Buying in bulk, from China

[lenientism]

Perhaps if they can equip the transaction with certificate certifying authentication of the product will minimize the risk as the government may be also liable for product they sell.

This may also depend on policy implemented in different region may impose higher tax against products imported from china. Therefore, although you buy the product at prices extremely low, the tax will give considerable additional price.

[EINSIGN]

I could get quite annoyed by all the negative comments I keep hearing about China, it must be the only country in the world that produces crap, even though the monitor you are reading this through is probably made there, and possibly even the pants surrounding your fat ass.

BMW engine components, many machined in China…

More Bentleys sold in China than anywhere else in the world…

More millionaires created via China than anywhere else in the world…

Shall I go on…

I am however glad people think like this because by creating such a negative perception it leaves the doors wide open for people who actually know what they are doing.

[thisislife]

agreed....

[Exigeowner]

I have been importing from China since 1989 and am sure I was one of the first in my industry to start importing, I find all our clients want Chinese prices but dont want to hear is a Chinese product, A balanced view is there is good and bad just like anywhere and to be honest if the good suppliers out there can get very wrong at times, as for empty containers and such I have never experienced anything like that at all, even the established suppliers having had such massive growth in the last 5 years are for sure employing new people that are not always up to the mark.

Without China suppliers I dont have much of a business but really I wouldnt fancy just picking a random product and think I could just import from China without any real knowledge of the product and industry.

[Carreauchompeur]

Out of interest, I have been thinking of a business idea involving bulk furniture from Thailand... I imagine the shipping costs are not dissimilar to China.

What does one generally pay for, say, a 40ft container landed in the UK? And what rate of duty would that attract?

[A1]

We curretnly import furniture. 40ft container from china to felixstowe is costing 650usd, no import duty on furniture but you have to pay VAT.

With the pound being so crap against USD, with the all discounts we get, including suppliers etc it pretty much works out to be the same in so called good old days.

[Carreauchompeur]

A1 said:

We curretnly import furniture. 40ft container from china to felixstowe is costing 650usd, no import duty on furniture but you have to pay VAT.

With the pound being so crap against USD, with the all discounts we get, including suppliers etc it pretty much works out to be the same in so called good old days.

Silly question, but is that VAT on your purchase price, or the projected retail price?

It's probably not such a busy route, but I was quoted about 4 times that cost for a container from Bangkok-Southampton... Some shopping around to be done, clearly.

[A1]

Carreauchompeur said:

A1 said:

We curretnly import furniture. 40ft container from china to felixstowe is costing 650usd, no import duty on furniture but you have to pay VAT.

With the pound being so crap against USD, with the all discounts we get, including suppliers etc it pretty much works out to be the same in so called good old days.

Silly question, but is that VAT on your purchase price, or the projected retail price?

It's probably not such a busy route, but I was quoted about 4 times that cost for a container from Bangkok-Southampton... Some shopping around to be done, clearly.

VAT is due on the invoiced amount from supplier we buy at.

Speak to the shipping liner directly, we get the prices of them. if you let the supplier organise the shipping, what we found was they were adding a margin aswell as the agent they were using. Speak to the shipping liner and you will get the best prices and they will also put you in touch with one of their agents at the origin.

[merseyboy]

Calculator said:

I'd advise building a relationship with a supplier that you can trust. Go over there, meet them, look at the product, review trade references, accounts if available etc.

Best advice i have read. I buy grey goods from Asia and ship them all over the world, i also items in bulk from one place based in Taipei. I spent over 2 years looking for the right company, run by the right people who could supply me the products i want at the price and quality i needed.

Invest a lot of time and invest some money finding the right person, you could end up with a huge amount of stock you cannot sell and you trying getting your money back or getting any response what so ever from places in China, Japan etc.

[merseyboy]

EINSIGN said:

I could get quite annoyed by all the negative comments I keep hearing about China, it must be the only country in the world that produces crap, even though the monitor you are reading this through is probably made there, and possibly even the pants surrounding your fat ass.

