Your Dedicated Sourcing Team on the Ground in Asia
A dedicated buying office in China, Vietnam or India without the Overhead cost and risk of setting up your own entity. Direct to Factory access, Full supply chain transparency. Operational in as little as 8 weeks. Saving you money and reducing risk.
What is our Buying Office Model ?
Most businesses sourcing from Asia rely on trading agents or intermediaries, who add margin, reduce visibility and create a barrier between you and your factories. Our unique buying office model replaces that with a dedicated team working exclusively for your business, based in your key sourcing market, with direct relationships to your supplier base.
ET2C’s buying office model gives you all the advantages of an in-country presence, without the complexity and overhead cost of incorporating your own legal entity in Asia.
“A large UK retailer achieved 20% net cost savings in year one – and is still partnering with ETC almost a decade later”
ET2C Buying Office Case Study – Listed UK Retailer
Why Businesses Choose the Unique ET2C Buying Office Model
Your Own Dedicated Team
Experienced local professionals who work exclusively for your business - not shared across multiple clients. They learn your brand, your standards and your supplier expectations.
Eliminate Agent & Trader Margins
Direct factory relationships mean you see real costs. You remove the mark-up layers applied by agents, trading companies and middlemen - typically 8-15% of product cost
Total Supply Chain Transparency
Full visibility from factory floor to shipment. Know exactly who is making your products, under what conditions and at what cost - enabling better decisions and risk management.
Scaleable & Flexible Structure
Start with the team size and capability you need today. Scale up as your sourcing grows or as you expand into new markets - with ET2C's broader ecosystem supporting you throughout
Operational in 8 Weeks
ET2C's proven setup methodology means you have a fully functional in-country team in as little as 8 weeks - without the delays of entity incorporation, recruitment or HR infrastructure
Mitigated Risk, Full Support
ET2C handles legal, HR, payroll and compliance in-country. You benefit from a local presence without the operational and regulatory risk of managing a foreign entity yourself.
Our Process
Why Businesses Choose the Unique ET2C Buying Office Model
Strategic Assessment
We map your current supply chain, in-house capabilities and key gaps to define exactly what your buying office needs to achieve.
Tailored Proposal
We present a bespoke solution — including team structure, roles, costings, location recommendation and implementation timeline.
Team Build & Training
ET2C recruits, onboards and trains your dedicated team, aligning them with your brand standards, category knowledge and ways of working.
Ongoing Partnership
Regular reviews, performance reporting and strategic advice ensure your buying office continues to deliver — and evolves with your business.
Buying Office Model v/s Wholesaler Model
Why the Agent Model Holds your Business Back and Drains Margin
Understanding the structural difference helps clarify the long-term strategic advantage of a dedicated buying office.
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Capability
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Sourcing Agent / Trader
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ET2C Buying Office
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Works exclusively for your business
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Serves multiple clients
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Dedicated to you only
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Direct factory access & relationships
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Factory relationships are theirs
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You own the relationship
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Full cost transparency
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Hidden margins built in
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Open-book visibility
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Quality control & inspections
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Limited or conflicted
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Integrated QA capability
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Supplier development & diversification
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Constrained to agent’s network
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Active market-wide access
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Scalable with your business
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Fixed service scope
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Grows as you grow
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Strategic supply chain advice
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Transactional focus
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Long-term partnership model
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Access to a wider expert network across markets
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Siloed to one market or category
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ET2C Connect — 200+ sourcing specialists
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The Hidden Cost of in house teams
Your Own In-House Asian Team Sounds Great, Until you see the True Cost.
Many businesses reach a point where they consider establishing their own buying office directly in Asia, and it makes strategic sense. The problem is the structural overhead and risk that comes with it, and how quickly those costs creep beyond the original business case.
The Growing Overhead Over Time
Entity Incorporation & Legal Structure
Setting up a legal entity in China, Vietnam or India involves significant upfront cost, local legal counsel, registration fees and ongoing compliance obligations — before a single product is sourced.
Recruitment, Salaries & Staff Turnover
Finding experienced local buying, quality and merchandising staff is competitive and expensive. High turnover — common in Asia's sourcing industry — means continuous recruitment cost and knowledge loss.
HR, Payroll & Employment Compliance
Finding experienced local buying, quality and merchandising staff is competitive and expensive. High turnover — common in Asia's sourcing industry — means continuous recruitment cost and knowledge loss.
Office, Infrastructure & IT Overhead
Premises, equipment, systems, utilities and local IT support are fixed costs that persist regardless of sourcing volume or business performance.
Inflexibility When Volumes Change
A fixed in-house team cannot scale down easily if sourcing volumes dip. Restructuring a foreign entity is legally complex and costly — leaving you carrying overhead you no longer need.
How ET2C Effectively Eliminates Overhead Costs
ET2C’s buying office model gives you all the strategic advantages of an in-country team — with none of the structural overhead. We absorb the legal, HR, premises and compliance infrastructure so you don’t have to.
One transparent monthly fee
Predictable cost structure no hidden employment liabilities or unexpected compliance costs.
Scale up or down as your business requires
Add team members, expand categories or enter new markets without restructuring a legal entity
No entity incorporation risk
Operate through ET2C’s established legal entities fully compliant, immediately operational.
ET2C handles recruitment & retention
We carry the risk and cost of finding, training and retaining high-quality local sourcing professionals.
Backed by 25 years of operational infrastructure
You leverage ET2C’s market knowledge, supplier databases and ecosystem from day one.
