Articles by Arkadii Vakhnovskyi
- Guides
How to find a wholesale supplier in China: channels, clusters, RFQs and a shortlist
A step-by-step process for finding a wholesale supplier in China: which type of supplier you need, where to search (Alibaba, 1688, trade fairs, markets, customs data), how to use industrial clusters, write an RFQ and narrow 30 candidates down to 3–5 verified ones.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi18 min readRead article - Market & cases
10 first-time importer mistakes and what each one costs
The mistakes on a first shipment are not equally expensive: some take a few points of margin, others take the whole deposit. The ten costliest, ordered from most common to most destructive, with a real price on each and how to avoid it.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi5 min readRead article - Market & cases
Is importing from China still profitable in 2026: the honest arithmetic
Not yes and not no, but a volume threshold below which the maths stops working. A full container costed line by line, what has genuinely changed in freight and factory prices, and four cases where importing from China is the wrong answer.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi6 min readRead article - Market & cases
China+1: when to split your sourcing, and when it just doubles the problems
A second country is not diversification if its factories buy components from China, ship on the same lane and stop for the same holidays. What China+1 actually duplicates, the volume at which it pays for itself, and three working alternatives to relocating.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi5 min readRead article - Market & cases
China vs Vietnam vs India vs Turkey for the mid-size importer
Comparing countries on labour cost is pointless — labour is 10–25% of the price. What actually decides the choice is supplier depth, MOQ, transit time and trade agreements, including the origin rules that now carry a 40% penalty.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi6 min readRead article - Guides
Sourcing agent fee models: percentage, flat fee, or hidden markup
There are three ways to pay a sourcing agent, and two of them put a conflict of interest right in front of you. How each model works, which suits which order volume, what the fee should and should not include, and the one question that separates a partner from a reseller.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi5 min readRead article - Guides
Import VAT and input tax recovery: what it really costs an importer
Import VAT is paid in cash at the border and recovered later through the return — and the timing gap, not the rate, is what breaks an importer's working capital. How the taxable base is built, why import VAT rarely behaves like an ordinary purchase invoice, and how much a container ties up before the first sale.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi6 min readRead article - Guides
Paying in RMB or USD: which actually gets you a lower factory price
Your supplier quotes in dollars but costs everything in yuan, and the gap is priced into your quote. What that conversion really costs, how China's export VAT rebate shapes the number, and when paying in CNY wins you 1–3% versus simply moving the currency risk onto your books.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi6 min readRead article - Guides
Currency control on import contracts: the 180-day settlement clock
In many importing markets, wiring a deposit to a Chinese factory starts a legal countdown — the goods must clear customs within a set number of days or the state charges a daily penalty. How the clock works, why a normal China lead time eats most of it, and what to fix in the contract before you pay.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi6 min readRead article - Guides
How to negotiate with a Chinese factory without losing quality
Every percent you win off the price has to come from somewhere, and it usually comes out of the material. Which levers produce real savings with no consequences, the point at which discounts turn into quiet substitution, and how to lock an agreement so it survives to the shipping date.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi6 min readRead article - Guides
What makes up a Chinese factory's price: material, MOQ, tooling, season
The single number on a quotation is really six components, and each behaves differently. What moves weekly with commodity markets, what is baked in once and charged forever, why the same factory quotes the same product three ways, and the four questions that take a price apart.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi7 min readRead article - Market & cases
Working Through an Interpreter at a Chinese Factory: What to Ask and What Never To
The English-speaking sales manager is not a neutral channel. Why an independent interpreter changes what you learn, how to brief one, the question forms that guarantee a useless answer, and how to read a long Chinese exchange that becomes a three-word translation.
Arkadii Vakhnovskyi5 min readRead article