Importing From China - It Rarely Works To Plan
I import a lot of product from China. One thing I learned early on is that despite your best intentions, products may not always arrive the way you expect.
This last Monday I received my latest shipment of products.
Some more fishing reels, and a new batch of fishing hooks. But, as seems like is always the case, not everything was as expected…
This order of hooks is a great step forward in packaging and practicality for the products.
Previous packaging was very basic. Plain white cardboard boxes, 100 hooks inside, and little handwritten labels on the front. To ship each box of hooks we often had to add our own sticky tape to stop the box falling apart. This was time consuming when we realised we could sell lots of boxes of hooks per day on top of our normal sales.
So we set about designing some nicer labels, and organising some plastic resealable (and reusable) boxes.
This was pretty easy, I have a good contact for this in China and we communicate pretty well these days.
The newly packaged product arrived on Monday and looks like this :
I like it a lot, and sales have been great so far!
Only, there was (as usual) an issue.
Every box of one type of hook, and one size only, had rusted and corroded hooks inside. I order hundreds of boxes of each hook size and type, so I have plenty of stock, but I now have 200 nice new boxes of a particular size and style, all stickered up, that I can’t sell.
*Sigh*
I know it isn’t my contact’s fault, he doesn’t pack them. But it is frustrating. A quick MSN message and he confirmed with the factory that there was a problem with that batch and I will get 200 extra boxes in the next order.
Nothing ever goes exactly to plan. Here are a couple of examples just from the last 12 months :
- Describe by email how to change colours of a rod. Result : You get a very strangely coloured fishing rod. Solution : send pictures next time!
- 2 cartons of fishing reels labeled as Type A, Specification A. (Open the reel boxes to find Type A, Specification B - different colour and style!)
So how do you avoid problems like this?
- Buy from the biggest suppliers/manufacturers possible.
The larger suppliers will most often be more professional in the way they handle orders, special requests, modifications of product from one shipment to another, and they may communicate better and have well trained english speaking staff to manage your account. - Communicate, communicate, communicate
Make sure you keep well in touch! This might be via email, phone (if they speak english well enough and providing the phone connection isn’t total crap which it often is) or instant messenger. Chinese suppliers LOVE instant messenger, as they use it extensively in marketing products to you. I only add suppliers that I have regular dealings with - they won’t spam you! - Double check
Double check order details, and confirm that any requests that you have made in the past have been actioned. I find it best to email these confirmations so I have a record of when I asked a supplier to do something and record of their response. - Try a magic eight ball
Magic eight balls might be helpful in accurately predicting the outcome of an order of new product. Cross your fingers and hope for the best!
So there, I hope that has been helpful. We are all guilty of not following the above points closely enough at one time or another. If you take those steps you can minimise the risk of incorrect product being shipped, and unnecessary return of items.
But there will always be factory mistakes, unfortunately it is just a fact of life when importing from overseas.
Are you looking for a good agent? Mine is interested in some more business, so fill out the form below.
(Serious enquiries only please)
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Comments
Protecting yourself as a consumer is sometimes hard. The best ways are to look for guides to identify fakes (as sellers of original product will often write guides to try and educate consumers), and to stick to the old adage ‘If it looks too good to be true, it probably is’.
Essentially, it is also wise to remember that there are very few (original/legitimate) brand name items that can be sold at auction for no reserve, there just isn’t usually enough margin…
In actual fact, although I have probably sold 70 to 80,000 items (maybe more?) I have only bought 2 things on eBay in my life!
Nathan,
Hi and congratulations on your business story is very interesting read.
I sell quite a lot on ebay already and already have powerseller status however am thinking of starting to import some things from china.
Is it possible to do all the necessary paperwork yourself have got a book on the subject as you suggest but seems a bit mindbogleing?
Thanks for the comment.
Importing from China is a definitive step in a business, and there is plenty to learn about. Alibaba.com has some pages of information for buyers that you may want to check out.
I have some books about Chinese trade, but nothing specific about importing.
You can probably do the paperwork and clearance yourself, but if you have a good reliable forwarder & customs agent, they handle everything and deliver the items to you. Easy.
If you want a good contact, email me via my contact page and I will pass on some details.
i was wondering what you markup is once you get the item to Australia, i look at some of those china export sites and the prices are quite high.
Rysty,
Markups vary a lot depending on the industry, the item value, and the opportunity for profit.
High value items may have a relatively small markup, whereas low value items (like small plastic items etc) might have markups as high as 1000%.
The channel you choose to sell your items may also dictate your markup. For example, if you sell on eBay, some categories are very competitive and you may end up with a small markup to compete. You may look to wholesale by contacting retailers and distributors and achieve higher margins this way.
It is common for some export sites to quote reasonably high prices. You need to find the right agent or contacts, discuss orders and terms, and negotiate as best you can.
I want to start a laptop/mobile/toys/cameras business.
How can I import items? How can I find out sources where I can buy items in bulk?
Golem,
The best places to start are websites like
http://www.alibaba.com
http://www.globalsources.com
Be wary of chinese factories offering ‘brand name’ product, use the help documentation on these sites to learn about how to use them, and how to avoid situations where you might get duped of your money.
Good luck!
I’ve found these guys to be very reputable. They are full service and deal in large orders:
http://www.maiglobaltrading.com
I’ve bought a lot of stuff (mostly music related) off ebay, and only ever had a couple of problems. One them I’ve noticed lately is the large number of fake brand name guitars going on the ebay market. A majority seem to originate from China. Gibson Les Pauls are a classic example. I’ve also notice quite a few knock-off Shure microphones.
I’m just curious seeing as though you sound like you buy and sell a lot with ebay, how do you protect yourself to make sure that what you are paying for is what you actually end up getting?