How To Find a Manufacturer or Supplier for a Product (2024)

Entrepreneurs can find themselves hitting a brick wall when it comes to sourcing products. Whether you plan to manufacture something of your own or find suppliers to purchase from wholesale, good products aren’t always easy to identify.

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Sourcing a supplier for your next project includes finding a manufacturer, deciding whether it’s better to work with manufacturers near you or abroad, and evaluating if a manufacturer is legitimate. It’s also essential to ask suppliers certain questions when developing a product for your ecommerce business.

What is a manufacturer?

A manufacturer is any business that produces finished goods from raw materials. They sell these goods to consumers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and other manufacturers wanting to create more complex items.

Manufacturers typically stick to one type of product. For example, you could work with a glassware manufacturer who creates glass bottles and jars. You could work with one manufacturer for cardboard boxes and another for plastic or natural products. 

Retailers often work with multiple manufacturers at once to create an inventory for their store.

Connect with manufacturers

Find the perfect production partner to build inventory for your ecommerce store with our free sourcing and manufacturing outreach template.

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Is a manufacturer a supplier?

Suppliers refer to anyone who can provide you with products and inventory. This encompasses manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors.

There are a ton of helpful resources online that you can find through Google. But before you begin, there are a few things you need to know and decide.

You should figure out what type of supplier you’re looking for, which could depend on your ecommerce business model. This will help determine the terminology you need to use in your research. There are several supplier options, the most common being:

• A manufacturer that produces your product idea
• A supplier (who may also be a manufacturer), wholesaler, or distributor who purchases already-existing brands and products
• A dropshipping company that supplies products and fulfills orders of already-existing brands and products

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Domestic vs. overseas suppliers

If you plan to manufacture or wholesale, when looking for suppliers you’ll need to decide whether you want to source domestically or from abroad. 

It’s a good idea to secure two manufacturers: one domestic and one foreign. Your local manufacturer can be used as a backup. If international orders are late or incorrect, you can fall back on your local supplier. Domestic suppliers are often more expensive, but it’s better to keep products stocked and customers happy instead of waiting for delayed shipments. 

It’s often cheaper to source your products overseas, especially in Asian countries, like India, China, and Vietnam, which ranked as the three countries with the cheapest manufacturing costs, according to U.S. News & World Report.

How to find a manufacturer in 6 steps

Manufacturers can make your product ideas a reality. Follow these six steps to find the best manufacturers and suppliers for your business.

1. Research your options

Finding the right manufacturer for your product is crucial to your success. Manufacturers can play a role in determining your product’s cost, quality, packaging, and shipping. You can use tools to help you find suppliers:

Google

To find manufacturers near you, do a Google search for “manufacturers near me.” Check out their websites, customer reviews, and product specialties.

Google can help you find local manufacturing options.

Many suppliers’ websites are old, sparse on information, and have poor search engine optimization. This means you may have to use a variety of search terms to find what you’re looking for. For example, words such as “wholesale,” “supplier,” and “distributor” may be used interchangeably, so you should search for all of them.

Make yourself familiar with Google's advanced search features to improve the quality of your results.

Use different search terms to find new options.

Referrals

Some of the best leads can come from referrals. Ask your professional networks if they have supplier recommendations or if they know someone who might. Look for individuals who’ve found success in an area you’d like to pursue and see if they’re willing to share their contacts. Join Facebook groups and other online ecommerce communities to see if there are helpful reviews.

Even if a supplier isn’t the right fit for you, ask them if they can point you in the right direction. Being in the industry means they’ll likely have contacts to refer you to that could be better fits.

NAICS codes

Another way to look for product suppliers is searching for your products by their code in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

The NAICS classifies manufacturers and products with codes, making some manufacturers and suppliers easier to find, especially in professional directories. Here’s the link for the United States’ NAICS code and the link for Canada’s NAICS code.

You’ll need to vet your potential manufacturer. Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few possibilities, continue your research to make sure they’re credible. Check the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if there have been any complaints filed and browse the manufacturer’s customer reviews.

