of, I’m on a side tangent, just talking to the suppliers that we met at the fair, um, delete times will be significantly longer from India than China.
[00:13:13] You know, I was getting quoted like 10 weeks, you know, factory production time. Whereas normally in China we expect about, you know, four weeks, a month, six weeks tops, and when they’re busy, so definitely there will be a longer be time. Um, those were some of my impressions from the factory.
[00:13:30] Chris: [00:13:30] Totally. And I think as well, from that factory visit that. It just to your point on the automation, one thing that you probably need to anticipate or expect is that there will be slight inconsistencies because of the handmade nature of a lot of the products that you would be ordering from, from India.
[00:13:45] Because pretty much everything is slightly, I mean, they do a really good job at creating like consistent, for example, patterns. A lot of, , like on a lot of this ceramics for example, , like on a plate. , they actually do it all by hand. It’s not sort of like a, a stamped kind of print, , so they haven’t
[00:14:02] Gary Huang: [00:14:02] noticed
[00:14:03] Chris: [00:14:03] all that they use and they, but, but you get that it’s actually a really nice feature, but it does create some potential, , consistency issues, which may be a customer, not
[00:14:11] Gary Huang: [00:14:11] used to.
[00:14:11] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s like a double edged sword, Chris. You know, like on one hand, you know, maybe there are imperfections. If you want like a machine, lot of like 10,000 of these, like, I don’t know, like stainless steel, like water bottles. Then maybe if there’s imperfection it’s not, it’s not a good thing.
[00:14:30] But if you’re doing like. Handmade, you know, like handicraft or like gift items. It kind of adds to that like rustic charm, uh, you know, depending on, on your niche and your product. So I think, you know, it could be good, but it could be, it could be bad, you know, it’s like how you can market it.
[00:14:48] That’s right.
[00:14:48] Chris: [00:14:48] Yeah, totally. Great. did you happen to see any other Amazon sellers at the show?
[00:14:55] Gary Huang: [00:14:55] Um, I did actually, um, yeah, because it’s funny because I run 80, 20 sourcing and I have like a free email newsletter. And then some people actually came up to me like, Hey, you’re guarantee, right?
[00:15:09] Like, I, I follow you, you’re useless. And then they, they, they, um, they explained to me that are Amazon sellers one, um. One guy is an American guy. He’s actually working in India and yeah, he, he was selling on Amazon. I think he’s, he’s no longer, but, uh, another one of our friends that we met, um, Aaron in India, he’s selling on Amazon as well.
[00:15:31] He’s also an, an American based in, based in India. Do you remember hearing cues
[00:15:36] Chris: [00:15:36] from him on the show a couple of weeks ago? Yeah. You had
[00:15:39] Gary Huang: [00:15:39] Aaron on the show that I remember. Yeah, an Amazon seller, and then I also met an Indian seller as well. He’s doing very well. Um, rune Varun from, no, yeah, he’s one of the coaches.
[00:15:49] He’s, yeah, he’s, he’s. Blowing it up. I’m done, India, so I definitely, it can be done. Yeah. I’ve
[00:15:57] Chris: [00:15:57] actually put a little video that he filmed of his operation as chaotic as it looked,
[00:16:02] Gary Huang: [00:16:02] but there were
[00:16:03] Chris: [00:16:03] surely thousands of bags of parcels going out to Amazon customers. Hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of units a day, and he had a little kind of fulfillment house of his own,
[00:16:14] Gary Huang: [00:16:14] which is totally Caterpillar.
[00:16:15] Chris: [00:16:15] Like anything in India, it seems to work. Right. So,
[00:16:18] Gary Huang: [00:16:18] yeah. Yeah. Just
[00:16:19] Chris: [00:16:19] extraordinary. Yeah. He’s really blowing it up. Low, low margin, but massive volumes flying through there.
[00:16:25] Gary Huang: [00:16:25] Huge. Right. Absolutely.
[00:16:28]Chris: [00:16:28] the other question I had for you as well, and just your thoughts on using an agent out of India versus maybe going directed someone at the booth that you might be thinking of sourcing from it as, let’s say, a trade show.
[00:16:38] would you be leaning towards more going direct. Through a manufacturer or distributor, or would you perhaps lean towards more, , . Looking at getting an agent to assist with, with your India sourcing. .
