Are you planning to launch your own brand of products to sell on Amazon? Do you already source products from China and looking for proven methods to improve your sourcing efforts? Would you like to better understand how to become a master product sourcing professional? On the show with me today is David Hoffman; CEO of international trade powerhouse Global Regency (shipping products over $200m to over 40 countries).  If you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked David during this interview, and you will quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge bombs for sourcing products from China.  Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that David share...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked David: [01:07] Who are you and what do you do? [02:06] What are some of the biggest mistakes you see people making? [03:05] Is Alibaba the way to go? [04:24] Should someone work with a buyer's agent? [06:51] How should buyers plan and execute a trip to China? [09:54] How often are their trade shows [10:50] How do you determine if you are dealing with a manufacturer or a trading company and why should you care? [12:50] What is the best way to find trade shows to attend? [14:30] What are the most important things to do prior to attending? [17:20] Are there some clever ways to make a good first impression when talking to vendors? [19:30] What are some of the important things the new buyers might forget to ask? [20:18] Why is product compliance so important? [21:50] What type of follow up do you suggest after the show? [24:00] Tell me about some best practices for ordering samples [25:40] Do you have an SOPs for the sampling process? [28:00] So how do people work with your company as their team on the ground in China? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/david-hoffman-interview/