一个老外给外贸人的建议

 　　想赚老外的钱也不是那么容易的，先要了解他们买东西的习惯，还有什么是他们真正想要的，这是老外给外贸人的建议。

    As a sourcing agent and buyer I can tell you what is a good quotation¹ for me: it includes all relevant information ! My job is to find a reliable supplier at a reasonable price in the shortest time possible.

　　It is very possible that I will choose a supplier whose price is a few percent higher but the quotation is complete. That means, it includes: - FOB price, with seaport² marked! (I often get FOB quotes without location. Obviously for me in Europe a FOB Shanghai price is higher than a FOB Xiamen price, since shipping³ rates are different).

　　- Delivery time (so far no Chinese supplier was able to keep the promised delivery time for my projects - 90% delay, 10% early)

　　- Package unit (carton details) Carton weight, size, volume, content, material. It is very important. Usually this point is simply left out by suppliers. But I - and most full-time⁴ buyers - have just simply no time to beg for any details separately. If a quotation misses this, I simply delete it. I have no time to ask for these points, but I can only calculate my shipping cost with this info.

　　- Payment conditions must be exactly discussed.

　　I hope suppliers will consider these points in the future. If you include all relevant information, you can really help your partner in his decision. And for the supplier, it is a job done once, you needn’t work out each detail separately.

1 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。

2 seaport   

n.海港，港口，港市

参考例句：

• Ostend is the most important seaport in Belgium.奥斯坦德是比利时最重要的海港。
• A seaport where ships can take on supplies of coal.轮船能够补充煤炭的海港。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。