Alibaba

Alibaba connects you with manufacturers from China. It’s a popular marketplace to find existing products, but you can also use Alibaba to connect with manufacturers to create custom products. Search for the products you’re looking for and browse through the various suppliers and manufacturers.

Alibaba is a great way to connect with manufacturers for custom products.

It’s easy to safely buy from Alibaba. The marketplace lets you vet manufacturers upfront to get the best products at a fair price. When researching manufacturers on Alibaba, make sure they have the following qualifications:

• Gold supplier, which means they pay for their Alibaba membership.
• Verified, which means a third-party evaluation services company or Alibaba has visited their manufacturing facility.
• Trade assurance, a free service that protects your orders from payment to delivery. 

You can continue to search by applying filters. You can sort by certifications (such as SA8000, which ensures humane working conditions) to find a manufacturer that aligns with your business values.

You can also make sure your manufacturer is not a trading company. A trading company is a liaison and won’t be able to produce your products.

Directories

Another place to research manufacturers is in an online supplier directory. These directories act as manufacturer catalogs that contain profiles for thousands of manufacturers, wholesalers, and suppliers. A few of the most popular ones for domestic and international suppliers are:

Online domestic directories

Online overseas directories

2. Conduct outreach and collect information

Once you’ve got a few manufacturers on your radar, you’ll want to get quotes. Aim to get a minimum of three quotes to compare options. For local manufacturers, you can also reach out to organize a tour of their facility or a visit to their office.

In addition to pricing information, you’ll want answers to the following questions:

• Can they accommodate custom orders? Assess if the supplier or equipment manufacturer can create the product you want. Do they have the skills and resources? Do they have automation features?
• What are their lead times? How long will it take to produce and ship items? You don’t want to work with manufacturers who take three months to deliver your products. If a product goes out of stock, you don’t want to leave customers waiting to receive their orders.
• What are shipping costs? Shipping makes up a massive portion of small business expenses. Learn a manufacturer’s shipping costs to determine how it’ll affect your bottom line.
• What are their minimum order quantities (MOQs)? Don’t lead with this question, because it might deter manufacturers from working with you. However, you’ll want to know the minimum amount of items you have to order before they start producing your product. This is often negotiable. 
• What is the cost per unit? While you’re negotiating MOQs, you’ll also want to negotiate cost per unit. The larger the order, the lower your cost per unit can be. 
• Can they grant you exclusivity? If there’s tooling involved (i.e., you buying a tool for them to manufacture your product), make sure they aren’t allowing others to use it. You can also ask for territorial, market, or total exclusivity. Some service providers may even offer private label goods.
• Are there setup fees involved? Sometimes manufacturers will charge a fee to get equipment ready to produce your goods. 
• What’s their defect policy? Find out who eats the cost for incorrect or defective items. Who pays for the shipping and duties?
• Is the manufacturer sustainable and ethical? Find out about the factory conditions, and see how they impact the environment and those who work there.

Negotiating minimum order quantities

If you’re looking for a supplier for the first time, you’re going to quickly learn about MOQs. It’s not uncommon for a manufacturer to require a commitment to purchase hundreds or even thousands of units for your first order, depending on the product and manufacturer.

MOQs make it difficult when you have limited funds or want to start small and test the market before making larger purchases. MOQs are almost always negotiable.

Before you negotiate, understand why the supplier has imposed a minimum. Is it because there’s a lot of work upfront? Is it because they prefer to work with larger buyers? Understanding the reasons for the minimum will help you better understand their position and allow you to negotiate and propose the best counter offer.

Discussing payment terms

Many suppliers will require new businesses to pay for a full order upfront. This is important to know, since inventory is a major cost for ecommerce businesses. You should also ask if they provide payment terms on future orders.

Suppliers get bombarded with email quote requests all the time from flaky buyers, so it’s not unusual for suppliers to ignore your request. Suppliers’ lack of responsiveness is a common complaint from new ecommerce entrepreneurs.

