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Goodfactories.com helps find overseas sources

Includes ratings on producers of furniture, other home goods

Tom Russell -- Furniture Today, March 18, 2009

Seth Berman’s www.goodfactories.com Web site aims to help U.S. importers find the right overseas factories to produce goods.

HIGH POINT — A new Web site created by an overseas sourcing expert aims to simplify the process of finding the right factories to produce goods for the U.S. market.

The site, www.goodfactories.com, was created by Seth Berman, a former operations, quality control and product development director at Chicago-based lighting resource Berman Inds.

The site is similar to online resources Alibaba and Global Sources in that it offers buyers a place to find information about factories in Asia. Berman has used those sites for sourcing leads, but said that they often linked him to factories that did not make what they claimed.

Goodfactories.com focuses on residential furnishings ranging from indoor furniture, lighting and accessories to wall décor, candles and floor coverings.

Many of the factories it lists as verified sources are doing business with well known industry companies. That information, posted on the site through a link called Amerified suppliers, is available through U.S. Customs reports. To be verified, the company must have a two-year shipping history to the U.S. market.

Berman said his four-member staff in Dongguan, China, visits factories to assess quality, product and value. If the companies have only sold to Europe or Australia, Berman said his team will contact the customers to get feedback before verifying a factory on the site.

The site also rates factories based on member reviews.

"The rating system on goodfactories is not only a safety net for buyers, but a real timesaver," said Berman. "Purchasing agents have wasted hundreds of hours, making trips to suppliers who are not who they say they are. Sometimes they are just trading companies pretending to be a manufacturer, or a manufacturer advertising products that are made by other companies."

The site launched in midsummer 2008 and has had about 50,000 hits. It has about 1,500 factory listings for residential furnishings, including about 400 factories in China. It also lists resources in other Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia.

Site visitors can narrow their search to categories such as bedroom, home office, occasional and youth furniture.

The site is supported through a combination of user fees and fees paid by factories that want to post more product photos.

Paying members who import also can send details for a project they are working on and Berman's team will send links to the five most suitable suppliers listed on the site.

Kevin Smith, president of China-based home furnishings sourcing and consulting firm Sansegal China, said it's important to have a filter for information, particularly given the numerous sources available. While he said that's a challenge for Berman as well, he believes goodfactories.com has gotten off to a good start.

"Most Web sites enabling sourcing are simply meeting places for anyone to say anything, show anything or pitch anything they'd like. ..." Smith said. "It's ours and Seth's belief that allowing everyone involved, the supplier themselves, their customers and outside observers to rate, review and write opinion about a given supplier, as well as consulting and relevant training, is an important part of filtering more and less effective information that is available to prospective buyers and customers."

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Web site helps find furnishings source factories

May 11, 2009

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