Ever wonder, how some importers and exporters get suppliers and buyers from other countries so easily? After trying their hand on eBay an increasing number of people are looking for either a foreign supplier for the items they are trading locally or global buyers for the unique product that they sell. If you are one of them, or you have recently decided to explore import-export business opportunities, using this simple method you can also find buyers and sellers from other countries easily and effectively.

There are several means people use to look for a foreign supplier or buyer, which include attending trade shows, contacting trade section of embassies and chambers of commerce, posting trade leads on the Internet, etc. However, posting trade leads on the country and industry specific bulletin boards is by far the easiest and cheapest technique which brings pretty fast results.

What is a trade lead?

By trade lead we understand a categorized advertisement of buy, sell or service trade opportunity related to export and import. Before the Internet era World Trade Centers, Chambers of Commerce, Export Promotion Bureau and some other Government agencies used to collect and publish trade inquiries and circulate them by mail to subscribers. Subscription cost of many of those lists some times was and still is quite hefty. A number of trade journals have also carried special sections for trade inquiries. In any case, the process of getting a lead and acting on it was slow, time consuming and sometimes even outdated.

Today, thanks to the Internet, the situation has changed dramatically! The development of e-commerce, global trade growth and increased use of the Internet have helped proliferate numerous bulletin boards, trade leads sites and B2B portals. Some of geography specific trade leads portals have become prime destination for both importers and exporters planning to do business in those countries.

Why post trade leads

When you are on a trade leads portal like http://trade-leads.rusbiz.com you have two options. You can find a supplier or a buyer for a product either by browsing or searching among the existing postings. Another option is to post your very own trade leads ad. In general, use of the trade leads pages including postings does not require a payment on most of the sites.

Initially, once you are on a trade leads portal, you should check out whether the products you are planning to sell or buy are already posted in last several months. If you are lucky and found traders of desired items, before contacting them, do some researches. Read the profile of the company – most trade leads portals have options to post company profile. Check out their websites, if links to websites are given. Don’t forget to run a Google search on the company and its product. Since Google gives heavy emphasize on the contents from forums and web logs, you may get interesting information on your prospective business partners and their products. The profile of the company, its website, products information and the way they are represented online will help you better understand how professional the company is, how long it is in the market, and whether this company is a viable option for you.