So how do you ensure you’re not ignored? There are a few things you should do when you reach out to suppliers for the first time:

• Focused emails. Your first email to a manufacturer should be clear and concise. Avoid telling too much about your story and background. The first email should purely assess potential fit at a high level. Focus on what suppliers care about the most, like the details of what you’re trying to source. 
• Asking for what you need. Requests aren’t always easy for the supplier to satisfy. It’s important to ask about pricing for multiple quantities, but avoid asking for too much or too many quotes. Stick to what you absolutely need to know to assess fit between you and the supplier.
• Prepare. If you’re unsure about your request, consider giving the supplier a call or send a one-question email. For example, you might want to know the supplier’s minimum order because if you ask for a quote that’s well below their minimum order, you might not receive a response.

Many good manufacturing suppliers will be open to negotiating payment terms. One payment strategy you could propose would be to pay for 50% upfront and 50% after you receive the shipment. This holds both parties responsible for the order and doesn’t leave too much risk on either side. 

Communicating with manufacturers and suppliers

Chances are you won’t use a manufacturing manager when starting your online business. You’ll have to communicate with suppliers on your own. You can do this via phone, email, or text. When working with local manufacturers, you can also do in-person meetings.

Look for companies that are responsive and eager to work with you. If someone is slow to respond to emails and send samples, you may not want to trust them with your business.

3. Communicate your designs

Once you talk with a potential manufacturer, ask if they can create your design. Some manufacturers have a product development process with prototyping and 3D modeling—but it can get expensive. 

As an alternative, communicate your ideas with them through: 

• Sketches
• Instructions
• Reference photos 

If they don’t do design, you can use Fiverr or Upwork to find freelancers to create drawings for you. Look to hire:

• Indstrustial designers
• Product designers 
• Computer-aided design (CAD) experts

Another option is finding a local designer. You can work with them to develop prototypes and custom molds. It could be more affordable than going through a manufacturer. 

4. Order samples and compare

Get samples to test before going into production. Once the sample is to your standard, you should date and sign the sample. Save one or two for yourself. These are called your control samples: forensic samples used to assure quality and get consistent consumer products.

For example, you open a package from a manufacturer and find your products’ colors are completely wrong. You can reference the control sample to indicate the products you received are not what was previously agreed upon.

5. Negotiate

Between the time you get a sample and when you place your order, it’s still possible to negotiate terms on payment or MOQ. When negotiating, put yourself in the manufacturer’s shoes. The goal isn’t to exploit your manufacturing partner to get the best price. It’s to work together so both parties profit and are happy. It’s the only way to build a long-term, healthy relationship. 

6. Place your order

After completing a quality control check to make sure every product meets your standards, you can place your order and get the production process started.

Moving forward with your supply partners

Sourcing suppliers and manufacturers is one of the costs of starting a business. Partnering with suppliers that are good fits is a critical decision for your new business, and they aren’t always easy to find.

It’s easy to get frustrated when you hit dead ends or brick walls, but in most cases, it just requires a little more patience and perseverance to find the perfect partner for your new venture.

Illustration by Pete Ryan

How to find a manufacturer FAQ

What does manufacturing mean?

Manufacturing refers to turning raw materials into finished products through tools, labor, and machinery. It’s an industrial process that allows for the mass production of goods using advanced technologies and assembly processes.

What are the types of manufacturing?

• 3D printing
• Repetitive manufacturing
• Discrete manufacturing
• Job shop manufacturing
• Continuous process
• Batch process

Types of manufacturing include:

What is an example of manufacturing?

The clothing industry has many different manufacturing processes. For example, a clothing manufacturer’s process could include fabrics receiving and relaxing, form layout, laying, marketing, cutting, screen printing, sewing, and quality checks before creating a single garment.

How do I find a manufacturer?

• Alibaba
• Free online directories
• Google
• Referrals
• NAICS codes

You can find a manufacturer via the directories and suppliers listed above. Some of the most common places to find manufacturers include:

Are you interested in selling handmade products but aren’t sure where to start?

Check out these frequently asked questions to get the answers you’re looking for!

I frequently get asked about how I got started making and selling handmade products. Today, I’ll answer some of the specific questions on this topic that I’ve received over time.

