Manuel Becvar
China Expert with over 17 years of experience
About me
My name is Manuel and I was born in Austria in a little town called Melk. For me Asia and its perks always fascinated me since I can remember. I remember watching Bruce Lee & Chinese movies as a kid and was hooked right away. My professional career started in 1998 when I worked for Austria's biggest DIY retailer (bauMax). I moved to Hong Kong in 2005 when I was offered a position as an intern to work for one of the biggest Sourcing Offices in Hong Kong with a staff over 200 people.
For more than 10 years I worked with the biggest retailers in the world on developing, sourcing and finding new products for them.
These retailers included: Metro, Rewe, OBI, Carrefour, Tesco, WalMart, Amazon, Auchan, Lowes, Sears, Homedepot and many others.
As you can imagine the big retailers expect their products to be more than just conform to standards and regulations when they purchase them in Asia. They need to be at the highest standard and quality. These retailers cannot afford to have a product re-call due to quality problems or defective components. These products need to be top-notch.
In those 10 years I got to know all the standards and product requirements there are and additionally gained a lot of experience and insight working with factories in China.
Not just that. I learned a lot about China, its culture & manufacturing. Where & how to find the best suppliers, how to negotiate and communicate with them, how to arrange business travel for my Customers and a lot more.
In the busiest seasons (April & October), I was accompanying up to 30 Buyers within a month to exhibitions, factories and showrooms to help negotiate, develop products and follow up the Buyer's requests after they were gone. I got to know all the tips & tricks you need to return home from your trip successfully.
I now have an Import/Export company based in Hong Kong that you can find under my links.
I also speak publicly at large events within Asia, Europe and North America. You can also find my content on podcasts, e-interviews and magazines. I run a blog that discusses everyday business, eCommerce and importing from China. Feel free to head over to my educational site mentioned in my profile.
I also have several courses here on Udemy discussing import from China, selling on Amazon and other eCommerce channels as well as certification and compliance to national standards and laws.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
All the best,
Manuel Becvar