[00:16:49] Gary Huang: [00:16:49] So, I mean, from my perspective, to be totally transparent, this is my first time going to India and first time sourcing from India.
[00:16:57] And my answer will be yes and yes. So I would both get a quote from a sourcing agent and I would get a quote from the people that I met at, uh, at the show. This way at least I can compare. And then not only like the bottom line price, but also like the communication process in terms of, you know, maybe the sourcing agent can find like a broader selection of products I can’t find on my own.
[00:17:23] Um, so for me, at least at this stage, I’m kind of having like a beginner’s mindset. I’m just leaving my options open. Um, you know. In China, I always say to cast a wide net, you know, if you can, you know, get RF cues, you know, send out RFQ, request for quotations to as many suppliers as possible.
[00:17:40] And then once you have this initial pool of the information, you know, the specifications, the pricing, the lead time, payment terms, then you can kind of, you know, get a lay of the land and then decide, you know, short list from there. Based on what you’re getting. So I’m applying a similar approach.
[00:17:55] By no means am I an expert, but, um, that, that’s just what I’m doing right now. I’m curious. What about you, Chris? Same question. What would you do?
[00:18:05] Chris: [00:18:05] I’m definitely leaning more towards. Probably going with an agent just because of the, some of the information that we were, educated about, particularly around, packaging material, you know, like products to be sent from India.
[00:18:18] So it’s really important to understand, say the climate, you know, just little things like that,
[00:18:23] Gary Huang: [00:18:23] that
[00:18:23] Chris: [00:18:23] if a, if you make an order for, I dunno, some. Some textile products in there. They’re packed. somewhere where the humidity is really high. You might end up with products arriving in the United States, for example, that are slightly moldy, for example.
[00:18:35] Yeah. That sort of maybe just having somebody on the ground there that, that kind of knows the logistic layer of the land, which was kind of coming out to my next question, but also the gotta negotiate a little bit better for you. I wasn’t. But you know, one of the things that we say a lot in China is it sort of the China price for Chinese.
[00:18:53] And of course then there’s a Western price didn’t seem to be as much as that. I don’t think happening in India. I think that the pricing seemed reasonably, , stable. Um, but I do think that a, a sourcing agent can provide a lot of comfort. So they might be paying a, a slightly higher, you know, kind of percentage, uh, to, to have a sourcing agent assist you.
[00:19:14] But maybe for your first couple as a new seller and a new sourcing, you know, dude from, from India might be
[00:19:20] Gary Huang: [00:19:20] worthwhile. Yeah, no, I think that makes a lot of sense. I mean, especially if you’re dipping your toe in the water for the first time, you know, it’s like a whole new culture, a whole new environment, like what you said with the humidity and you know, like you might have to like include in anti humidifier in the past, in the, uh, in the container just to make sure, you know, like all of these potential pitfalls.
[00:19:42] If you can find someone trustworthy, like a sourcing agent, I think that that could add a lot of value. So, yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
[00:19:49] Chris: [00:19:49] That was the thing I think that I noticed the most from my conversations with Hanoz. And , Gunjan even Aaron, you know, who, who does sourcing as well or works for a sourcing company over there and sales and Amazon himself.
[00:20:01] So. Yeah. It was a, it was a really learning the intricacies of, of sourcing products. where are those products in may aid has different areas of, like some of the paper products are handmade. Paper was done up in Jophour or I think,, because it’s quite close to, like the desert there.
[00:20:16] So it’s quite dry, which means they can dry the paper and whereas there were other. Yeah, I met a lot of the textiles based more on the Seth or the silk. I think his source from the North side. It’s kind of, you know, really interesting the way the geography works and the way that things,
[00:20:30] Gary Huang: [00:20:30] yeah, yeah, that’s a great point, Chris.
[00:20:32] And then, you know, people actually say that India really isn’t one country. There was like, you know, different regions that have different cultures and you know, like this region maybe strongly led or the other maybe strong in wood for example. And then I was really surprised, um, like the different parts of India.
