This week in MKT 353 we learned about where products come from and how to pick a supplier. We compared manufacturers, wholesalers, and international brokers, then worked a case choosing between Alibaba and Olympic Eyewear for aviator sunglasses.
The biggest lesson for me was that price isn't the only thing that matters. Alibaba beats US wholesalers on cost, but once you factor in shipping time, quality, and the risk of bad inventory, the math changes. For a small startup, waiting a month for product when trends shift in weeks is the worst case.
Building the decision matrix in Excel made this obvious... I weighted price at 40%, shipping at 35%, and quality at 25%, and Olympic Eyewear won even at a higher price per unit.
The discussion was good too. One classmate brought up replenishment, which I hadn't considered. Another pointed out that fast suppliers protect your reputation, not just sales. Cheap and slow can eventually cost more than expensive and reliable.