The first egg at the beginning of 2008
/ E6 U# k+ p& O" x8 D# N, j% x: G/ Q
T y! _ T1 N, \& K) j; K1 iMy boss Sophia often tells me,”Andy, the business is not so easy now. Just keep patient.”
9 o) `3 X T! l( n
5 a' a& c' m S5 x$ u7 ^3 G
That’s true. The day before yesterday (12th, March), I confirmed the payments from Egypt customer. The total is only USD 3000.00. And the net profit is about 5000 RMB. Frankly speaking, it’s a small egg.
4 `3 X/ c: w$ {) j& F* [
- }' o; V( L$ v$ F0 s" V$ e& XRegarding this order, it’s really a long story. I am working for trading company now. This customer is from
www.globalimporter.com. If you register and become a member, you can get several inquiries from it, including buyers’ emails, name and address details.
. {: ]6 I$ V3 j5 `# v
; A1 [' G3 h: y
I remembered that this customer had sent a message looking for circuit breakers in 2004. Jacob handles this business. I got his email and sent him inquiry. The general idea is that we can provide him items with excellent quality & attractive price; we have our own big factory. There is no reply from him. I tried joining his email in messenger.
7 b5 U: ]: c7 ^' w/ h: A
+ H8 Q3 j* _! r8 d, a
By accident, I came across him one afternoon. We talked by messenger. He asked me what my main business line is. I told him electronics. I knew that he mainly did PCB business. After that, he asked me whether we had power saving switch and sent me a products picture for confirmation.
- Z! P! J& `1 ~& U! N
4 \6 g% P, v( t' v+ V' |+ }“Of course, we have and we are the leading manufacturer in china. “ I replied to him self-assurance.
/ ~" s. v) Q6 U2 c9 E( J( A- [! J, h$ n
Unfortunately, Khalid asked me for quotation. I didn’t know what power saving switch is. I didn’t know what its function is. I didn’t know the price, too. My partner Black told me switch was catchpenny things. And the cost is only around five RMB. I quoted him USD 2.10/pc based on 500 pieces FOB.
9 {, }7 y2 G+ i! K
2 M# V$ u, X+ b“The price is good.” Khalid told me and asked for several samples for test. I was exciting.
! \$ a0 o; {5 ^6 u4 k
- m/ v5 F' E+ S) G" M; B4 x: v$ i$ DIn order to know products well, I input “power saving switch” in
www.badu.com to search suppliers and check the price. To my great surprise, I found switch picture with logo same to customer’s. And I called them for more details. They gave me their offer 22 RMB on 1K.
/ n3 M) ]- K$ E( C- u/ a$ I
It took me some time to bargain with them; finally, 18 RMB was OK.
n% |& v0 \! e4 _5 t- @) D% o' m0 Z g
! `$ u3 j# G8 x! V4 j
The next day, I wrote to Khalid and apologized him coz of wrong quotation and quoted him again at price USD 3.99/pc on 500 pieces. I was told that the price was a little higher. I advised him to buy 1000 pieces; lower price (USD 3.59/pc on 1000 piece) is available.
; v: X$ e& Z1 `+ k: F
He asked two samples for test the quality. I promised to offer him free samples and sent him our company communicating & address details. He told me that his TNT courier service would come to my office to take samples and send to him soon.
& Z% q7 h3 H* c0 V* N) E
' z, L' @, q& D$ }& n# N4 m
For long time no news from his side, since then I informed him of our company info. On 31st, Oct, 2007, after canton fair, I wrote back to him and let him know I had prepared samples for him. Several weeks went by; I got no reply, too. I felt depressed. I thought the Egypt customer must played a game with me.
: E1 S. x m+ w( ?! I$ z
) u8 ~$ z3 G9 V. @' N9 l5 _5 b
On 12th, Dec, 2007, TNT called me for power saving switch samples. I got three samples with different models for customer’s choice from three different suppliers and sent to Khalid 14th, Dec. And I told Khalid the tracking number in time. I confirmed Khalid received three samples in two days.