[00:20:48] The Indians speak different languages. So, you know, I was trying to learn some words of Hindi, you know, from a, from ADI and some of the other guys on the trip. And then I tried to practice it with some of the other Indians that I met. They’re like, Oh, I don’t speak Hindi. And you know, he looked Indian, but you know, apparently, you know, he was from the South of India and they were Tamil.
[00:21:07] And then they used to be like a totally different language. And then I said, so how do you communicate? He says, Oh, when I come to Delhi, I only speak English. So I was really shocked that, you know, India, I mean, it’s not just one country there you have to have like the separate mentality. You know, there’s like different regional clusters.
[00:21:23] I think in this sense it’s a little bit like China because in China, even though everyone you know speaks Mandarin, that’s the standard, you know, official language. You know, if you, in Shanghai there’s a local Shanghainese diet. Like if you’re in quango there was a Cantonese style, like, and they sound very different.
[00:21:40] So they have like different cuisines, different habits, and you know, different strengths as well. You know, like in terms of manufacturing for electronics, definitely you would go down to but if you want like some other products yet, you would have to, you know, go somewhere else. So I think that’s another similarity with the different regional differences in India.
[00:21:57] In China. What did you think about the
[00:21:59] Chris: [00:21:59] communication skills? obviously you’re on the ground in China. English is a unifying language of India. , thanks to the British, I guess, but, I’ve had a lot easier to communicate with, with potential suppliers in India, than I did, on occasion in, in, in China.
[00:22:14] What were your thoughts
[00:22:14] Gary Huang: [00:22:14] here. Yeah, I thought that the communications, you know, when I’m in India, I, I could just rely on English and that was fine. Um, you know, at the fair and following up over WhatsApp, um, it was pretty, uh, pretty smooth. Um, I, I did. Um, get some advice from some of the sourcing agencies that, um, you know, for anything from or important and you want to go to email and like, don’t keep it too loose on WhatsApp if, you know, whether it’s like specifications, you know, we’re talking about samples, right?
[00:22:46] Like with one of the suppliers that I’m talking with in leather. And then, um. You know, we were like going back and forth over WhatsApp. I just wanted to make sure that you send me an email with like a full spec sheet. So you know, nothing is off. Um, in terms of like the actual communications, like the words, I mean, that’s totally comprehensible, but if you kind of read behind the lines, like, I think one of the examples that we noticed on the trip was like the concept of being on time.
[00:23:12] Um, if you say like, Let’s meet at two o’clock right? I mean, two o’clock couldn’t mean like two 30 it could mean three o’clock when, you know, even though we’re speaking in English, I came to India, like the, the, the punctuality and like the tightness of time could be something different. I think there’s some cultural nuances behind it, but I mean, there, there was like a, one of the key words that we learned was a pocket.
[00:23:35] So have haka. So that means like, for sure. So you would have to say. Two o’clock PACA and then, you know, they would kind of like, Hmm. Like, you know, they would’ve, you know, of think twice to see if they can really do it at two or maybe it’s actually like three o’clock. So even though, you know, we’re speaking the same English, there’s like, you gotta read behind the lines things a little bit in terms of like the whole background behind it.
[00:23:57] W, what do you think? Yeah, what were your, what are your thoughts about
[00:24:02] Chris: [00:24:02] that? Yeah, absolutely. I look at, you know, Pakka was explained to us that it is a sort of a, it’s, it’s a way of trying to get a really solid answer on a question that you might be asking and, um, often, yeah, there’s sort of sense of time.
[00:24:16] Is that, that it’s often explained by, well, you know, I could have been there at one o’clock when you asked me to, but I was. Kind of spending quality time with somebody that’s really important to me. Or, you know, I was in a meeting with someone else and I didn’t want to cut it short because I really respected our time that we were sharing together.
[00:24:31] So they were actually quite often quite good reasons for this, sort of the looseness of the, of the, the meeting, meeting, punctuality and experience there. So that kind of made sense to me. And yeah, I think you’ve just got, yeah. Kind of rolled with the punches a bit. You know, the country does in a lot of ways, flow like water, as I describe it quite accurately.
[00:24:47] There’s, it’s kinda like an hourglass of traffic, for example. This is a lot of people might be trying to get through an intersection and then it all sort of fans back out again. Um, yes. It’s, yeah, it’s a really, really dynamic and fascinating place to visit. Absolutely. So that was my sense of it yet.
