Websites to find international buyers: what each type does and does not do

Which site for which goal

These sites often sit on the same list, but each does a different job. Start from what you want: to see which markets buy your product, to be found by buyers, to build a list of firms you contact yourself, to use your government's export help, or to meet buyers in person.

Market data first: Trade Map

According to ITC's Trade Map about page, Trade Map gives monthly, quarterly and yearly trade data since 2001 for over 230 economies, down to the tariff line for goods, with indicators such as growth rates and market shares, plus a directory of around 2 million companies across more than 170 economies. Core features are free for all users; the most up-to-date and detailed data comes with a MAT Pro subscription. ITC's plans page shows the company directory outside the free plan, as a separate add-on that MAT Pro subscribers get free for the first year.

Government export portals: three examples

Government help differs by country, so look up your own. The US International Trade Administration's site groups its export help under sections such as Research Center, Regulations & Agreements and Attend an Event, which includes a Trade Event Search. The European Commission's Access2Markets site covers areas such as tariffs, rules of origin, and procedures and formalities.

Türkiye's Ministry of Trade presents its Kolay İhracat Platformu as everything about exporting in one place. At the launch of version 2.0 on 26 March 2021 the then minister said the platform connects firms to potential customers free of charge and without intermediaries, and spoke of 18 million buyer records that the platform's registered corporate users can contact directly. A Ministry notice of 7 August 2026 says the e-export platform E-KİP is completely free. The ministry's page for its commercial counsellors abroad also lists a bulletin of import requests, tenders and cooperation offers received from abroad.

Directories: Europages and Kompass

According to Europages' own help pages, Europages is a B2B marketplace in Europe that helps professional buyers find suppliers, manufacturers, dealers and service providers, and gives suppliers visibility for their products and services. Company profiles show a business's product portfolio and current contact details.

On membership, Europages' help pages say it is free for buyers, that suppliers can list with a standard profile and that you can register your company for free. On top of the free listing it offers paid service packages; for scope and pricing you are asked to contact Europages through its contact form or by email. The help page gives no price figure.

The supplier help centre also describes the Request Hub, where verified requests for quotes from professional B2B buyers are collected, and advertising campaigns (Top Ranking and Sponsored Brands) that it says give guaranteed top positions and extra branding for your portfolio.

Kompass's own FAQ describes it as a B2B data and solutions company operating in more than 70 countries. It offers companies search-optimised profiles on the Kompass.com portal; on its global portal you can build a company list and buy it directly, with a minimum order of around €15 depending on your selection. Its FAQ says downloadable lists and subscriptions can include decision makers' business email addresses and phone numbers. Subscription pricing is usually given through a personalised proposal.

What this means for you: Europages works on the listing model. A buyer searching for your product can find your profile, but you do not go to the buyer. If your target is Europe and you can describe your product clearly, a free profile can be a low-cost shop window; judge the paid packages after you see what the free profile brings. A purchased Kompass list is the opposite route: you pick the companies and contact them yourself.

Alibaba.com: the marketplace model

Alibaba.com's seller page says sellers can bid on open buyer requests in its Request for Quotation (RFQ) marketplace and that buyers can discover sellers through search. Its pricing page describes the paid membership as a premium membership for suppliers, and says membership pricing and benefits vary by region, with exact rates available from a local account manager.

Trade-fair directories

AUMA, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, runs the Fair Finder, which it describes as dates, offers and key figures for over 3,500 trade fairs in Germany and abroad, searchable by title, year, industry sector, country and city. AUMA also states that at trade fairs in Germany one third of trade visitors come from abroad. A directory helps you find the fair; who you meet there is up to you.

Waiting to be found versus going to find buyers

Marketplaces and Europages-style directories work on a listing model: you open a profile or a store and buyers come across it. That pays off when a buyer happens to search for what you make, and does nothing on the days nobody does.

Going out to find buyers turns this around: you decide which kinds of firms in a market would buy your product, pick specific companies, identify the person who decides and write to them. It takes effort up front (a company list, a name, an address that works), but it does not depend on a buyer searching for you. You can run both side by side.

A sequence to follow

1. Find your product's six-digit Harmonized System (HS) code; Trade Map's free plan gives yearly data down to six-digit HS level, and tariff-line detail comes with the paid MAT Pro plan.
2. Enter the code in Trade Map and see which countries import the product; pick a few target countries.
3. Check what your own government offers for those markets: export portals, trade offices abroad, buyer-request bulletins and trade events.
4. Search directories such as Europages and Kompass for the kinds of firms in those countries that buy your product; decide later whether to open a free Europages profile.
5. Before you list on a marketplace such as Alibaba.com, get the membership cost from the site's own page or its account manager.
6. For the firms you find, identify the decision maker and a working email, and write a short, specific email.

Where Alvara AI fits

Alvara AI is a tool for manufacturers and exporters that finds buyers abroad. You enter your website address; it reads what you sell and lists matching overseas companies with their decision maker and a verified email. For each buyer with a contact person it writes an email draft; it does not send email on its own, you send the draft yourself. It gets buyer details from each company's own website, from data providers and from inferences it draws from both, with a link to the source next to every fact.