I started making my own soap because of this little dirt-loving guy:

My son had a lot of allergies when he was little and it was impossible to find soap that he didn’t react to. I determined that I would have to learn to make my own bars, free from the fragrances and additives that caused him problems.

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Once I successfully tackled soap making, I started looking for other homemade products I could make for us.

My favorite discovery was learning how easy calendula balm was to make. (HERE is the recipe.) I had been paying a small fortune for a brand in my local health store, so this was empowering indeed!

After a while, I felt comfortable enough with my soaps and salves to start giving them as gifts. It wasn’t long before people were asking to buy extras from me. And that’s how I accidentally fell into selling.

1.) Is it profitable to sell handmade products?

That depends. Some people make a great living from it, while others barely break even. Some lose money. (I know this, because it happened to me at one point!)

Good record keeping will allow you to sit down each quarter and see how your numbers are adding up. You’ll quickly realize if you need to adjust prices or make other changes.

The handmade soap market is heavily saturated right now. The good thing is that it’s a consumable item and people always want more.

The bad news is that you’ll need to try hard to stand out in some way.

Instead of focusing just on soap, I tried to develop unique products, such as my popular lotions and lip balms. Even though I share the recipes online, it’s more cost effective or convenient for some people to buy it.

2.) What about insurance for handmade items?

When I first started thinking about opening an online shop, I looked and looked and looked for information on insurance. It wasn’t easy to find.

I asked in various blogging groups I belonged to and people were strangely silent on the topic even when asked directly. (Including a very large shop owner.)

My conclusion was that: (a.) I had become a social pariah in the blogging world OR (b.) nobody had insurance, but they didn’t want to admit it or talk about it. Logic dictates that the second answer is most likely.

I could write more on this topic, but I found this article HERE from TeachSoap.com that has some great information.

There are two reputable organizations online, that I know of, that offer insurance to members:

Be sure to check them out and compare to anything your insurance agent has to offer.

Should you get insurance? I can’t answer that question for you. That’s a personal decision you’ll have to make based on a thousand things including your comfort level, amount of sales, and risk tolerance. (Personally, I would not sell without it.)

If you plan on selling at a farmer’s market though, you’ll likely be required to have some sort of liability policy in place.

3.) What about taxes and licenses?

That’s another tricky question I get asked a lot. I took one accounting class in my life and hated it so much, I almost flunked. So, I am not the best person to ask.

If you don’t already have a good accountant, ask around at locally owned businesses that you like and trust to find out who they use.

A good accountant is worth every penny and then some. They can tell you details for your situation, but here’s what I did. I turned in a list of income and expenses from my blog and shop each year with applicable tax papers. There’s a 15.3% self employment tax on all of the income I bring in. (See this IRS link for more info.) Other taxes may apply as well and this will be different if you’re an LLC or other entity.

If you’re self employed though, remember this 15.3% figure when calculating prices!

Some states have extra rules and regulations as far as selling soaps and cosmetics; you may need additional licensing and/or inspections. THIS SITE has an excellent list of each state and its corresponding agency that can give you more information about that.

4.) Where can I sell my homemade products at online?

The ways that I know of are:

• Etsy – HERE is an excellent article filled with tips for success.
• Using PayPal buttons on your web site, HERE.
• Look into an online shop with Shopify or Woocommerce.
• Start a subscription box with Cratejoy, HERE.

When figuring out prices, keep in mind that most options will charge you a small percentage fee for each sale. This helps with their overhead costs and so they can keep providing you with great services.

5.) What’s the best place to order supplies?

There are so many great businesses out there, that I feel like I’m being limiting by offering up just the ones that I’ve dealt with. Don’t be afraid to explore new places and see how you like them!

Having said that though, these are the places I’ve personally ordered from and a note about each:

Mountain Rose Herbs: I’ve been a satisfied customer of Mountain Rose Herbs long before I started blogging. They have a great selection of dried herbs, essential oils, salts, clays, butters, and so much more. Since I live completely across the country from them, it takes a pretty long while to get an order from them, but it’s a small price to pay for such high quality.

