Some points to note when purchasing bearings (personal opinion)

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I was involved in the procurement of imported bearings for a while, and I noticed that some people asked questions regarding this topic. So I’d like to share with you some of the experiences I’ve gained from my own purchasing process; I hope it can be helpful to you: lol. First of all, you need to be clear that you’re purchasing imported bearings. Generally speaking, imported bearings are more expensive due to the costly materials used in their production (large foreign bearing manufacturers usually have their own specialized steel mills, and they rarely rely on external suppliers for the bearing steel needed). Additionally, the polishing and processing of these bearings is extremely precise, which is why their price is typically 8–10 times higher than that of domestically produced bearings of the same specification. As a result, many unscrupulous domestic bearing dealers sell products that are actually domestic-made under foreign brand names, at half the price of imported bearings. They claim that their products are authentic and cheap using various excuses such as \"human smuggling\" or \"WTO tariff exemptions\". Secondly, small-scale purchases are usually made online. There is one principle to follow when purchasing online: bearing sellers who use Baidu advertising are not considered at all (I’m not saying that those using Baidu advertising are all selling fake products, but it would be problematic if you could get domestic bearings at imported prices). You can take a look at the Baidu search volume for the term “bearings” – it’s incredibly high. Every click generates revenue for Baidu, and a seller of genuine bearings cannot afford such high costs associated with Baidu advertising. On top of that, there are also malicious clicks from competitors; it’s no exaggeration to say that the cost of advertising on Baidu can reach 200,000 yuan per month (this is what a manager from an NSK bearing distributor in China said). Such high advertising costs must naturally be passed on to the bearings, and genuine bearings simply cannot achieve such profit margins. Therefore, only those selling domestically produced, branded bearings can maintain their profit margins. Once again, since Baidu Ads is not taken into consideration, can all the other options be considered then? Not really. Generally, there are only a few well-known bearing brands abroad, such as NSK, SKF, FAG, NTN, INA, etc. The best approach is to visit their official websites via Baidu and look through the list of agents to find one in your area. However, there’s a problem: larger agents usually don’t want to take on small orders; their quotes are often high, and some even claim to have no stock available. In such cases, one has to use search engines like Baidu or Google to find smaller agents who can supply the products. Although the prices might be higher than those offered by larger agents, the service quality is definitely better, as they tend to meet all requests. How can one find such agents? There are usually a few characteristics to keep in mind: one should look for companies that have been registered for a long time. Companies that deal in counterfeit goods, as I mentioned, generally close down within 2 years due to after-sales problems and move to another location under a different name. Those that survive over the long term are the ones that have passed through natural selection over time; only products of good quality can thrive. Therefore, the length of time a company has been in operation is a useful criterion for making decisions ； If it’s a new company, you can ask for a price under the pretense of wanting to buy fake products. If they agree right away to supply those, then there’s no need to consider such an option. If they clearly tell you that they only sell genuine products and don’t deal in fakes, then there shouldn’t be any problems (after all, no one wants to risk their business). Finally, as for negotiating prices and signing contracts, I believe everyone can handle that on their own, so I won’t go into further detail. To be honest: I’m not someone who likes to buy foreign products, especially Japanese ones. NSK, NTN, FAG – aren’t these all Japanese brands? Well, aside from bearings produced in Harbin and those from Wafangdian whose quality is acceptable (the ones from Harbin also use Japanese technology), what else is there? We can only hope that domestic companies will thrive :(