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Frequently Asked Questions

Everything buyers and Shopify sellers ask before and after signing up.

01  Understanding SourcingGPT

Q1 | What is SourcingGPT.ai?

SourcingGPT is an AI-powered sourcing platform that helps Shopify sellers, ecommerce brands, and importers find suppliers, send RFQ emails, compare quotes, and manage supplier communication — without needing a dedicated sourcing team. You get a personal AI sourcing agent that works on your behalf, from the first supplier search through to receiving and comparing quotes. You can also talk directly to your agent at any time — ask questions and get advice on all kinds of sourcing topics, from shipping and logistics to quality control, product testing, packaging, and more.

SourcingGPT is built for anyone who sources physical products globally — Shopify sellers, ecommerce brands, importers, and lean teams who don’t have a dedicated procurement department. If you’re spending time searching for suppliers, chasing quotes, or managing supplier emails manually, SourcingGPT is built for you. Our core users are independent ecommerce sellers and growing brands who need to source smarter without hiring a full sourcing team.

When you create a sourcing project, your agent scans our proprietary supplier database — built with input from over 3,000 sourcing experts — and uses AI-powered matching algorithms to shortlist the best suppliers for your brief. It then drafts personalised outreach emails, tracks replies, and organises everything in one place. You stay in control and approve everything before it goes out.

It works for you. Your agent handles the time-consuming parts — research, drafting emails, follow-ups — so you can focus on making decisions. You always have final say before any email is sent to a supplier.

Yes. Every email your agent drafts is written to sound professional and specific to your brief. You review and approve every outreach before it’s sent, so nothing leaves without your sign-off. You can also adjust the tone (neutral, friendly, or formal) and edit the content directly before approving.

Your dashboard shows you exactly what’s been sent, who has replied, what quotes have come in, and what still needs a response. Nothing is hidden — you have full visibility into every action your agent has taken on your behalf.

02  Supplier Selection & Quality

Q1 | How do you choose which factories to show me?

SourcingGPT uses a proprietary supplier database built and curated with the input of over 3,000 sourcing experts across Asia and beyond. When you submit a brief, our AI matching algorithms filter and rank suppliers based on your specific requirements — product category, material, quantity, lead time, and delivery terms. You see the most relevant matches, not just the biggest names. Every shortlisted supplier is scored against your brief, not shown at random.

A Verified badge means the supplier has been audited or confirmed through our sourcing expert network. Unverified suppliers may still be legitimate but haven’t gone through that process — we always flag the difference clearly so you can make an informed choice.

We work to surface actual manufacturers wherever possible. Supplier profiles include their product categories, MOQ, lead time, and website so you can do your own due diligence before committing to anything.

Yes. You can bring your own suppliers into SourcingGPT easily — either by adding them manually one at a time, or by uploading a list via CSV. Once added, your agent treats them exactly like any matched supplier: drafting emails, tracking replies, and including them in your quote comparison. It’s a clean way to manage all your supplier relationships in one place, regardless of how you found them.

You can request more suppliers, add your own, or give your agent more detail about what you’re looking for. It will refine the search based on your feedback.

03  Privacy, Security & Trust

Q1 | Is my sourcing information kept private?

Yes. Your briefs, supplier communications, and project data are private to your account. We don’t share your sourcing activity with other users, suppliers, or third parties.

Your agent has its own dedicated email address and sends supplier emails just like any member of your team would. Suppliers receive a professional, personalised outreach — the focus is on your product request. You are CC’d on every email so you always have full visibility into the thread.

SourcingGPT is built for commercial use cases where sourcing data and supplier communications are sensitive. Protecting customer information and handling it responsibly is a core priority. Your data is not used to train models or shared with other platform users.

No. SourcingGPT operates independently. You describe what you want to source as part of your project brief — we don’t connect to or pull data from your Shopify store.

To get the most out of your agent, it helps to have:

  • A clear description of what you want to source
  • Your target quantity and delivery terms
  • Any relevant attachments such as a spec sheet, reference images, or logo (optional but recommended)
  • The more detail you provide, the more precisely your agent can match and brief suppliers

04  Getting Started

Q1 | Do I need sourcing experience to use SourcingGPT?

No. The platform is designed to guide you through the process. If you know what product you want to source and roughly how many units you need, your agent can handle the rest — from finding suppliers to drafting and sending RFQ emails on your behalf.

Yes. Each project lives separately in your account with its own supplier shortlist, email thread, and dashboard. You can run multiple projects simultaneously and switch between them from your sidebar.

At minimum, a brief description of what you want to source and an approximate quantity. The more context you give — materials, target price, delivery country, branding requirements — the better the matches. You can also attach spec sheets, logos, or reference images directly to the project.

05  Using the Platform Day-to-Day

Q1 | Does my agent send emails automatically?

No. Your agent drafts the email and waits for your approval. You review the content, attachments, and tone before clicking Send. This is intentional — you stay in control of every communication that goes to a supplier.

Yes — and this is one of the most powerful ways to use SourcingGPT. You can type instructions to your agent in plain language at any time. For example: ‘Email GreenPack and request a sample’, ‘Follow up with all suppliers who haven’t replied’, or ‘Ask Asia Textile if they can do a 500 unit MOQ’. Your agent understands what you mean and drafts the right message for your approval. No forms, no templates — just talk to it like you would a real team member.

