What’s the Real Price of Low-Cost Overseas Purchasing? The Answer Might Shock You...
Since the start of the pandemic, there’s been chaos in the world of international shipping. And as a result, the real price of low-cost overseas purchasing has started coming to light.
In fact, the challenges have been so dire in many cases that businesses are seeking higher-priced North American goods as a means for saving money and safeguarding their operations.
Cheap Products Might Cost You in the Long Run
There’s an interesting paradox at work nowadays: due to shipping delays, purchasing cheap products overseas has actually started costing companies exponentially more than buying domestically.
We were recently approached by a large-scale organization that needed receipt paper as well as mailer bags to ship their goods.
Typically, this organization purchased its mailers from China. But due to the challenges in global shipping, the company ran out in September and couldn’t get restocked until January.
As a result, they were forced to purchase stock from a high-cost domestic supplier on a short turnaround–an extremely expensive endeavour.
By our estimate, these domestic products likely cost the company the equivalent of three years worth of overseas inventory–meaning they’d be compensating for this one single international supply chain interruption for the foreseeable future.
Affordable Local Suppliers Offer Safe, Low-Cost Alternatives to Overseas Purchasing
While this organization was forced to make a significant purchase from a domestic supplier at a significantly elevated pricepoint, this didn’t have to be the case–there are affordable local suppliers who can provide equal quality at significantly lower prices.
Northern Specialty Supplies was able to offer the same volume and quality of receipt paper and mailer bags at a cost that was only about five percent more than this customer paid in China.
And since all of our products are manufactured in North America, this customer now has the opportunity to eliminate the risk of overseas supply chain issues by working with domestic manufacturers and suppliers.
We’re also able to offer them economies of scale and reliable access to their goods by enabling them to order higher volumes of products and store them in our warehouse with our Vendor Managed Inventory system.
Ultimately, purchasing products overseas might be the cheapest option up front. But with current supply chain issues being a scary reality that has no end in sight, finding a local supplier at a slightly higher price point could save you money, spare you challenges, and help you avoid headaches in the long run.
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help save you money and ensure the security of your supply chain, get in touch with us today.