Something has shifted quietly in the sourcing world over the past year.

The conversation that dominated 2023 and 2024 — “we need to move our supply chain out of China,” “we’re diversifying away from Chinese manufacturing,” “we need a non-China sourcing agent” — has been replaced by a different one.

The search terms we’re seeing now: “Sourcing Agent, China-based. Must speak Chinese.”

The market has learned something the hard way. And the lesson came at considerable cost.

The Apple Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About

When tariffs under the current US administration hit China at their highest levels, the pressure on large corporations to diversify supply chains became enormous. Apple — with the resources, the relationships, and the runway to actually do it — led the charge into India.

India, as anyone who has tried to manufacture there at scale will tell you, has a well-earned reputation among multinationals. The results have been, to put it diplomatically, instructive. Apple was recently hit with a significant financial penalty in India. Whether Tim Cook, on the eve of his retirement, reflects on that decision is his business. What it signals to the rest of the market is clear.

If Apple — with its leverage, its engineering teams, its decade-long runway — finds supply chain migration this difficult, what does that mean for the mid-size brand trying to replicate the strategy?

The Shell Game: When “Non-China” Sourcing Still Comes From China

Here’s what many brands discovered when they hired sourcing agents outside China to reduce their China exposure:

The goods still came from China.

The agents — based in Europe, Southeast Asia, or elsewhere — were sourcing from the same Chinese factories, routing through an intermediary entity, and charging significantly more for the privilege of adding a layer of distance that provided no actual supply chain benefit.

The tariff exposure didn’t change. The factory relationships didn’t change. The quality risks didn’t change. The price went up. The accountability went down.

The Kyiv Case Study: $100K, 3,700 Hours, and Nobody on the Ground

We recently came across a telling example.

A US gift company based in Gainesville hired a Ukrainian sourcing agent in early 2025. Her profile was impressive — global experience listed across China, Thailand, Turkey, Indonesia, Korea, the UK, and a dozen other markets. Conversational Mandarin from her time studying at UIBE in Beijing. Fluent English. A sophisticated international profile that suggested she could operate anywhere.

The rate started at $35/hour. It’s now $50/hour. Over 3,700 hours billed, that’s over $100,000 in fees.

Here’s what the client eventually figured out:

She was sitting in Kyiv. Every day. In front of a computer.

Using her basic Mandarin and strong English, she was emailing and calling Chinese factories remotely — the same thing a competent in-house person could do for a fraction of the cost. Her “on the ground” global experience was, on closer examination, mostly remote.

When a promotional gift arrived with the logo printed incorrectly. When a shipment deadline started slipping and someone needed to walk into a factory and have a direct conversation with the production manager. When the situation required a physical presence — she was 8,000 kilometers away.

The client has since posted multiple new job listings. Every single one emphasizes the same requirements: “Currently based in China.” “Physically present in China for factory visits.”

The market has recalibrated.

And there’s a reasonable probability that the $100K agent was herself running a margin play — taking $50/hour from the US client and farming the actual research and supplier communication to junior staff or recent graduates at $5-8/hour, while handling the English-language client relationship herself. Forty-nine active projects. One person. The math doesn’t work any other way.

The Sourcing Agent Industry Has a Transparency Problem

We’ll say something that might be uncomfortable coming from a sourcing company: the industry has serious quality problems.

There are sourcing agents operating from home offices with a laptop and no physical infrastructure. Agents who have never registered a legal entity and operate in the grey zones of customs documentation. Recent graduates with no manufacturing experience who built a following on short video platforms and converted that following into clients. Agents who, when a shipment goes wrong, simply close their account and open a new one.

The barrier to entry is nearly zero. The consequences of choosing the wrong one are potentially severe.

So how do you tell the difference?

Five Questions That Separate Real Sourcing Agents From the Rest

1. Can they meet you in person?

A sourcing agent who operates entirely behind a screen — who has never met a client face to face, who cannot arrange a meeting at their office, who deflects every request for an in-person introduction — is telling you something important about how they actually work.

2. Do they have a documented track record?

Experience is not a number of years. It’s a record of actual projects — products developed, suppliers vetted, quality problems caught and resolved, shipments managed from production through delivery. Ask for specifics. Vague claims about “extensive experience” across dozens of industries and countries should raise questions, not confidence.

3. Are they a registered legal entity?

A legitimate sourcing company is a registered business. In China, that means a properly established entity with documentation you can verify. An individual operating informally — no company registration, no business license, no legal address — has structurally limited accountability. If something goes wrong, there is no entity to hold responsible.

4. Do they have their own office and warehouse?

Physical infrastructure is not just a convenience. It’s evidence that the operation is real, established, and has something to lose. A warehouse means they can receive, inspect, consolidate, and ship goods on your behalf. An office means there is a team, a location, and an operation that exists independently of any single person’s laptop.

5. Have they been operating long enough to matter?

In an industry where operators can disappear and reappear under new names with minimal friction, tenure is meaningful. Five years of continuous operation means the business has survived real problems, real clients, and real market pressures. It means there is a reputation at stake — something worth protecting.

How Tom Sourcing Answers Each Question

On meeting clients: We have met every client we work with. In person. Either we travel to them, or they come to our office in China. We believe that a business relationship of this nature — where we are handling your supply chain, your product quality, and your money — should start with a real conversation in a real room.

On track record: We have over 20 years of combined experience in cross-border trade, factory auditing, quality control, and supply chain management. Our co-founder Thomas has spent his career inside multinational corporations and international trade before founding Tom Sourcing — not building a social media following.

On legal standing: Tom Sourcing is a registered entity in both the United States and China. We are a US-registered company with a fully operational Chinese entity. Our documentation is verifiable. Our structure is transparent.

On physical infrastructure: We have our own office and warehouse in China. When your goods need to be received, inspected, consolidated, relabeled, or held before shipment, we can do that — physically, with our own team, in our own facility.

On tenure: We have been operating since 2020. In an industry where new operators appear and disappear constantly, five years of continuous operation represents a track record worth examining.

The Bottom Line

The market is figuring out what experienced practitioners already knew.

“China-based” is not a preference. For sourcing that actually works — where someone can walk into a factory, have a conversation in Chinese, catch a problem before it becomes your problem, and be physically present when it matters — it is a requirement.

If you are evaluating sourcing partners and want to know how we work, let’s have that conversation. In person if possible. That’s how we prefer to start.

Tom Sourcing is a US-registered sourcing company with its own office and warehouse in China. We provide end-to-end sourcing, product development, quality control, and supply chain management for US and EU brands.