BMW engine components, many machined in China…

More Bentleys sold in China than anywhere else in the world…

More millionaires created via China than anywhere else in the world…

Shall I go on…

I am however glad people think like this because by creating such a negative perception it leaves the doors wide open for people who actually know what they are doing.

I don't think this is the point. The point is there are more manufacturers in China that produce rubbish and are looking to make a quick £ than any other country in the world. This is why you need to tread carefully. Find the right person and right company and the quality of person and products in China cannot be matched, especially when it comes to value for money, but you have to sift through the many rip off merchants to find the quality.

The quality companies are often far too busy making products for serious brand names to bother with the stuff the first person was asking about. A couple of years ago a reputable company in China knocked me back on an order for 2.5 million euros because they minimum orders were for 10 million.

[Goochie]

Remember that if you're thinking of importing "something electrical" it will need to have all of the relevant safety approvals etc. Beware of Chinese factories that self certify their products! A self certified product should be treated as an un-tested product.

Lots of people get away with selling items like this but I don't think you'd like to be in that position when someone is killed.

Interestingly we saw a Chinese made power cord on a bag sealer the other week that was sealed and had no fuse - This was a product we bought through Amazon and was clearly unsafe and cant' have been tested or approved as it claimed.

IMHO avoid electrical things and things that involve kids - both of these require lots of expensive testing that can get very costly.

[smilerbaker]

Hiya, I did this for a couple of months, importing ICE gear from china, the first batch of gear was fine everything worked, customs got me (being swiss, they get everything) all other batches where complete rubbish, units that where quite obviously returns, DOA's, failures after only a few days etc etc and of course the suppliers wanted you to return the units and pay all the costs to do so, which (and they know it) make it not worth doing. The quality of chinese electrical goods is frankly rubbish, I have a kenwood double din satnav unit in one car, and a chinese no make one in the other, just the screen quality is worlds apart. the kenwood system is crystal clear, the chinese one looks washed out. I did make some money out of it, but it just wasn't worth the grief in the end, still got a cupboard full of headunits and screens, really must do somthing with them.
you get what you pay for

[Goochie]

smilerbaker said:

Hiya, I did this for a couple of months, importing ICE gear from china, the first batch of gear was fine everything worked, customs got me (being swiss, they get everything) all other batches where complete rubbish, units that where quite obviously returns, DOA's, failures after only a few days etc etc and of course the suppliers wanted you to return the units and pay all the costs to do so, which (and they know it) make it not worth doing. The quality of chinese electrical goods is frankly rubbish, I have a kenwood double din satnav unit in one car, and a chinese no make one in the other, just the screen quality is worlds apart. the kenwood system is crystal clear, the chinese one looks washed out. I did make some money out of it, but it just wasn't worth the grief in the end, still got a cupboard full of headunits and screens, really must do somthing with them.
you get what you pay for

It is a little short sighted to say that all chinese electrical goods are rubbish. Where are Apple iPods manufactured? .... Guangzhou in China!

If a product is well designed and the suppliers are aware of your expectations and quality requirements there should be no problem - although taking a chinese designed product is sometimes a little different to asking them to manufacture something you've manufactured.

[thisislife]

ipods are "assembled in China". Emphasis on the word "assembled". The circuitry is not designed in China nor by a Chinese firm. Apple are merely taking advantage of the cheap and efficient labour in China.

I too have bought ICE from China for resale and it is a load of crap. I was buying and selling this for about 1 year and had a couple of visits to China, to the factories that make it. They seemed pretty professional, the look and feel of the product was good but in the end the circuitry was poorly designed/copied from the Japanese blue chip brands such as Kenwood etc.

Unless there is a big international firm behind the Chinese production/assembly team i would steer well clear of Electricals.

[smilerbaker]

The thing that got me about the gear I was importing was it wasn't actually that bad, I ended up fixing a lot of it and it was just really stupid things that would fail, the ribbon cables inside where laughably low quality and would just break, the connectors again where about the lowest quality things I have ever seen and would break if you even thought about disconnecting them, things like microswitchs being ever so slightly out, so the headunits didn't know if the screens where in or out, so they got stuck. For just a few $$ more they would have a really good product. And the UI's are just a joke, No doubt they will get it right eventually, it is quite funny that they will completly rip off (for example) kenwood, yet they seem to forget to copy all the best bits.

