Journal

The Sourcing Journal

Field notes on factories, freight, and building products from China.

Featured · Product hunt

Why Is Everyone Suddenly Selling the Same Thing?

Everyone asks what's trending. Almost nobody asks why this, why now. From the factory side the answer is usually simple: something changed upstream long before it changed in your feed.

Tony Tsai · 15 Sept 2026 · 10 min read

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Sourcing tips

Your China Quote Went Up Between the Sample and the Order. Here's What Actually Happened

The price you agreed at sample stage is not the price you get at production. Most of the increase is arithmetic — tooling, tier, materials, currency. Here is how to tell which part is legitimate.

Tony Tsai · 8 Sept 2026 · 12 min read

China insights

Chinese New Year 2027 Falls on 6 February. Your Order Deadline Is Sooner Than Last Year

Chinese New Year 2027 falls 6 February, eleven days earlier than 2026. Here is how to back-calculate your order deadline from your own production lead time.

Tony Tsai · 2 Sept 2026 · 12 min read

Sourcing tips

De Minimis Is Gone — But Formal Entry Isn't Mandatory. The $2,500 Line US Buyers Should Plan Around

Most coverage says the end of de minimis means formal customs entry on every China shipment. That's wrong. Informal entry still covers commercial shipments up to $2,500 — and the fee that should actually reshape your order cadence is a floor most buyers have never heard of.

Tony Tsai · 14 Aug 2026 · 10 min read

Sourcing tips

Factory Direct vs. Sourcing Agent vs. Trading Company: What You Actually Pay

Factory, trading company, or agent — each earns money a different way, and the mechanism predicts your final cost better than the quote does. An honest breakdown, including when each one genuinely wins.

Tony Tsai · 3 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

Sourcing tips

The Information Gap: Why Fake Factories Thrive and How to Verify Suppliers Like a Pro

Fake factories thrive on information asymmetry. Here's why the gap exists in China sourcing — and a free, systematic toolkit to verify any supplier before you wire a deposit.

Tony Tsai · 10 Mar 2026 · 6 min read

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