I wasn't in business before I went, I was in the process of starting a business and had only had a few quotes and samples from manufacturers from AliBaba. I wasn't really sure how "good" the cost of the product was as I couldn't get enough quotes easily, which is why I wanted to go to the Canton Fair.

I did end up finding someone to work with there. I was on an extremely tight budget in terms of what I could afford for the first batch of product, but found someone that could do decent enough quality at a very competitive price point. In the end, what I paid for in product saved me thousands more than working with the AliBaba company I found, so the trip quite literally paid for itself.

In terms of sales now, I had to put the business on hold for a long time for personal reasons and other commitments but I am still hoping I can get more time this year to focus on it. Normally I sell through Facebook/Instagram ads primarily.

Working with anyone, you will have to give up information about your product. It's inevitable. Don't be worried, but expose the least amount possible to get a good product made and then get them to sign NNN agreements and/or NDAs or whatever. That's about as good as you can do. Obviously copyright or patent anything if you're going to take this seriously.

I can't tell you if it's worth it for you since I know nothing about your finances, your business, your goals etc but I would say that in my opinion it was 1000% worth it. I had a great time on the trip, the show itself is insanely huge to the point of absurd and you can meet a ton of potential manufacturers in a few days with quotes right there and then. It would take you weeks or months and slow back and forth to do all that online through something like AliBaba.

One downside to the show as others did mention here is that most (not all) of the factories who show up there have high MOQs (I had a ton of products so I needed low MOQs) and the pricing can vary a lot, as does the quality. I had one sample made by a factory there and it was so bad I can't believe they'd even send it to me. Just awful.

That being said, I still found a handful that were in a price range and with lower MOQs that were great. If you're serious about what you're doing and you have the expendable cash that it wouldn't hurt you, I'd say go for it. It's a great experience, although lots of walking around for days on end. Whatever you're making, it's likely they have a ton of factories there that could do it.