Eguide, Egad

Is joining Paris-based Textile-eguide’s Web site, www.textile-eguide.com, worth it?

First, the bad news: Registering is a daunting experience. You are faced with form after form and category after category once you have chosen between the site’s fabric and garment areas. Wading through all the choices offered by this sizable business-to-business platform can make your head spin.

For starters, membership levels include free, bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond, and each level has associated access features and capabilities. The membership level determines how many email offers you can send to other members and receive from them every day.

Now, the good news: There are more than 31,000 well-organized international garment and textile professionals listed in English, French and Chinese. Filling out the tedious one-time sign-up forms does pay off when you are searching for something in particular—or when someone is searching for you. Specify the precise company profile and the details of the products you’re searching for, and, with a simple click, you can identify the professionals matching your requirements.

You can also send offers and inquiries to tightly targeted lists of customers and suppliers, and the service sends responses directly to your mailbox.

You can also create your own Web pages in minutes with an easy-to-use browser-based interface feature that also allows you to make updates as often as you need to at no extra cost.

All things considered, the Textileeguide offers a very straightforward trading platform on a truly global basis. Partners range from the Taiwan Textile Federation to the Galician Textile Association, and the site includes members from just about every region in between. —Jacques Ren Marquette