Here’s the output of Helium10 Chrome extension that shows the country of the seller (see the flag). I think US buyers would prefer to buy from US sellers instead of Chinese sellers (assuming all things equal) if they know the country of origin. I wonder how to get this info into the listing. I’m sure Amazon would never do this to harm their beloved Chinese sellers. The Chrome extension is a great idea from Helium10 but that doesn’t work on the phone. Hmm… 
2 Likes
BTW I’m not selling garlic press. It was a popular example product in many podcasts back many years ago when I started selling years ago 
It’s pretty straightforward, their account’s registered in china
As for who I’d prefer to buy from, it’s whoever’s cheaper if it’s the same product (which is going to be the chinese manufacturer). It’s a product made in china, why would I want to pay a US seller a markup for zero value added?
Whenever it’s an option, usually buying manufacturer direct is the best one (regardless of where the mfg is located).
When I shop online, I might look for items on Amazon, but before buying anything I always look for the item on the manufacturer’s website. There are reputable Chinese companies selling real items, and I have no problem shopping from them. But I never buy anything, from Amazon or anywhere else, from a popup seller or vendor that I can’t trace back to a legitimate business.
1 Like
It’s really dependent on the item.
If it’s an item that’s made in china, a random seller from china is probably fine and you’ll get an as-described item. (And you can always return it on the off chance you get something really shoddy)
If a chinese seller is selling a made in the US item there’s almost no chance it’s real.
As GGX said, it doesn’t much matter if it is a product made overseas.
When I bought an impulse plastic bag sealer, I could tell that basically all of them are the same thing made in the same place no matter who the “seller” was. I bought the blue one because I like blue. I have no idea who the “brand” was.
If I am looking for replacement parts for my dryer or gas grill or refrigerator, the only thing I care is that it is the right part and those parts are made overseas.
If I am looking for something else, if it appears there are real differences, I will go with what I feel is worth the price:
I bought the Master brand airbrush because I like the trigger style they have and they are significantly less expensive than Iwata. The Master works for me (I’m not an artist, just needed a smaller than spray gun size sprayer). There are now “knock-offs” of the Master. If I need to replace the Master, I will likely buy that brand again instead of the alphabet soup.
It depends on what it is and what platform I’m buying off. Many times, I like buying American because I want to support American, but also because shipping from China takes too long or returns would be difficult or if anything goes wrong, I can’t sue someone in China.
Cheap items I don’t need right away, I can buy from China. Since Amazon has A-Z, I’m more likely to buy from China (i.e., I don’t scrutinize the seller’s country as closely).
2 Likes
MOST chinese sellers are using FBA now, so that eliminates the “shipped from china” hangup. Before Amazon Global Logistics really took off, a good reason to pay a US middleman’s markup was to avoid the unpredictable shipping time from overseas. I would absolutely avoid buying a shipped from overseas item.
Nowadays it’s very hard to make money importing generic products and trying to resell them with zero value add as almost all manufacturers are shipping straight to FBA.
From what I hear, sometimes it’s actually cheaper to ship to FBA from china than it is in the US. I don’t know if that’s true or not since I’ve never used AGL, but I can believe it.
As far as supporting American goes, I would agree with that if the products are actually made in the US. Having a middleman pocket money for foreign made goods doesn’t really support anything since most of those Amazon businesses are zero value add. The ones that add value are ones that provide service/support for the items, which doesn’t really apply to cheap Amazon items.
2 Likes
Well, I proudly make all my products in the USA, and all the primary components are also made in the USA. It takes forever to get supplies because the factory is always backed up.
2 Likes
Sadly for a lot of things it’s just not an option anymore, or like you said, they don’t output enough quantity.
1 Like
Thanks for your reply. I wonder how many buyers actually click on seller info. Probably not many.
1 Like
I can confirm that’s true. It’s cheaper to ship from China to Amazon warehouses in Los Angeles than to ship the same amount of goods from New York to California… What’s AGL?
2 Likes
Kudos to you! I guess you must be making things that China cannot produce. That’s cool.
1 Like
I would agree with that.
I’ll one up this, I would be willing to pay MORE for a USA made product as long as the quality is there.
We have pressed Amazon to highlight “Made in the USA” in the past, but we all know this will not happen for a few reasons.
- It is nearly impossible to enforce hence it will be abused
- it’s not in Amazon’s $ interest to highlight Made in the USA
Also, that example “US seller”:
US address (contact us on webpage) is a little 4 story office building in Miami FL
.company trademark registered to a Brazilian with a Portugal address
the registering lawyer is in CA using a gmail account as their contact
all items made in China
2 Likes
Amazon global logistics.
eg. china → FBA US
3 Likes
Our products are made in NY, the raw materials (most of them), come from China because China put all the US RM suppliers for the industry out of business 30 years ago.
Further example of how dependent we are on China. This also goes for the Pharma industry lest anyone think it’s just the snake oil biz.
As for the topic. We too use H10. 99% of supplement sellers are based in the US. The other 1% are mostly Canadian sellers. China is very rare to see.
With all that said, you can’t trust what H10 or Amazon is telling you about seller info. Just because they have a US address, doesn’t mean they aren’t in China or some other country.
Finally, NO… I’m sure less than 1%, and that might be generous, of consumers check where the seller is.
Remember - Most Amazon shoppers (75% or more) have no idea what Amazon is. They think they are buying their products from Amazon. They don’t know this is a marketplace of small businesses (60%). That’s why they don’t care if they rip us off. They think they are stealing from “The Man”, not the little guy.
Which is why my bags and cards mention small business. They don’t beg for reviews or anything. They just say small business, so that maybe someone who wants to steal will have a heart.
2 Likes
I’m pretty sure they can make it, but I can turn on a dime and they can’t. By the time they get onboard, I’m on to a new product.
I don’t think anyone has time to research where their goods are coming from. Most likely it’s all being imported from the same place in China.
I’ve seen American sellers import stuff from China and it ranks and sells well because they have a huge social media following. Same reason why some can find success in multi level marketing. If you have the talent and are successful you can sell anything to anyone. Marketing is what sets you apart from your competition even if you sell the same thing.
Big businesses like Target and Walmart are importing from China. I used to like that Target didn’t have third party vendors because I felt like maybe it meant they even though Target was importing an item from China that perhaps they have done the best research and found something of quality.
If anything companies like Amazon, Walmart and Target have mitigated the risk of carrying inventory they might not sell and have passed it on to whoever is importing it. They still make money without having to invest and store goods.
Now third party vendors ship directly from China to fba.
Even handmade is questionable if it is made in the USA, the supplies might be imported. I’ve never really bothered to check where my supplies come from and just now I have discovered everything I use as a supply is made in the us…so that is cool I suppose but I don’t have time for marketing and I’m not sure if “made in the USA” is even a selling point anymore because “handmade” isn’t even trendy anymore. I think most people just don’t care.
What is the old saying…you can pick 2 out of 3: cheap, fast & quality 
Most shoppers don’t even shop around anymore. My husband bless his heart I keep telling him don’t order on Amazon without me checking…because often what he wants is drop shipped from Costco or Walmart lol. Like take 3 minutes and see if what you want is cheaper at Home Depot or Target.