Direct factory access for brand owners · United States · Canada · Europe

Shenzhen
22.54° N · 114.06° E
Los Angeles
34.05° N · 118.24° W

No more middleman.Do business with China.

Meridian8 matches you with Chinese factories that specialise in what you want to make. You talk to a named, English-speaking contact at the factory. No trading company, no agent, no single-factory lock-in.

Join the Wait ListHow It Works
FACTORIESBRANDSPACIFICSHENZHENGUANGZHOUYIWUVANCOUVERLOS ANGELESCHICAGOTORONTONEW YORK
Great-circle routes, factory to brandFactoriesBrands

We match you. We are not a marketplace.

01The problem

Every hand between you and the factory takes margin.

Sourcing from China usually means a trading company, an agent or a marketplace listing, and often all three. Each layer adds cost, slows every answer, and hides which factory actually makes your product.

You

What sits between you and the factory today

  • Sourcing agent
  • Trading company
  • Marketplace listing
  • Platform fees
  • Importer
  • Wholesaler
  • Distributor
  • Translation layer
  • Quote markups
  • Hidden factory
The factory

You should be able to talk to the people who make your product.

Ten layers, one factory.
02How it works

Four steps from sign-up to factory.

Verify once. Say what you want to make. Talk to the factory.

From sign-up to a direct lineSchematic
  1. 01Sign up
    Verified account
  2. 02Your category
    What you want to make
  3. 03Factories
    Specialists in that category
  4. 04Direct line
    English-speaking contact
  5. 05Matched
    Quotes, samples, production

Account

01

Sign up and verify

Create an account and verify your identity. Verification keeps agents and competitors off the platform, so factories know they are talking to a real buyer.

Category

02

Say what you want to make

Pick a product category and describe the product: a run of hats for a new brand, a custom mug, a white-label version of something that already exists.

Contact

03

Get a direct line

We introduce you to factories that specialise in your category. Each one has a named, English-speaking contact. You talk to the factory, not to us.

Match

04

Get matched

Compare quotes, order samples and choose. Nothing ties you to one factory: when your next product needs a different specialist, we route you again.

03Use cases

Whatever you are building, there is a factory that already makes it.

Factories specialise. A hat factory does not make mugs. Meridian8 routes each product to the factory that has made that category before.

01

Starting a brand

Your first production run, with a factory that has made this product category before.

02

Custom products

Your design, your spec, your tooling, built by a factory that specialises in it.

03

White-labeling

An existing product under your brand, from the factory that already makes it.

04

Dropshipping

A direct line to the factory behind the product, instead of a reseller of a reseller.

04Why Meridian8

Fewer hands in the chain. More visibility. Better decisions.

The usual chain puts several intermediaries between a brand and the factory that makes its product. Each takes margin, and most of them keep you from knowing who the factory is. Meridian8 replaces the chain with one introduction, then steps out of the conversation.

Traditional
  1. Factory
  2. Trading company
  3. Marketplace
  4. Agent
  5. You

Margin taken at every step. Most layers hide which factory makes the product.

Meridian8
  1. Factory
  2. Meridian8 match
  3. You

One introduction. Then you and the factory talk directly.

We match you. We are not a marketplace.

No lock-in

Every product goes to the factory that specialises in it.

English-speaking contact

A named person at the factory, not a chat widget.

Verified counterparties

Buyers verify their identity before they see a factory.

Not a marketplace.

A marketplace lists everyone and leaves you to search. Meridian8 routes you to the few factories that specialise in what you want to make, then leaves the conversation to you.

  • 01

    Specialists, not listings

    We route by category, so you talk to factories that already make your kind of product.

  • 02

    You talk to the factory

    No managed inbox, no relay. Messages go to a named English-speaking contact at the factory.

  • 03

    Factories pay nothing

    Listing is free for factories, so the ones you meet are there for the work, not for paid placement.

05Factory network

Where the factories are.

We recruit factories ourselves, over WeChat and in person, starting in the regions where most consumer goods are made. Every listed factory names an English-speaking contact before a buyer is introduced.

Recruiting regionPearl River Delta · Zhejiang
112°E116°E120°E20°N24°N28°N32°NTO YOUR BRANDShenzhenGuangzhouDongguanYiwu

Plotted to scale by latitude and longitude

  • 22.54° N 114.06° E

    Shenzhen

    深圳

    Electronics & hardware

  • 23.13° N 113.26° E

    Guangzhou

    广州

    Apparel & consumer goods

  • 23.02° N 113.75° E

    Dongguan

    东莞

    Precision manufacturing

  • 29.31° N 120.08° E

    Yiwu

    义乌

    Small commodities

Factories list free. Conversations in English, with WeChat where it helps.

  • Recruited directly

    We approach factories ourselves, not through an agent or a listing scrape.

  • Already exporting

    We start with factories that already sell abroad, so export paperwork is not new to them.

  • Named English-speaking contact

    A condition of listing, so the first message you send gets a real answer.

  • Specialty on record

    What each factory actually makes, so a match fits the category.

Wait list

Be first in line when we open.

Meridian8 is in private build. Tell us what you want to make and we will contact you when factories in your category are ready.

Your details stay with Meridian8 and are never shown to a factory until you choose to talk to one.