Sourcing Household Gloves in China for a European Distributor, a Wholesale International Company

My name is Maxim, or Max. I am a sourcing agent, living and working in Asia, but often serving clients from Europe and the USA. I would like to share my personal experience in sourcing gloves from China for a European distribution multinational company.

The sourcing took place in several stages:

1) Search for suppliers for sourcing gloves in Southeast Asia.

Initially, and this is no secret, we were inspired by the experience of a competitor company that manufactured and purchased similar gloves in Malaysia. Therefore, we spent a lot of time communicating with Malaysian companies, some of which also had production facilities in India. Our target initial volume was a full 40ft container, which allowed us to hope for a good price. Unfortunately, this did not work out with household gloves. We were unable to reach the target price for this type of product in Malaysia without reducing the quality of the products.

2) Finding suppliers for sourcing gloves in China.

Next, we turned to the business network of European customers. We asked them to help and share their personal experience of contract manufacturing in China. We had high-quality requirements, product certification requirements for the European market, and, of course, price continued to be a sensitive factor.

We received several names, including Handa Gloves, and contacted all of them. Handa Gloves were not the first to respond to us, but they were the first to provide full information, all data on production, certification, and prices for the volume we needed.

Interestingly, for the first contact, we invited a professional translator into Chinese, but his help was not needed, because communication was in English from the very beginning.

We quickly reached an understanding and proceeded to the next stage.

3) Samples to Europe from China

In order to ensure the quality of the products, we requested samples of gloves according to our specification, in several sizes. Handa Gloves agreed to provide samples free of charge; the customer was only required to cover the small shipping costs to ship the samples from China to Europe. The agreement was reached quickly; the samples were produced within a few days and sent by FedEx courier to Europe, to the buyer's headquarters.

4) Sample inspection, quality assessment, and negotiations

Upon receipt, the samples were subjected to a thorough inspection by the buyer's team. Starting from visual inspection, checking documents, certificates, and testing in local laboratories. The gloves were intended for sale in 3 countries in the region, and they had to meet a wide range of requirements.

The team was satisfied with the testing results, and we agreed with the manufacturer on the final order range, specification, quantity, dimensions, and final price. Of course, there was intense bargaining. Handa Gloves showed good negotiation skills, demonstrating both flexibility and tenacity in matters related to pricing and quality. An agreement was reached.

5) Due Diligence of a Chinese glove manufacturer

Before the contract, since this was our first experience working with the company, we requested constituent and banking documents, business licenses, certificates, test reports and other credentials of Handa Gloves. At the same time, the buyer sent a request through the Chamber of Commerce and Industry through its business and near-government channels. After a thorough analysis of the information and documents received, the buyer signed the contract.

6) Placing an order for the production of gloves

The order was accepted for work immediately after signing. In parallel with the work on the gloves themselves, a parallel flow was launched – the production of packaging (one pair per package), and the production of cardboard boxes with printing. The manufacturer provided design templates, and the buyer designed them in accordance with production requirements.

Since the products were intended for sale in the markets of 3 countries, the inscriptions and markings were also made in different languages. And we were very surprised when the managers of Handa Gloves found a discrepancy between them, which arose from a human error, and pointed it out to us. The error was immediately corrected, and the inscriptions in all languages were brought into line. It is noteworthy that Handa Gloves does not have specialists who speak any of them. It still remains a mystery to us how they did it.

7) Manufacturing gloves in China at the factory

The production process was quite smooth. We regularly received updates from the factory manager, including photos and videos. At the final stage, a quality control inspection was carried out to confirm before shipment.

8) Shipping gloves from China to Europe

The gloves were shipped from China to Europe by sea, in a container. The buyer preferred to work with his own shipping company. But Handa Gloves were involved in the process, starting from picking up the goods and finishing with the necessary paperwork. The goods arrived in good condition, undamaged, dry, and complete.

9) Repeat order

And the last, but very important, is the repeat order. After ensuring the quality of the products, and going throw the entire process from A to Z, the buyer confirmed his ability to work further, creating a long-term business relationship. 

This was our path: from the intention to produce gloves in Asia under a private brand, to receiving a finished batch of goods in Europe.

The project was implemented in 2025.

Buyer:

A large company, a distributor of FMCG in 3 countries. Multinational, serving more than 30,000 retail stores.

Sourcing agent:

Inter Techs Sourcing & Contracting

www.inter-techs.com