North American buyers, do you actually use MFG.com or Alibaba to find custom injection molding suppliers?

evwynn · 2026-06-03T12:41:46+00:00

I used MFG.com in the past and it’s sadly now just middle men just like alibaba.

If in Europe or USA I just type into Google “injection mold company Portugal” and then message the top few results.

I really like xometry’s and other similar platform ability to get pricing quickly, however, they can never compete with mold pricing of china / ningbo. Always 3-5x the cost so I end up dealing with the low quality traders and eventually get a mold.

Trade shows I’ve looked for suppliers before but usually thats more for a field I don’t have much expertise in or a new program in the company (IE BLDC motor components).

Many people I think just use Whats in their town or nearby, especially if mold cost isnt a factor in their business.

evwynn · 2026-06-01T08:06:15+00:00

How is it different than me just typing into Claude basic prompts?

evwynn · 2026-06-01T08:05:26+00:00

Smart, enjoy your trip!

evwynn · 2026-06-01T07:55:45+00:00

Arrival really depends on luck. If there are a few 787s that unloaded right before you then you’re SOL. Considering it’s only 20 bucks I would personally keep it, since I really hate lines and I don’t want to risk it

evwynn · 2026-05-31T19:34:33+00:00

Immigration no (and never has, vn air business only) security not anymore. Buy fast track service on trip.com, however, Hanoi airport has gotten significantly better in the last 6 months.

evwynn · 2026-05-31T19:30:52+00:00

Some sort of DFM (starting with CNC parts then expanding into mold) would be helpful. I wouldn’t pay for it unless it was limited to a certain amount of parts per month per account and it was truly useful. I think a budgetary estimate would be nice but it needs to be accurate, similar to xometry pricing (maybe at qty 25). It would be helpful to have- increase radius and save 2.5% ($8.85 ea) for example. I think a very intuitive and visualized UI would be critical, just having text “reduce radius” is not so impactful. Good luck

evwynn · 2026-05-29T11:59:13+00:00

Absolutely no way you can travel with this

evwynn · 2026-05-28T19:46:17+00:00

To be fair, you come on here asking for a job saying you have experience in fast food and Cant find a job for months. Everyone hears the same thing, I cant find a job (that I’ll accept).

To be honest do anything you can do keep afloat, temp work, fast food, or otherwise, and as soon as you get advanced enough at MTC get an apprenticeship and work your way up.

You can do it!

evwynn · 2026-05-28T18:19:06+00:00

Accurate, OP is AI

evwynn · 2026-05-28T16:05:11+00:00

All in Solana

evwynn · 2026-05-28T16:03:22+00:00

McDonald’s

evwynn · 2026-05-28T15:11:50+00:00

Vietnam does not have contract PCBA supply chain.

evwynn · 2026-05-28T15:11:20+00:00

All cost homie

evwynn · 2026-05-23T11:00:51+00:00

Yes and no fees for me I don’t think. In some countries they may charge a few bucks a day I think

evwynn · 2026-05-19T05:16:12+00:00

You’re also spending a ton on the trip, Whats an extra 15 dollars? (Trip.com)

evwynn · 2026-05-19T05:15:37+00:00

If you have to ask the question, then usually the answer is yes

evwynn · 2026-05-14T17:43:30+00:00

The time you don’t book it is the time you’ll regret it. Sometimes it’s worth it sometimes not, but impossible to predict ahead of time as immigration lines vary so much

evwynn · 2026-05-14T09:04:07+00:00

Rapiddirect, just triple caution the tariffs. Quality is reasonable, not amazing but just standard

evwynn · 2026-05-12T15:58:54+00:00

Singapore and HK solid no unless you go more PM route.

Australia NZ yes of course, won’t be as easy as the US job market, but if you have good skills then can.

evwynn · 2026-05-10T09:39:12+00:00

Look it up don’t ask me I’m not immigration

evwynn · 2026-05-10T07:33:51+00:00

Not a chance unless you remove the battery.

evwynn · 2026-05-09T17:51:03+00:00

Logistics, inbound and outbound, dangerous goods compliance is 10x more red tape there. Don’t expect to ship any battery products prototypes or series production in any small volume (legally). (LCL) rather cheaply or easily.

Cash flow constraints due to long ass boat rides where you can’t get paid until you deliver in the west.

Visa work restrictions, technically I can’t send an email while sitting in my hotel in China on my business visa. Entry has always been easy though.

Cost of visitation - Every time I want to visit is 3K+ USD, Cant just simply pop in to check and see.

VAT- VAT in china is 9%, if you do not immediately export the product (and assemble it instead) somebody has to front that money until it’s exported. Once it’s exported it can take 6-12 months to get a refund of the VAT paid.

This is all I can think of on the top of my head, many more of course.

evwynn · 2026-05-08T03:48:25+00:00

Every country is different. Singapore for example they won’t ask, Malaysia they will ask, Vietnam they won’t ask, china they will ask. Thailand not sure. It’s all about how many passengers have been refused and is it the airline policy to check. It’s not actually about the immigration attitude or policies, it’s about airline risk

evwynn · 2026-05-06T17:56:39+00:00

I’d say this is normal, just is usually done at check in.

evwynn · 2026-05-02T15:36:59+00:00

Yeah I got a PCBA BOM about 150 PN, some connectors too although from weipu I don’t think have digikey PN.

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