Outsourcing Product Manufacturing

[SeekerofWisdom]

Greetings Everyone,

I am currently working for a small jewelry company based out of South Dakota. We have a great line of products, which are all currently manufactured in the United States. Right now each necklace is made out of Sterling silver and is priced around $45 a piece. We are looking to expand our target market and produce our current designs in a more affordable manner. If I could have these manufactured in China for $1 or $2 each, in stainless steel, i would be able to reach more customers.

Does anyone have any advice on how I would find a good Chinese Jewelry manufacturing company? I would like to keep making all of the products in the USA, but I can't do that and still maintain a good profit margin. If anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks,

John

[mrhead]

Talk to your local wal-mart. They love outsourcing jobs to foreign children.

[kamakiri]

Come on head. Aside from the fact that sweat shops are good for developing countries, Wall Mart does not use them.

@ Seeker - What quantities are you looking for initially?

[Sven]

Why the shift to stainless? Isn't it a loss of quality?
And wouldn't it be cheaper to make it in silver, stainless is a lot harder to work... There is a cheaper material that looks more like silver than stainless and is also easier to work, don't know the English name at the moment though...

And wouldn't India be a better place for having jewelry made?
They speak the language too!

[SeekerofWisdom]

Thanks for the responses,

I am looking to make an initial purchase of 10,000 necklaces. I would like to test the market initially and then if I find success, I would order larger quantities.

I am not 100% locked in on any type of metal at this point. I was told by one expert that stainless steel would be a good choice for producing large quantities because they can be stamped in a large press. I would be open to any other suggestions if anyone has any ideas.

These necklace designs are "cross" necklaces that incorporate scripture. Right now the $45 dollar Sterling Silver necklaces are too expensive for kids, bible camps, etc. I was looking to have these cheaper necklaces manufactured overseas for $1-$2 and therefore sell them for a price that more people can afford. I don't really care if they are produced in China or India, but I need the cost to be low.

Im just looking for feedback on how I can find a good company overseas to produce these. Are there good websites to look at or American outsourcing companies that I could call directly? Im am learning a lot of things as I go with this project, so if anyone has experience doing this or can offer me any other feedback i would greatly appreciate it! Thanks again to everyone who has already responded.

[TimW]

If I could have these manufactured in China for $1 or $2 each, in stainless steel, i would be able to reach more customers.

Deep inventory doesn't necessarily translate into more customers, neither does just a low price.

What is it about the necklaces you make/sell now that gets customers to buy them?

What is it about producing necklaces for 95% less cost that makes you think you will get customers to buy them?





, unless you're discussing price. And then, perhaps, it does.

[MajorTom]

Why the shift to stainless? Isn't it a loss of quality?
And wouldn't it be cheaper to make it in silver, stainless is a lot harder to work... There is a cheaper material that looks more like silver than stainless and is also easier to work, don't know the English name at the moment though...

And wouldn't India be a better place for having jewelry made?
They speak the language too!

Stainless steel is great if you want an industrial look. I have a plain heavy band that's made of stainless. It's thick enough that it has diamond chips set in the leading cross-sectional edge. It's very high-tech. It doesn't look like silver though, and I don't think anyone would ever mistake it for silver. If you're selling silver jewelry, stick with silver.

[zhongguohua88]

I just did a quick search on Chinese sourcing websites and found many manufacturers selling stainless steel and sterling silver necklaces for about $1 a piece. If you want to buy so many I am sure you can get even better prices. PM me if you are interested, I live near China's 2 main manufacturing cities and I could locate the manufacturers for you. We can also talk about it over the phone.

Note to people complaining about sweatshops: Please give me a break. People working in them actually consider themselves lucky for not having to do subsistence farming 14h a day under even rougher conditions. Many are thankful to Americans for giving them a chance to live a better life and giving their kids a chance to go to college. Most of them move from small villages to big cities in order to get jobs like these and are more than happy to have them.

[badger]

Deep inventory doesn't necessarily translate into more customers, neither does just a low price.

What is it about the necklaces you make/sell now that gets customers to buy them?

What is it about producing necklaces for 95% less cost that makes you think you will get customers to buy them?





, unless you're discussing price. And then, perhaps, it does.



I agree with Tim W.

I have been in manufacturing for a dozen years in the States, and have worked for a handful of companies. It is all over when you start chasing the cheap end of the market, especially as a distributor AND manufacturer. You can easily have a distributor come in with Chinese imports and undersell you because they do not have the same burden of overhead that you do. I have seen it with my own eyes.

Figure out how to chase the high end of the market with quality and niche markets. I am a strong supporter of American manufacturing, but it has to be done correctly to compete. Too many US manufacturers are looking for the cheap place to outsource instead of looking for ways to improve EXISTING operations or increase prices by providing a quality product and VALUE to the customer.

The Chinese love putting lead in the things they make. Just have the jewelry made from solid lead! That would go over well with the Bible School kids...

[webgal]

It's always a bad idea to compete purely on price.

[TimW]

It's always a bad idea to compete purely on price.

That said, there are a lot of successful companies that do just that.

[Gongchime]

The other thing is don't just settle on China. You can't be sure if Chinese manufacturers will give you the best price. I was buying silver jewelry in Indonesia and selling it in Korea.

Thailand, China, India and Indonesia are all famous for silver and the manufacture of jewelry at a cheap price. Just recently in Indonesia the price for manufactured silver has gone way down due a significant increase in competition among Indonesians.

Another source to consider would be Nepal especially for items made of non-silver metals. From all of the above you could be sure you've found the lowest price for making whatever it is you want to sell.

The products that you're talking about selling would also sell well in Japan. They're really selling that kind of stuff hand over fist there. I was trying to sell middle of the road silver and it just wouldn't sell there. But they're really making a killing on high end and low end stuff.