Gökhan Yıldız / Istanbul
I visit your suppliers, check production, handle samples and keep things moving.
The factory stops answering. The sample doesn't match the production run. Your shipment is sitting somewhere and nobody can tell you where. You're eight time zones away and the only thing you can do is send another email.
I'm in Istanbul. I get in the car and go look.
Reports within 48 hours.
I've had products manufactured in China. I know what a spec sheet, an MOQ and a bad sample look like from the buyer's chair, because I've sat in it.
Six years in cross-border trade. Three of them on contract running purchasing out of Russia — wood pellets in bulk, cosmetic devices in retail packaging. Two ends of the same business: commodity freight and consumer goods.
I've worked trade routes through Spain, West Africa and Canada. I lived in Ukraine for six months during the war, doing business there. I know what a stuck shipment looks like, what customs delays actually cost, and where a deal quietly dies.
Based in Istanbul. English, Turkish, Russian.
Tariffs have pushed a lot of sourcing out of China. Turkey is one of the places it's going — textiles, home goods, furniture, cosmetics, food, auto parts. Short shipping times, real manufacturing depth.
The problem is the same as it always was: you don't know who to trust, and you can't be there.
First conversation costs nothing and I won't pitch you.
I lived and worked there during the war. If you're buying from Ukrainian suppliers and need someone who can actually get there, ask me — arrangements differ from Turkey, but it can be done.