u/Acrobatic_Yak_6219

I’ve been working on a small e-commerce side project recently, and honestly, one of the hardest parts hasn’t been the website or marketing, it’s finding suppliers that actually reply consistently and don’t disappear after a few messages.

I started with Alibaba because that’s what everyone recommends, but after comparing a few options I also tried browsing suppliers on Made-in-China and noticed some manufacturers there were surprisingly more detailed with factory certifications and production info.

Still trying to figure out the best approach before placing larger orders though.

For those of you building physical-product side projects:

• How did you find your first reliable manufacturer?
• Did you stick with one platform or compare several?
• Any red flags you learned to avoid early?

Would genuinely love to hear what worked for other makers here.