"All the control of your own team. None of the overhead of running it yourself."
The Hidden Cost of in house teams
Your Own In-House Asian Team Sounds Great, Until you see the True Cost.
Many businesses reach a point where they consider establishing their own buying office directly in Asia, and it makes strategic sense. The problem is the structural overhead and risk that comes with it, and how quickly those costs creep beyond the original business case.
Supplier Sourcing & Qualification
We understand your sourcing needs to create an efficient pathway from day one.
Compliance & Ethical Sourcing
Factory audits and CSR assessments aligned to your compliance requirements.
Price Negotiation & Cost Management
In-market teams negotiate directly in local currency, unlocking real cost advantages.
Innovation
Your team on the ground can liase directly with factories to increase innovation speed to market
Sample Management & Development
Manage the full sampling process, from initial concept through to final approval.
Market Intelligence & Benchmarking
Access to ET2C’s market data, supplier databases and category pricing benchmarks.
Production Follow-Up & Expediting
On-the-ground monitoring to keep production on schedule and resolve issues fast.
Central Functions & HR Support
ET2C manages all in-country legal, payroll, HR and administrative infrastructure.
Quality Inspections (In-Line & Final)
Embedded QA capability ensures product quality before shipment, not after arrival.
Access to ET2C’s Broader Ecosystem
Tap into specialist teams across quality, logistics, merchandising and new markets.
Year One.
Sourcing Markets & Market Entry
Rapid Entry Into Any Market. Your Strategy Changes We Move With You.
Sourcing strategies don’t stand still. Tariff shifts, geopolitical risk, capacity constraints or a simple need to diversify can require a rapid pivot to a new sourcing market. With ET2C, that pivot is already enabled, no entity set-up, no recruitment from scratch, no 12-month runway to operational.
ET2C currently operates established buying offices across three key sourcing markets
China
The world's manufacturing powerhouse. ET2C has deep roots across Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and the broader Pearl and Yangtze River Delta regions.
Vietnam
The leading China-nius-one destination. ET2( The leading China-plus-one destination. ET2C onerates from Ho Chi Minh City sunnorting al fast-growing number of clients diversifying their supply chains.
India
A rapidly growing sourcing destination for textiles, home goods and industrial components. ET2C is based in Bangalore with reach across key manufacturing hubs
Turkey
A strategically important nearshore sourcing destination for European buyers. ET2C operates from Izmir supporting client who need shorter lead times, stronger compliance visibility and reduced logistics complexity alongside their Asian supply chains.
FAQ - Buying Office Model – Your Questions Answered
Frequency Asked Question
A buying office is a dedicated, on-the-ground team in your key sourcing market such as China, Vietnam or India. The team manages your suppliers directly on your behalf. It handles supplier communication, sampling, production follow-up, quality inspections and shipping documentation, removing the need for trading agents and delivering full supply-chain transparency.
ET2C can have a fully operational buying office team in place within 8 weeks. ( we have regularly set up teams within this timeframe) This covers the strategic assessment, team recruitment, training and full onboarding without the delays associated with setting up your own legal entity in Asia.
By eliminating agent and trader margins and enabling direct factory relationships, clients typically achieve net product cost savings of 15–25% in year one. One listed UK retailer achieved a 20% net cost saving in the first year of partnering with ET2C’s buying office model, with the relationship continuing for nearly a decade. Ultimate savings are dependent upon category and wholesaler network.
A sourcing agent or wholesaler acts as an intermediary and charges a commission, adding cost and reducing transparency. A buying office is a dedicated team working exclusively for your business as your in house team. Giving you direct factory access, full cost visibility and strategic control over your supply chain without the agent margin.
ET2C currently operates buying offices in China, Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) and India (Bangalore). We can also establish remote or hybrid teams in strategic locations to support a China-plus-one diversification strategy or where a particular supply base is concentrated.
A buying office is most effective for businesses with a meaningful and growing volume of Asian sourcing partners and spend who want to move beyond trading agents, gain direct factory relationships and build a resilient, transparent supply chain. ET2C’s model is flexible and scalable, making it accessible without the overhead of establishing your own legal entity in Asia.
Yes. ET2C manages all in-country HR, payroll, legal compliance and administrative infrastructure for your buying office team. You benefit from a fully operational local presence without taking on the regulatory complexity of employing staff in a foreign jurisdiction yourself.
The true cost of an in-house Asia buying office goes well beyond salaries. Businesses must absorb entity incorporation fees and ongoing legal compliance, local HR and payroll administration, mandatory social contributions, office premises and infrastructure, IT systems, and the hidden cost of staff turnover, which is particularly high in Asia’s sourcing industry.
These overheads are fixed regardless of sourcing volume, making the model inflexible and expensive to exit. ET2C’s buying office model removes all of this, replacing it with a single transparent fee and the flexibility to scale as your business requires.
Because ET2C already has established legal entities, operational infrastructure and experienced teams on the ground in China, Vietnam and India, a market pivot can be executed far faster than building your own presence. A new dedicated buying office team in Vietnam or India can be operational within 8 weeks, covering team recruitment, category training and full onboarding. This makes ET2C’s model particularly valuable for businesses executing a China-plus-one strategy or responding rapidly to tariff changes or supply-chain disruption.
Ready to Eliminate the Agent Margin?
Talk to our team today about how a buying office in Asia can drive real, measurable cost savings and supply-chain resilience for your business.
