Contact Ark Sourcing
Tell us what you're trying to source, or what went wrong the last time you did. Every message gets a real reply from the person who will actually run your sourcing — within 24 hours, weekends and holidays included.
What happens after you hit send
1. You get a reply within 24 hours. Not an auto-acknowledgement. A person reads what you wrote and answers the actual question you asked.
2. We ask the questions your current supplier won't. If something in your request doesn't add up — a unit price that can't survive current raw material costs, a lead time that ignores the holiday shutdown — you'll hear about it here, not three months later.
3. You get a straight answer on fit. If your program is too small for this to make sense, we'll tell you. We work with independent retailers and garden centers, and the honest answer is sometimes "not yet."
4. No mailing list. No follow-up sequence. We don't add you to anything. You will not get chased.
What to include so the reply is actually useful
Copy these five lines into the form — the more of them you fill in, the more specific the first reply can be:
- What you're sourcing (category, rough spec, or just "garden decor, metal, outdoor-rated")
- Where it needs to land (city/state, or your 3PL)
- How much (first order quantity and expected repeat — estimates are fine)
- When you need it (target in-stock date, and whether it's seasonal)
- What happened last time (supplier ghosted, quality faded after the first run, freight quote doubled, delayed past your selling window)
Short and messy is fine. "Currently buying from a trading company, not sure it's a real factory, want to know what that's costing me" is a perfectly good first message.
What the first conversation actually covers
We work in China time, which runs ahead of every US time zone. A message you send on Tuesday afternoon, Eastern, gets its answer on Wednesday morning, Eastern — well inside the 24 hours. It comes from the person who would run your file, and it says so.
That first reply does one of three things. It answers the question you asked. It asks for the one or two details missing from it. Or it tells you this isn't a fit, and says why.
If we keep going, here's the sequence
Spec first, in writing — material, dimensions, finish, packing, and the standard your product has to be tested to. Then a shortlist drawn from a supplier pool built over seven years. Then samples you hold in your hand, not photographs of samples.
Then the audit: $400–$500, paid by you, done by me, on site at the registered address, not subcontracted. You get the written report, including the parts the factory would rather you didn't see.
Two checkpoints on the run itself — a first article you approve before production starts, and AQL sampling before the balance is released. We don't keep anyone on the floor every day, and we don't price the work as if we did. If your product needs someone there continuously, say so at the start and we'll tell you straight whether we're the right shop for it.
Freight and duty are quoted as separate line items, and the entry is yours and your broker's to file.
What to have ready
Four things turn a general reply into a specific one:
- What you're buying now, and what you pay for it. A round number and a unit is enough.
- Roughly how much, and whether it repeats.
- The date it has to be on your shelf or on your site.
- A photo, a spec sheet, or a link. A photo of the actual item beats a description of it.
None of it has to be tidy. Send what you have and we'll fill in the gaps in the first reply.
Prefer email?
Same 24-hour promise. If you're attaching a quote you want reviewed, a spec sheet, or photos of a failed shipment, email is the better route.