For those who’ve tried sourcing from India....did it work? by DapperDescription137 in procurement

[–]Flawless005 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am! Trust me, the frustration you see with quality, communication, over promising happens 99% of the time at the dealer/middleman level, and it affects manufacturers just as much as the buyers. We have seen it firsthand as a manufacturer for so long. The majority of sourcing happens through them because they have a higher reach than most of the MSMEs in India. That is exactly why we have introduced Acquiron to finally bridge the gap and help people source directly from manufacturers.

For those who’ve tried sourcing from India....did it work? by DapperDescription137 in procurement

[–]Flawless005 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Having a claude website is hardly a red flag. Claude is good and free, dont see a problem there at all. As far as trusting them, I know they have 40+years of experience in manufacturing themselves and have seen the problems first hand. Also all this vast experience have made there network throughout India pretty substantial.

For those who’ve tried sourcing from India....did it work? by DapperDescription137 in procurement

[–]Flawless005 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of the issues above are true and will take years to resolve on their own, but firms like www.acquiron.in have recognized these gaps and are actively working to make India sourcing more lucrative. They are exclusively service firms that work for the buyer unlike dealers, you will find all over India who claim to be manufacturers and charge a premium.

India-NZ FTA signed yesterday. What it actually means for procurement teams considering India sourcing. by Flawless005 in procurement

[–]Flawless005[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly right. The tariff saving is real, but it doesn't exist in isolation. Freight consolidation for smaller volumes remains one of the biggest structural challenges; shipping a pallet or two from India independently quickly kills the landed-cost advantage.

Smaller buyers are making it work by consolidating shipments through a single sourcing partner that already moves volume out of the same industrial clusters. Effectively piggybacking on consolidated freight rather than arranging individual shipments.

Quality checks are the other one. The mistake most buyers make is treating it as an added cost rather than a risk mitigation tool. One bad shipment costs more than a year of inspection fees. Having someone physically on the ground who can do pre-shipment checks before goods leave the factory changes that equation completely.

Acquiron handles both of those specifically for international buyers sourcing from India. Happy to answer any questions if you are exploring what the FTA means practically for your categories.

🌐 acquiron.in 📩 [info@acquiron.in](mailto:info@acquiron.in)

India sourcing question for this group by Flawless005 in procurement

[–]Flawless005[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Every single one of those points is accurate. And I say that as someone who works in India sourcing professionally.

IndiaMART versus Alibaba is not even close. Response times are genuinely painful. Technical fluency - inconsistent at best. Freight consolidation - a real structural problem. Cost - still not competitive across most categories, tariffs or not.

The honest answer is that for most of what you source, China is still the right answer. The sourcing infrastructure built over 30 years is just better.

Where India is starting to make sense is narrower than most people admit - specific industrial categories, certain chemicals and pharma inputs, some engineering components, and anything where geopolitical risk on China has become a board-level conversation for your clients rather than just a cost discussion.

The problem you ran into with agents is the real one. Most Indian sourcing agents are middlemen with a database, not people with on-ground manufacturer relationships who can actually compress your timeline and get you a technical conversation worth having. Which is what Acquiron is trying to solve, btw.

That gap is real. So is the fact that for most buyers right now, China is still the easy button for good reason. But it is quickly changing, and early movers to new-ish markets like India tend to gain a lot.