Importing stuff from the 'far east'.

Ader1

Hi,

I hope I'm in the right forum or should I have posted elsewhere? Anyway, I would like to import some stuff....from China mainly. I have got some items in mind which don't seem to be sold in the UK; items used for cooking. I'm only thinking on a small scale at least to begin with and see how it goes. Has anybody done/is doing this kind of thing? How does one get started? I've seen what I want on a web-site called taobao.com but I don't think it's possible to purchase from outside China on that site. Any advice? Thanks.

martindow

Importing on a small scale probably won't make financial sense - you would be better off buying from a wholesaler in the UK. This is probably a good idea to test whether there is a market for the items you are considering importing.

Buying internationally involves some trust as most manufacturers will want payment by bank transfer in advance. Importing involves costs of shipping, customs clearance, duty and VAT. If it is coming by sea there will be lots of additional payments. You need to do your sums to see if it worthwhile.

A small importer will never compete with a large scale importer buying container loads. Buying within the UK is often a better bet unless you are sure you can sell in volume. For niche products it is possible to make it work for smaller quantities but you need to research manufacturers thoroughly and be aware of the risks to your money.

Percy1983

martindow wrote: »

Importing on a small scale probably won't make financial sense - you would be better off buying from a wholesaler in the UK. This is probably a good idea to test whether there is a market for the items you are considering importing.

Buying internationally involves some trust as most manufacturers will want payment by bank transfer in advance. Importing involves costs of shipping, customs clearance, duty and VAT. If it is coming by sea there will be lots of additional payments. You need to do your sums to see if it worthwhile.

A small importer will never compete with a large scale importer buying container loads. Buying within the UK is often a better bet unless you are sure you can sell in volume. For niche products it is possible to make it work for smaller quantities but you need to research manufacturers thoroughly and be aware of the risks to your money.

As you say if you can find niche products it can be worth it to which its sounds like this idea might be just that.

Of course you need to include customs costs etc it your sums.

Another point to consider is will the products be safe and pass uk safety standards, you say its cooking products to which can cause problems.

Wywth

Ader1 wrote: »

Hi,

I hope I'm in the right forum or should I have posted elsewhere? Anyway, I would like to import some stuff....from China mainly. I have got some items in mind which don't seem to be sold in the UK; items used for cooking. I'm only thinking on a small scale at least to begin with and see how it goes. Has anybody done/is doing this kind of thing? How does one get started? I've seen what I want on a web-site called taobao.com but I don't think it's possible to purchase from outside China on that site. Any advice? Thanks.

Find a supplier who is prepared to ship to you in the UK

or

Get a Chinese agent and get the goods shipped to the agent, and then ask the agent to arrange for shipment to the UK.

Ability to speak Mandarin is also useful when dealing with the Chinese.

Good luck! - I think you will probably need it.

One final piece of advice - don't let go of any your hard earned cash in excess of what you are prepared to lose/write off ... until at least you are in receipt of goods, and inspect them to ensure they are what you expected.

paddyrg

Be very wary of buying foodstuffs in China - viz the recent Melanin/milk scandal, the 'fake eggs' scandal, and that's just two to reach the UK press. Brand piracy is //rampant// so looking to a 'good' brand won't help. Even if the ingredients are genuine, fakes can contain massive amounts of toxins and dirt (for instance mercury, lead) Unless you're actually on the ground in China, riding the production line the whole time in person, you're wide open to trouble.

You might in all innocence import something poisonous - and it comes down to you the importer to get the CE certification.

Personally, I'd talk to a Chinese food importer (I think Kwok Hing in Brum could help) about getting some cases from their suppliers chucked onto their container

Brassedoff

Hmm, it appears not a lot on here know what you are on about. It's called "Drop Shipping". Thousands of people & companies do it every week in the UK. Most common on EBay or Amazon. Get it right and you'll be on the way o being the next Alan Sugar because that's how he started! Get it wrong and you'll end up with a load of goods that may not be much cop.

It is a very simple thing to do if you are genuinely drop shipping. You set up an account, order from your supplier when you get an order. The big risk is a return. Your supplier when you open up your account or will/should if its one of the three two of my clients use, put on a label with your name on it, it also has your return address on too. This is where the problem occurs, if they return the goods to you, you take the hit unless you can sell it again. I have looked on the site and they are one of the poorer ones. Dealing in China is risky. I am a director in a company that has a manufacturer in China who makes some tier 2 items. But that costs us $30,000+.

Most company's or people starting this type of business will start by funding around 150 item range. That should return you a 5-10% sales rate.

Be aware:

• Import costs, you'll need to learn and have access to HMRC Intrastat. That deals with importing goods.

• You'll need to deal with a third party Escrow account. Otherwise you will pay them for the good before they leave China. If they get here and are junk, you've lost our money, escrow means (if you don't know) you only release your funds once items have arrived in the UK and have been checked.

Ensuring the good conform to EU requirements, such as CE marking.

Learn to deal in Dollars (USD), watch the rates as you can lose 5% on your price in a day.

Then see if they accept a Paypal account. It will convert to Dollars and should anything go wrong, they may be able to pull your money back, open a basic business account will allow you to accept online payments, or payments via the paypal app.

To be honest, I would not use this company, they look like they are bouncers. That means they are selling from a template site the goods from others. They never hold stock, I have never heard of them.

There are far better firms with very good reputations if you look.

Good luck, if I have helped, give me a thanks

bris

Doesn't look to me that the OP wants drop shipping, the way I read it they want to import. Drop shipping is a whole different ballgame, there is no money drop shipping a spatula now is there.

Brassedoff

There's no money buying and importing a spatula, but as the site the OP pointed to is a drop shipping site, or that's the account terms, I will leave it at that.

martindow

Perhaps the OP needs to come back and clarify if it is drop-shipping or not. I read it as importing as he talked of starting on a 'small scale, at least to begin with'.

paddyrg

Must admit, the OP saying 'I would like to import some stuff....from China' made me think they wanted to import some stuff.

Taobao isn't specifically a dropshipper, it is more closely related to an Asian ebay, it targets the domestic market more than international drop-ship. I'd say DX, AliExpress (same parent company as Taobao), and their ilk were more suited to dropshipping, their sites are in English for starters

OP - http://www.taobao.com/go/act/global/teach/en/index.html?spm=0.0.0.0.U8qEoE may help - it's not designed for global trade as a site, but it is possible

chalkie99

Brassedoff wrote: »

Hmm, it appears not a lot on here know what you are on about. It's called "Drop Shipping". Thousands of people & companies do it every week in the UK. Most common on EBay or Amazon. Get it right and you'll be on the way o being the next Alan Sugar because that's how he started!

It appears you don't know as much as you think either!

It's well documented that Alan Sugar started out by selling car aerials and other bit and pieces from the back of an old van long before the web and drop shipping.

I agree with bris that it doesn't look as though he means drop shipping. It isn't what he says if you read his post. Maybe we will get clarification.

OP - One other thing to beware of is that if you really have found something no one else is selling is that, if it looks anything like worthwhile, a thousand other chancers will soon be doing the same.