A Must-Read for Middlemen: Respecting Original Factories = Securing Your Long-Term Business (Part 2 – Final)

Stories in the cup, warmth in life. Hello everyone, this is "Dong Dong's Cup Talk". With the booming development of e-commerce, more and more individuals and companies have entered the industry. Especially as cross-border e-commerce has lowered its barriers and become less mysterious and difficult to master, https://www.zhanyict.com/en/ProductsDetail-VB-10531.htmlsuch “foreign trade merchants” have seemingly sprung up everywhere overnight. During my years in this industry, I have worked with thousands of middlemen. Today, inspired by recent events, I want to talk about the relationship between middlemen and factories, and explain the importance of respecting original factories through real cases of how we treat our suppliers in daily operations.

II. Negative Example: Arrogance and Disrespect Toward Factories Lead Middlemen into Difficulties and Eventually Cut Off Supply

According to industry peers, they once dealt with a small trading middleman who had small orders and modest profits but acted extremely arrogantly. He believed the factory relied entirely on his orders to survive. https://www.zhanyict.com/en/ProductsDetail-VB-10531.htmlHe spoke condescendingly to the workshop supervisor, even barged into the production area without permission, and loudly scolded workers performing welding and painting, complaining they were too slow or careless about details.

Even minor cosmetic flaws that did not affect usage led him to blame the factory indiscriminately, forcing free reworks and making the factory bear all losses. He also frequently revised designs at the last minute, inserted urgent orders, https://www.zhanyict.com/en/ProductsDetail-VB-10531.htmlcompletely ignoring the factory’s multi-process scheduling. He repeatedly demanded small-batch free production, complimentary inventory storage, and extended payment terms, with no consideration for the factory’s labor and financial pressure.

Hidden Factory Response

Out of courtesy, the factory did not openly end the relationship, https://www.zhanyict.com/en/ProductsDetail-VB-10531.htmlbut cooperated passively throughout:

• Refused small-batch flexible production

• Declined to share inventory pressure

• Did not support cost optimization

• His orders were always scheduled last

• Only standard-grade raw materials were allocated

Workers who had been publicly reprimanded felt deeply resentful and worked perfunctorily. With more than 30 manual processes, https://www.zhanyict.com/en/ProductsDetail-VB-10531.htmlany lapse in attention caused quality issues, and the defect rate doubled.

Final Outcome

• Orders were repeatedly delayed, triggering constant complaints from downstream clients, resulting in the loss of several long-term buyers

• Unstable vacuum flask quality led to a sharp rise in returns, after-sales issues and compensation costs, wiping out his already thin profits

• Despite repeated communication, his arrogant attitude remained unchanged

• The factory decisively terminated cooperation

• He approached numerous factories in the local vacuum flask industry, https://www.zhanyict.com/en/ProductsDetail-VB-10531.htmlbut no reliable manufacturer was willing to accept his orders

• His supply chain was completely cut off, and his business ground to a halt

To be continued. Please do not quote out of context.