When a supplier replies, your agent automatically drafts a contextually appropriate response based on what they said — whether that’s a negotiation, a follow-up, a sample request, or a counter-offer. You review the draft and approve it before it sends. It removes the blank-page problem of knowing what to say next.

Each supplier card shows one of three statuses:

  • Quoted — the supplier has responded with pricing
  • Response Needed — the supplier has replied, but needs a follow-up from you
  • Waiting on Response — your outreach has been sent, and you’re awaiting a reply

Your dashboard displays all active suppliers for a project side by side, showing unit price, MOQ, and lead time. It also highlights the best price and shortest lead time at the top so you can see the key comparisons at a glance.

Yes. You can open the Request Form from your dashboard at any time to update quantities, delivery terms, packaging requirements, or notes. Changes to the brief can be reflected in future outreach and follow-ups.

Yes. You can attach files like a logo image or product specification PDF to your project. These are included as attachments in every supplier email by default, though you can toggle them on or off per send.

Yes. The dashboard makes it easy to compare suppliers side by side on price, lead time, and MOQ. Your agent can also help you negotiate — drafting replies to push for better pricing, faster delivery, or waived setup fees before you commit.

06  How We Compare

Q1 | How is SourcingGPT different from Alibaba?

Alibaba is a marketplace — an enormous directory of suppliers you can browse and contact yourself. It’s useful for finding options, but it doesn’t do any of the work for you. You still have to search manually, evaluate which suppliers are right for your brief, draft your own RFQ emails, follow up when they don’t reply, and compare quotes that come back in different formats. SourcingGPT replaces all of that manual work. Your agent finds the right suppliers for your specific brief, drafts and sends outreach, tracks replies, and helps you compare quotes — all in one place. You can also add suppliers you’ve found on Alibaba directly into SourcingGPT and let your agent handle the communication from there.

Sourcy is primarily a trend-led product discovery and managed sourcing platform. It’s strong at identifying trending products using social media data (TikTok, Instagram) and offers a more hands-on managed service including QC and DDP shipping, particularly for the US market. SourcingGPT is focused differently — it’s built around giving you an AI agent you control, that works across your existing sourcing briefs and supplier relationships. You stay in the driver’s seat: your agent handles discovery, RFQs, communication, and quote comparison, but you retain full control and approval over everything. SourcingGPT is also designed for a broader range of sourcing use cases, not just trend-led product launches.

Sourcify is a production management platform that combines software tools with hands-on expert support to help brands manage the manufacturing process — from prototyping through to QA and logistics. It’s well-suited to teams scaling complex production runs who want managed oversight. SourcingGPT is faster to get started with and doesn’t require a managed service model. Your AI agent handles supplier discovery, RFQ outreach, and communication autonomously — you don’t need to wait for a human team to step in. For Shopify sellers and importers who need to move quickly and manage sourcing themselves, SourcingGPT is designed to fit into your workflow from day one.

Traditional sourcing agents are human-operated services that typically charge a commission of 5–15% of your order value, work on their timeline, and can only handle a limited number of clients at once. They’re often based in a specific region and have their own supplier relationships that may or may not align with your needs. SourcingGPT gives you the capability of a sourcing agent — supplier discovery, RFQ drafting, negotiation support, quote comparison — but at a fraction of the cost, available immediately, and with no commission on your orders. You also get full visibility into everything your agent does, which isn’t always the case with human agents operating behind the scenes.

Yes, and many users do. You might find a supplier on Alibaba, a trade show, or through your own network, and then add them directly into SourcingGPT via CSV upload or manual entry. Your agent will email them, track replies, and compare their quote alongside any matched suppliers — so you get the best of both worlds. SourcingGPT is designed to work with your existing sourcing process, not replace it entirely.

Most sourcing tools help you find suppliers. SourcingGPT gives you an agent that does the sourcing work. The difference is meaningful — discovery is only the first step. After that comes outreach, follow-ups, negotiation, quote comparison, and decision-making. That’s where buyers spend most of their time, and that’s what your agent is built to handle. Combined with a proprietary supplier database built with input from over 3,000 sourcing experts, and AI matching that goes beyond keyword search, SourcingGPT is built to make sourcing faster and less manual at every stage of the process.

07  Pricing, Access & Support

Q1 | How does pricing work?

SourcingGPT is available on an introductory plan for early users. Pricing is designed to be accessible for small businesses and Shopify sellers — you don’t need an enterprise budget to get started. Visit our pricing page for current plans and options.

Early access options and demos are available. Reach out via our website to find out what’s available at your stage.

You can reach our team directly through the platform or at hello@sourcingGPT.ai. We provide onboarding support to help you get your first project running smoothly.

No — it’s especially built for smaller teams. Founders and lean ecommerce brands are often the ones who benefit most, because they’re doing sourcing work themselves without a procurement department behind them. SourcingGPT helps you source like an experienced operator, without needing to hire one.

Still have questions?

Reach us at
hello@sourcingGPT.ai

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