Finally a sourcing site that works for a shop my size
I own two small gift shops in Ohio, which basically means I'm too big to buy at retail and way too small for most factories to even answer my emails. I spent about two years ordering off Alibaba and honestly the products were fine - it was everything after that killed me. One time I ordered 40 ceramic planters, 12 of them arrived cracked, and shipping them back would have cost more than I paid for the whole order. So they just sat in my storeroom until I threw them out.A friend who sells at flea markets told me about Fabulk. What actually sold me was the consolidation. I order from six or seven different suppliers now, everything lands in their warehouse, they weigh it and take photos, and then I decide what goes on one pallet. My last shipment was 31 items from 9 suppliers and I paid roughly 40% less on freight than I would have paying each supplier separately. The photos before shipping are the other big thing for me. I can see a scuffed corner or a wrong colour before it's already on a boat.There are things I'd change. Two of my orders this spring took about a week longer than the quote and I had to chase for updates. And the dashboard took me a minute to figure out - I'm 54 and I'm not fast with new systems. But their rep walked me through the whole thing over voice notes.I'm not going back to doing it myself. For a shop like mine, buying a little bit of a lot of things, nothing else has come close.