Bramble Berry: I love Bramble Berry because they hands-down have the absolute best customer service around. I think a requirement to work there must be an extra gene of niceness. They also have pretty much everything you could need or want to make soap, salves, and all sorts of goodies. Just like Mountain Rose Herbs, they’re on the other side of the country so it takes a while to get my order. Still, it’s well worth it!

Bulk Apothecary: They have a wide variety of affordable ingredients and a large selection of essential oils for soapmaking.

Rustic Escentuals: They have some great prices, especially on lip balm tubes and supplies. I also buy waterproof labels from them, which I use on lip balms.

Nature’s Garden: Has the fastest shipping around! I was so pleased about everything with my order. They have some unique items that I hadn’t seen elsewhere. Lots of great projects on their site too!

Soaper’s Choice: If you make a lot of soap and buy in bulk, this is the place to order oils from! Shipping is fast too.

Wholesale Supplies Plus: They have a huge selection of ingredients and supplies for handcrafters plus lots of helpful information and recipes on the site. (They have a really informative newsletter too.)

Specialty Bottle: They have the biggest selection and best price on tins, bottles, and containers that I’ve found. Since they have shipping centers in two parts of the country, orders arrive fairly quickly and always in great shape.

Packhelp: (I haven’t personally tried this one, but have heard good things) They sell custom branded packaging in the EU.

Nashville Wraps: They have all sorts of themed packaging (including green options). I used them when I had an Etsy shop and was very pleased.

6.) How can I get more customers?

That’s the million dollar question that we all want to know!

At first, my biggest source of customers was my own family and friends. As they started giving my products as gifts, I would get emails from friends of friends wanting to buy more. (Always put your web site or email on the label! Even for gifts!)

Eventually, my biggest source of sales came from my blog.

(I’ll let you in on a secret though – the blog itself is a lot more profitable, and less labor intensive, than maintaining a shop, so I no longer sell products. In THIS POST I talk more about blogging your hobby.)

Depending on what you sell, you may be able to approach one of your favorite bloggers and see if they’ll hold a giveaway for you. This is most likely to work with smaller blogs that you’ve seen hold giveaways before. You would provide the blogger with some free samples to try out and another set of goodies for them to give away. Sometimes you may have to pay a sponsored post fee to the blogger. Make sure to send them your best stuff! Some bloggers love giveaways, some don’t. My policy is to very rarely do giveaways and then only with a book I’ve written or that a close friend has written. You never know about other bloggers though, until you ask!

Here’s another thing I did: After my husband lost his job, he took small bathroom tile and other odds & ends jobs while he was getting his new business off of the ground. I would go with him to help and we’d leave behind a little gift from my shop, usually a homemade soap dish and a few bars of soap. Tie everything up with a pretty ribbon and make sure your shop link is on it somewhere.

Don’t forget social media! Instagram is a fabulous place to start showcasing photos of your products along with behind the scenes shots of products in progress.

7.) How do I know how much to charge for my handmade products? What about shipping costs?

Pricing is tricky. What I did was go through Etsy and search for people that had similar products as mine. I looked and compared what they were charging with what I needed to charge to turn a profit.

How do you know how much you need to charge to turn a profit? This is how I figured it out:

Go through the invoices/receipts for all of your supplies. I grabbed an old random invoice from my soap making notebook from a few years ago for this example. Prices will vary from vendor to vendor.

I paid $6.90 for one pound of shea butter. Dividing by 16 ounces in a pound, that makes shea butter .43 cents per ounce. HOWEVER, you must not forget shipping!

For this order, the FedEx shipping was $26.66. I ordered a total of 228 ounces of various oils altogether. Dividing the total shipping ($26.66) by the total oils (228) = I paid almost .12 cents extra for each ounce of oil that I ordered. So, my shea butter actually costs .55 cents per ounce.

You’ll come up with a long list that might look like the one below. Don’t forget to include tins, jars, and lip balm tubes too.

• Shea Butter  – .55 cents per ounce
• Mango Butter – .64 cents per ounce
• Avocado Oil – .39 cents per ounce
• 1 ounce screw top tin – .55 cents each
• .15 ounce lip balm tube – .14 cents each
• and so on…..

