Doing business is like gambling—you’re always taking risks for the chance of profit or savings.
Many people from around the world fly all the way to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen just to buy furniture from Foshan.
And we’re sometimes lucky to be chosen as their local sourcing agent.
Even though we deal with furniture suppliers every day, problems can still happen.
That’s why I’m sharing this post—to tell you what went wrong in one recent order, how we handled it, and most importantly, what we learned to help avoid the same issue in the future.
The beginning is usually exciting.
You’re impressed by the endless variety of furniture styles and materials.
Before you place an order, you’re greeted with smiles, patience, and respect.
As a foreign buyer in the wholesale markets, you’ll often hear:
“Hi! What are you looking for?”
Salespeople are eager to show you what they have and how they can customize it for you—even if the item isn’t on display.
Once you’ve shortlisted your favorites, your agent (we) notes the models, confirms prices, and you make your final decision.
Then, you fly home and wait for your dream furniture to arrive.
So far, so good. But here’s where things can go wrong.
We recently ordered a few sofas from a supplier in the wholesale market.
As always, we clearly told every supplier:
Let us know once the products are finished—before they’re packed.
This is so we can inspect everything on behalf of the client.
But some shops simply don’t follow instructions.
When we asked to inspect the sofas, they replied—without any patience—“They’re already packed.”
Not the right way to do business.
We went to the factory and asked to open the packages.
The factory workers were unwilling, saying:
“Why didn’t you tell us earlier? Now we have to do everything again, and we’re already busy.”
We tried calling the shop—no one answered.
Instead of feeling like business partners, we were being treated like a burden.
We knew it wasn’t the workers’ fault. They were just doing their job.
So we calmly explained the situation and eventually got them to open the packages—though it was clear they weren’t happy about it.
The next day, I went to the shop. The staff greeted me with visible frustration and unspoken complaints.
Yes, I was disappointed too. But I kept calm.
I explained:
“It’s our job to inspect the goods before shipping. We told you this at the time of order. You should’ve passed this instruction to the factory.”
We found an issue. Thankfully, the factory agreed to fix it.
Imagine if we hadn’t checked—the customer would have received a sofa with defects.
What we learned:
Always put important agreements in writing—on the invoice or contract—even if already agreed verbally.
This way, they will not forget to pass the information to the factory.
It helps protect our customers’ interests, no matter how big or small the order is.
