Alibaba – probably the biggest trade community with hundreds of thousands of Buyer and seller visits every day, there are thousands of new trade leads posted almost continually throughout the day. If you are serious about selling products online you should check this site every day.

There are other less active communities, similar to Alibaba but they are still worth joining, you may find a few niche products from suppliers who do not post on Alibaba:

EC21
Global Sources
ETradeShow
Made-in-China.com
B2BAppareldirectory
Allproducts
Asian_Sources.com
Asian_Products.com
Global_Market.com

And couple of European communities for good measure:
Tradezone
bizeurope

Where our retail operations are concerned, we purchase nearly every product we sell from the Asian markets. The above trade communities will give you access to nearly every manufacturer and wholesaler in the region. Once again, I must stress ‘you have got to do your homework’ they will all expect payment up front, do not commit large sums of money until you are confident they are legitimate. Look for companies that are backed by well developed websites, most scammers will not take the time to build an impressive website just to steal a few bucks here and there. However, don’t be put off if their website is a little slow, this is sometimes caused by poor internet infrastructure between the continents.

Nearly 65% of global manufacturing takes place in Asia, by purchasing directly from Asian markets you have access to some of the least expensive prices on the planet.

Most advertisers will not display product prices; when you find a product that interests you, send a simple message asking for ‘sample’ and ‘quantity’ prices. Tell them what type of products you are interested in and ask them to also supply prices for any other products they manufacture that will suit your range. This way you may get offered other products without doing any further legwork. Furthermore, finding suppliers who can provide several product lines may reduce your shipping expenses.

Remember, a lot of these people are not natural English speakers, so keep your messages simple. Also remember that there is a time difference, be patient, allow them several hours to respond to your messages.

Technorati Tags: Global Trade, Product Sourcing, trade communities