[00:25:02] Um, we have to wrap up shortly. I’m sorry, but I was just sorta thinking, um. Just a random logistics, I think was one area that we haven’t really covered. What were your thoughts there about, I’m getting imagery out of India. Okay.
[00:25:17] Gary Huang: [00:25:17] Right. So in terms of logistics, um, my understanding is the whole logistics network in India isn’t as developed as China, so it could take longer to move goods from your factory to your port.
[00:25:32] And also because. Of India, like, you know, geographically, you know, it’s surrounded by the water, like the ocean on two sides, right? So depending on where you’re shipping to, um, you could save some time or you can waste a lot of time as well, like in terms of logistics. So, for example, um. I believe if you know, you know, I’m not very good at geography, but if you are shipping, you know, India is like this.
[00:26:02] If you are shipping from, I’m the closest port to Delhi, I think it was, um, Nima, Shiva, that was the name of the port, if I remember correctly. So if you go from Neeva Shiva, um, when you shipped to the U S the shortest route is actually to New York. It’s not too Los Angeles long beach, you know, at the same as.
[00:26:19] Thai nausea would go, Zoe, you will from Geneva to New York, I believe it would take about, um. 28 days, if I remember correctly. But if you go to, um, Los Angeles, it would take like two weeks longer. I mean, like, I, I’m not sure if the dates are a hundred percent correct, but you would have to like strategically ship to the closest port.
[00:26:41] So if you’re used to shipping from China, you know, typically you’re going from Shanghai to LA, you know, that could take about three weeks, right? But if you’re sourcing from India, you have to consider, you know, both, like the inland transportation, they say that it can take longer. Um. And also, you know, going promotion, you may want to ship to the East coast.
[00:26:59] I think, um, you know, and one of the, the other coaches in our group, um, you know, margin, Kevin, um, they share this experience as well. Um, the other thing that, that was unique to India is, um, monsoon season. And I was talking to some of the, the sourcing agents there. They said, especially in the Fall, you have to be careful of monsoon season because it can disrupt the whole road network, the transportation network and cause a lot more delays.
[00:27:25] I mean, because I believe some of the factories, they are actually like partially open. I mean like they may have a roof, but maybe like there’s like walls or no walls. Um, so you really have to be aware of this and factory in about two weeks, buffer time on top of your, um, the time and also in October that there’s like 17 days of holidays, your rally, and then there’s some other ones also you, you know, so I guess it’s kind of like Chinese new year almost.
[00:27:52] Um, I leave a decent this time of year, so it’s like a whole new, um, you know, calendar and, you know, logistics that, that you’re, you’re going to deal with. I mean, it was just not to say I’m not trying to. To discourage people, but just be aware anytime you’re going, you’re shifting your production from one country to another.
[00:28:09] Um, just be aware of these, these challenges.
[00:28:12] Chris: [00:28:12] Fantastic. Gary, I totally agree with that. I mean, I think they’ve got more holidays. In India than pretty much any other country though. So you’ve
[00:28:20] Gary Huang: [00:28:20] got to really watch Japanese. New year is pretty long. That’s true. You know how many people, how long they are going to take off and yeah, you’re right.
[00:28:28] Yeah.
[00:28:28] Chris: [00:28:28] Well that’s a very secular society. So there’s, you know, we’ve got, um, Islamic, we’ve got Hindu, we’ve got seek, we’ve got Christianity. So they tend to observe. Holidays for just about everybody
[00:28:38] Gary Huang: [00:28:38] and everybody gets
[00:28:40] Chris: [00:28:40] to celebrate with everybody else, which is really fun, fun to say. Yeah, it kind of makes sense.
[00:28:44] It’s quite a unifying thing. Um, anyway. Um, have you got any final thoughts on the trip itself? Uh, mega trip. It was extraordinary. The, uh, you know, the, the trade show as well, and, and just sourcing from India. Is that something that you’re really excited about and we’ll be certainly considering or in data that you actually acting on it now?
[00:29:05] Gary Huang: [00:29:05] Definitely. Um, so first off the trip was really excellent. Um, the India sourcing trip that megla Bhardwaj put together. Um, you know, I’ve known megla for many years and she has a lot of experience sourcing from China and also from India. So I think if anyone’s going to put it together, I think she is the right person to do this.
