Restaurant equipment, furniture & supplies
Purchases for a working business. 30 suppliers, one container, one invoice in USD.
Client location: West Africa
Logistics mode: FCL, 40 ft HQ
Service format: End-to-end
Service focus: Multi-supplier sourcing and purchasing management in China. One-on-one communication. Procurement support. Seller of record. A single point of contact on the ground in China.
Intro
The client was expanding her existing business and preparing to open another restaurant. Her procurement manager had prepared a sourcing list, and the plan was to purchase the required items in China. The list itself was mixed: some lines were exact links to items already selected on Chinese marketplaces, others were reference pictures, while the kitchen equipment still had to be sourced from scratch. They knew what the project required, but supplier discovery was already becoming a headache. And the bigger problem was how to manage all of that from another continent.
So the client needed a sourcing agent in China to manage purchases from multiple suppliers, consolidate the goods, and ship it all in one container. But she was not looking for an agency with a team of managers and a generic customer-service chain, or for someone who would simply forward messages between her and the suppliers. She wanted to work directly with one person in China — one-on-one communication, with the China-side questions handled as they came up.
We connected, confirmed the details, and I took the process from there as a private agent on the ground.
Product range
-
Kitchen equipment
gas stoves, lava grill, exhaust hood, vertical freezers, back bar and under-counter coolers. -
Indoor & outdoor furniture
dining chairs and tables, bar stools, armchairs, sofas, poufs, terrace tables and chairs. -
Lighting
lamps, LED strips with transformers. -
Décor
vases, statuettes, artificial flowers, rugs, curtain tracks, decorative stones. -
Sanitary ware
sinks and washbasins, taps.
Service scope
- Confirm specifications, availability, and terms for pre-sourced marketplace items
- Source and vet reliable suppliers for part of the list based on reference pictures
- Source kitchen equipment and remaining items from scratch
- Place orders for all confirmed items and handle payments to multiple suppliers in China
- Consolidate goods at a warehouse in China
- Perform targeted checks for the items the client marked
- Resolve detected issues before shipping
- Reinforce domestic packaging for export where needed
- Book freight and supervise container loading
- Handle China export customs clearance and issue the shipping documents
Outcome
A mixed list of links, reference pictures, and rough descriptions turned into purchases from 30 suppliers — consolidated at the warehouse and shipped as one 40 ft HQ container. The items the client marked were checked, and detected issues were managed on site in China before loading. Once the container was loaded and export was processed, the client received the contract, one commercial invoice in USD covering all the purchases, the packing list, and the bill of lading.
FAQ
I sourced suppliers specialising in commercial kitchen equipment, filtered them, and shared the catalogues with the client. She selected the exact items and quantities from those catalogues, and only the confirmed choices went into orders. Nothing was purchased on guessing.
One chair arrived with obvious defects. I shared the issue with the client, we aligned on the decision, and I arranged the return and refund in China. The client didn’t have to chase it.
Another one was a flat-pack cabinet. With the client’s approval, I arranged assembly at the warehouse to judge the item properly — the supplier sent a technician, and the assembly revealed a couple of defects. They were fixed on site with replacement parts from the supplier. After re-checking, the item was repacked for export.
Another one was a flat-pack cabinet. With the client’s approval, I arranged assembly at the warehouse to judge the item properly — the supplier sent a technician, and the assembly revealed a couple of defects. They were fixed on site with replacement parts from the supplier. After re-checking, the item was repacked for export.
These were items the client pre-selected on Chinese marketplaces, with exact links, options, and notes. I executed the purchases and managed consolidation. For that part of the list, I didn’t source alternatives.
It meant a packaging upgrade. Some items came from local-market suppliers, so their packaging was made for domestic delivery — not for export shipping from China. The client expected that and requested upgrades for selected goods.
So wooden frames and extra protection were added where it made sense. It’s not a must-do for every item. But it prevents very predictable shipping damage.
So wooden frames and extra protection were added where it made sense. It’s not a must-do for every item. But it prevents very predictable shipping damage.
No. All supplier payments ran on my side, including the marketplace orders in RMB. The client made one payment against one commercial invoice in USD.
Anton Gora
Independent sourcing and purchasing agent
Master’s degree in Sinology
In China since 2005
In China since 2005