7 R9 B$ F( Q) G- ?& T+ n/ D
8 h4 e# V$ H3 z; \+ S* P5 XI was not free. I sent him email to ask for the test result. No news till Xmas, I got an inquiry regarding the unit price based on 750 pieces from him. I gave him offer USD 3.83/pc. He would consult with his project engineer and inform me of the result.
2 \+ }! Q$ }* o3 y! i+ I# r; Z$ u+ i$ v0 b, J4 |
Another week went by; I sent Khalid an email and suggested him placing his order earlier so that we could deliver his items before Chinese New Year and the exchange rate was reducing all the time. What’s more, I reduced the price to USD 3.76/pc.
" H8 z! T; e: \+ o0 X6 ?+ T, V+ U: @/ W
Khalid seemed to disappear from the earth. I never lose my heart. I sent him inquiries again and again. The last email dated on 29th, Jan, 2008. But there was no response from him. If still not news from him, I decide to say goodbye to him.
5 ~- f, M. `: y- x4 P8 U
# c- E! `0 G* @; m: c2 c# H# ?On 20th, Jan, 2008, Khalid wrote back to me and asked for the leading time & total weight. I replied to him in time. After that, Khalid kept silence again.
4 G1 O7 i6 h1 F
9 o& t6 V% n/ p1 A" a, ^- RUnexpectedly, I got PO from Khalid on 24th, Feb. I sent him PI ASAP as required and asked him to sign and fax back to us for confirmation. The total is USD 2820.
3 P- E) G: f9 f" H* _
1 o$ j+ o' C3 {- |, [: K- k
I was so careless. After eleven days (3rd, March), I was noted some mistakes appeared in PI, including inaccurate destination. The most series problem is that the customer visited our homepage and discovered that we mainly engaged in satellite products not energy saving switch. And the cost of SO certificate is not included. Each costs USD 180/pc.
/ {1 ^; {, @, m' O0 e
; I6 }4 l3 z& T4 \- NI sent him revised PI and explained accordingly as below:
; ~) ]# o! X1 t8 Z6 |! d P8 a! p, H! s. K! B' y. m. a* I( N
“Dear Khalid,
/ d: W% U1 g% p3 E
" I; c3 U1 w8 x' m6 {0 GHave a great day!
6 S) S3 o9 j1 e$ kAt first, we understand you. Frankly speaking, we handle satellite line, too. And we have several big distributors in your country, such as King electronic, Q-Max, Electronic House and so on. They have big warehouse and showroom in Dubai.
# T0 L& o% f+ K' {0 {: Q+ I
4 @* b; C+ A+ O: r- q7 s1 ~5 B
Secondly, we have stable customers from Egypt & USA also doing Hotel, resort business, real estate, etc. We also purchase IC & produce goods, like energy-saving switch, handle pressing lights for promotion.
* i }: D9 B; ~
- I' C% }* J2 q8 I# U2 \5 D: bHope to build up long-term business relationship with you from first order.
) N6 t' u$ ^0 f
7 l2 I/ _" ^9 J% D DHope to hear you soon!
- W* f3 p! f% a& G, q ?2 q" L& a
Andy”
8 s! M& ^( |' g' c# A- [
. H% X0 S' w% h* R. X) B) HI was inqranquil. The next day, I wrote to Khalid for signed PI.
5 B: ^/ Q$ U" M7 `; {: v
K' |% s+ g6 d" u( V$ f6th, March is a special date. I got PI copy from Khalid.
/ R; m5 w" [* l( `7 t
+ C* U& H4 M. o6 ?9 z( N12th, March is also a special date. Our account dept confirmed receiving full T/T from Egypt customer.
* W6 r6 T, p% { s- l
/ h; t$ c$ N9 g1 ]2 ]9 B0 \ L: `The next thing is to bargain with supplier to get more price difference.
7 |/ x3 z. W: |; a7 x
Everything goes well now. That's all.
* t t) k" {1 c! d$ p$ O+ s A (200803141317 finish)