[00:29:27] Right. And as you know, as we saw from the trip, um, it was, it was kind of like a crash course in. India sourcing, doing business and culture wrapped into one, at least for me. Um, I was going in with like a blank slate. So, I mean, I learned so much in terms of sourcing. Um, you know. The basics of doing business.
[00:29:47] Also, I made some really good friendships, you know, yourself included Chris, and thank you. Some of the other great people on the trip. I really enjoyed it. Um, I think that it is an investment. Um, you know, it’s, it may not be for everyone, but if you do want to, you know. Maybe shortcut the process.
[00:30:03] I think it could be, um, a great way to do it. And you, you can also, you know, get some cultural, um, you know, experiences as well. So I think, you know, I do recommend it if you, if anyone that’s interested. Um, I think sourcing from India is very important right now given the trade war. If you look at the big players, like, um, the Nike’s, the, you know, the Adidas is the Walmarts.
[00:30:27] You know, they’re already, they’ve been going out of China since 2014. Um, so naturally, you know, it makes sense to diversify. Um, for me personally, I am getting some samples made. I’m sending out some are of cues from some of the suppliers that I’ve met, and also I’m contacting some of the sourcing agencies in India.
[00:30:45] Um, I was surprised to find some products that I have not seen in China before. So I think it can be a good way to differentiate yourself, um, versus just like me. Two products you find in all the Baba. Um, you know, most of the Indian suppliers that I’ve met different on Alibaba, so just, you know, getting your, you know, getting your feet wet, going to India.
[00:31:05] I think that that could be one way you can differentiate your products. Um, but it is a lot to learn. I mean, like, even for someone like me, I mean, I don’t call myself an expert, but I’ve been doing this many years and I just tried to go in with like a beginner’s mindset. Um, you know, so I learned a lie and I, I think that is one of the next step.
[00:31:23] Does that work? Hang on, I’m not going into 20, 20 and gone. And, um, I actually, I prepared something from, for your, um, your podcast and listeners, Chris, uh, I didn’t tell you about this. Ah, yeah. So I prepared, uh, India sourcing cheat sheet. So it talks about some of the best practices that we mentioned, and also some of the, the key industries that you can find in India.
[00:31:48] Um, and if your viewers are interested on me, is it okay if I share the URL? That’d
[00:31:55] Chris: [00:31:55] be awesome. Yeah.
[00:31:56] Gary Huang: [00:31:56] Excellent. So, um, you can get it at www. Di. 80 20 sourcing.com/a U seller. So that’s as in Australia. So then, yeah. So yeah, that’s true. You know, maybe if you want to link it up in the show notes, absolutely own that.
[00:32:13] People know. And also they can also sign up for my free email newsletter if they’re interested, um, to get more updates about sourcing best practices. So, um, yeah, I just really appreciate your time, Chris. Thank you so much for, for having me on. I really enjoyed it. I hope it’s valuable for you and your listeners.
[00:32:30] Oh,
[00:32:30] Chris: [00:32:30] I’m sure it will be Gary. And it was an absolute joy to, I think, actually catch up with you again. I think we did stumble across it each other in 2016 maybe at the global source of summit, but it was wonderful to, to really, uh, connect seriously connect, uh, in India only a few short weeks ago.
[00:32:45] And yeah, I can’t wait to, uh, to hang out with you again and hopefully we can do it all again maybe in April next year.
[00:32:51] Gary Huang: [00:32:51] So, yeah, I’m
[00:32:52] Chris: [00:32:52] definitely going so. So, yeah, I’ll be there. Um, hopefully you will be too, and thanks. Haste.
[00:32:58] Gary Huang: [00:32:58] I will be going, I just, I just confirmed it with megla so I will be there as well.
[00:33:03] Brilliant. Yes. We’ll have round, right, my friend. Yeah.
[00:33:08] Chris: [00:33:08] It’s awesome. Excellent. Just dropped out there, the, the video. But, uh, thanks. Thanks Matt. And that taught you talk to you real soon. Thanks again.
[00:33:16] Gary Huang: [00:33:16] Perfect. Thanks so much. Talk
[00:33:17] soon.
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