Importing from China

bigpat

Hi,

Does anyone on here have any experience of importing products from China? I'm thinking of dipping a toe in this area, sourcing cheap electronics to sell either via my own website (I'm a small time software developer) or on ebay. Having posted a request online, I've had lots of emails, advertising various goods at various prices and am looking through for some that don't have really huge minimum order quantities.

The trouble is that they all seem to want payment by telegraphic transfer or by Western Union or Moneygram. That's ringing alarm bells, because of course I have never heard of any of these companies. I'm fully expecting a chorus of voices telling me not to touch any of them with a bargepole, but how do people recognise genuine suppliers?

Do Visa/Mastercard etc work in China? My plan would be to start with a small order and protect myself by paying by credit card, but none of them seem to offer that. Is there a *valid* reason for that, from their point of view, or is it an even clearer sign that I'm one step away from being scammed?

Does anyone know of a reliable, impartial source of advice on these matters?

Thanks,

Pat.

nonnatus

Hello,

I buy paper bags from China to sell on.
It's a real minefield over there with problems from currency to stock! You need to trust your own instincts, talk to actual people (not just email everything) and get yourself an agent that you trust with your money. You might have to pay a bit of commission but it avoids paying thousands of pounds for a container of stock that never arrives because it never existed in the first place!!
Also be aware that Customs will have an interest in you (Agents can help with that as well...).

Once you find a supplier you can trust, the process is relatively hassle-free. It obviously takes WEEKS to get the goods here so plan well. You'll have to pay up front so have cash ready, watch exchange rates (or have an agent do it all for you...)

Can you tell I swear by my agent?? :rotfl:

Good luck. If you get it right, the stuff is a bargain!

shmeeko69

A contact of mine buys small pet supplies from China and sells them on his website and through his e-bay store and does quite well. He can purchase the items for a third of the UK cost and therefore makes a reasonable mark up with these type of goods.

The problems you are likely to face with this is, finding a reliable supplier who understands English, converting the price from Renminbi to Sterling and their minimum order value which is usually £200.

Best of luck with your endeavours.

Mark

murphy306

Yes I have been doing this too. I was actually very cautious at the start but it has went really well I pay via paypal. I am lucky and have a few good suppliers who speak great english and the delivery is quite quick. However I am only buying a few things here and there off each of them so perhaps if it is larger amounts of stock etc it may be different.

globalds

i am interested in this too ..
(sorry for the lack of capital letters )
are there problems with import duty ..i was thinking fairly small scale to start with ..maybe £500 investment

bigpat

Thanks for replies so far. nonnatus I'm really interested in what you have to say about an agent. Do you mean a UK-based one, or one in China? And how do you actually go about finding an agent like that?

I'm perfectly fine for customs to be interested. I want to do everything above board and pay my dues.

Hoody

You will probably find some more experienced help over at these forums? http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk For the best prices you will obviously have to go straight to the manufacturer. But this will also involve a bigger minimum buy order. You will also have to develop a "sixth sense" at spotting scammers as these are not exactly unknown. Another thing you will have to have a very good look at is quality, a common practice seems to be to send out good quality products when the customer makes their first small order, but when they come back with a bigger order drop the quality for cheaper stuff so they make more profit.

flymoonwy

hi bigpat ， I am from China。maybe i can help you ,you can send me mail. mailto:flymoonwy@hotmail.com or wangyimoon@gmail.com thk