For each recipe you make, look at your master price list and figure just how much money you have into it. Don’t forget to allow for labeling and packaging costs too.

An example: A double batch of one of my popular salves will fill six 2 ounce tins. The ingredients cost me almost $36.00 total or $6.00 per tin. I allow $1.00 for the cost of each tin itself plus the paper and ink to label it. Now, we’re at $7.00 per tin. Etsy and PayPal will take a percentage plus I have to remember to allow for at least 15.3% self employment tax. I’ll need envelopes or boxes to package it along with tissue paper, mailing labels, and other shipping supplies. On top of that, be sure to add in an allowance for the time you spend making, labeling, photographing, listing online, packaging, and driving to the post office.

You can see how the hidden costs start to add up!

Figure shipping in a similar way. Look at what other sellers are charging and match them. Over time, you’ll get a feel of what adjustments you need to make. International shipping can be difficult to calculate. I lost money on pretty much every overseas order until I started having those be custom orders only. I figure out rates using the online USPS postage calculator HERE. You don’t need a fancy postage scale to weigh packages; I use my soap making scale.

8.) Can I sell something I made, using a Nerdy Farm Wife recipe?

Sure! I built my first soap recipes off of one I found on the Miller Soap Site. I built most of my salve and cream recipes using my beloved copy of Earthly Bodies & Heavenly Hair. I always make tweaks and adjustments to a recipe so that it becomes my own. I fully expect you will do the same, and you absolutely should test each recipe out thoroughly first to make sure it works well for the long term. (Don’t just make a recipe from the internet and sell it without seeing how it behaves for several months first.)

My thought about this topic is that if someone has a top secret recipe they don’t want anyone else to use, then they shouldn’t put it on the internet!

The exception to recipe use is if you copied my entire post, word for word, and put it on your site or Facebook page or in an ebook pretending you wrote it. Using my photos to represent your product is not okay either. That kind of content theft isn’t cool and it’s also against copyright laws.  I know most people know this already, but it’s still good to mention it for those who don’t.

You also shouldn’t make it appear that I endorse your products or include my name with them.

DISCLAIMER: All recipes are made & used at your own risk. If you’re a product seller, please educate yourself in safe cosmetic making and product testing practices before making and selling bath and body products. I can’t be responsible for the products you create from the recipes on this site or found in my ebooks or print books. You alone are responsible for product and recipe testing to ensure compatibility and safety.

9.) How to label products:

Making labels for my products was probably the most challenging for me. I had to do a lot of experimenting!

If you plan on selling, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with FDA regulations. HERE is an article on how to determine if your product is a cosmetic, drug and/or soap and HERE is their cosmetic labeling guide.

A main takeaway from the FDA information is that making health claims about a product is a no-no. For example, I used to sell my Herbal Healing Salve on Etsy. Technically though, I can’t claim that the balm “heals”, since I haven’t put it through rigorous and documented scientific testing. So, I had to change the name to “Herbal Salve” in order to keep Etsy and the powers-that-be happy. Likewise, don’t claim that you have the cure for dandruff or athlete’s foot or wrinkles. I know it’s restricting and annoying and repressive of small business and natural health…. but, those are the rules. We can sulk and grouch about it (I sure did for a while!) or we can just comply and get on with our happy life!

To stay up to date with legislation in the US that directly affects handcrafters, you may be interested in joining the Coalition of Handcrafted Entrepreneurs, which was created to advocate for small business owners.

10.) Last words about selling handmade products:

Some final advice I would impart is that running a shop or small business can consume much more of your time and attention that you would think. When I had a shop, I found myself sometimes getting stressed with keeping up with supplies and inventory and runs to the post office. Don’t feel guilty about stepping back as needed. Burning yourself out isn’t going to help in the long run.

It can be hard to come up with the capital to buy the supplies you need to get your business going. I used our tax return to buy my initial batch of supplies and reinvested all of the money the shop made back into more supplies. As your shop grows, your extra income will too and you’ll be able to afford some of the luxury ingredients you’ve been dreaming over!

More FAQS

Here are some more frequently asked questions I receive:

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Wholesale glass cosmetic jars.