Bottom line is, yes china produce a lot of quality gear, but if your using the trade deal website etc thats not what you'll be buying, I was buying these headunits for less then £100 a pop(landed), they sell on ebay etc for £200 - £300+, there is a reason why the markup is so high, unless you don't care about your customers your going to get a lot of returns.

[KevF]

Ok slightly off the path but here goes. Would appreciate advice form those that already import.

I am looking to get some items manufactured in China in maybe 6 months time once business takes off, but, on looking at the costs for printing, the charges are appealing.

I am looking to get 30,000 car stickers printed and have spoken to a few companies in the UK. However, a contact in China has quoted $0.08 each...This is obviously a lot better than the UK prices. (0.15pence each) The catch is the cost includes free shipping to the port and I have to pay shipping, insurance and then unloading and forwarding to me once in the UK...

Anyone got an idea as to the shipping cost of 5 boxes @ 25kg each and also what shipping company would be best to use...any advice on the shipping cost would be useful.

If I am going to save a decent amount of money then it may be worth doing and getting more involved with an agent in China for future business...

[maser_spyder]

Crikey, we're all at it!

I have offices and staff in China for sourcing, dealing with factories, shipping etc.

If anybody wants to ship part load (small items, couple of pallets etc.), I can help out, no problem.

Also if you're looking to source products I can get the office in China to do this for you no problem. They will also deal with the factories directly, so no language barrier and no agent needed. My guys work odd hours to keep up with us in the UK, so no time difference problem either.

If you're worried about losing money, I can definitely help, as we don't pay the factory until the goods have been shipped to our China warehouse and tested by our China staff.


If you're looking at electricals, unless it's a speciality niche market, forget it. There's already a heck of a lot of competition out there for most electricals. Mp3, memory, cameras etc. has all been done to death by people with more experience, deeper pockets and less to lose that you have.

[thisislife]

I would say you are looking at about £200 delivered for those 5 boxes @ 25kg each. Get them sent by sea its much cheaper than air. When speaking to a shipping agent you will need to tell them you are after a LCL quote. You will also need to know the total CBM (cubic metre volume) of the 5 boxes.

Good luck!

[Cpn Jack Spanner]

Carreauchompeur said:

Out of interest, I have been thinking of a business idea involving bulk furniture from Thailand... I imagine the shipping costs are not dissimilar to China.

What does one generally pay for, say, a 40ft container landed in the UK? And what rate of duty would that attract?

Me too! Haven't shipped anything from Thailand yet, still looking for a safe place to consolidate stuff. From America it's around £2500 for a 40ft delivered to your door, so possible the same sort of price (unless they class the area as a warzone, which they may do)

If you are interested in sharing a container from Thailand, let me know. I'll be there for 5 weeks from next week, wandering around all the markets etc - lots of fun (not buying furniture though, but I can see the appeal!)

[Goochie]

maser_spyder said:

Crikey, we're all at it!

I have offices and staff in China for sourcing, dealing with factories, shipping etc.

If anybody wants to ship part load (small items, couple of pallets etc.), I can help out, no problem.

Also if you're looking to source products I can get the office in China to do this for you no problem. They will also deal with the factories directly, so no language barrier and no agent needed. My guys work odd hours to keep up with us in the UK, so no time difference problem either.

If you're worried about losing money, I can definitely help, as we don't pay the factory until the goods have been shipped to our China warehouse and tested by our China staff.


If you're looking at electricals, unless it's a speciality niche market, forget it. There's already a heck of a lot of competition out there for most electricals. Mp3, memory, cameras etc. has all been done to death by people with more experience, deeper pockets and less to lose that you have.

Out of interest, where in China are your people based? I'm looking at a supplier in Hangzhou and have a friend on the ground there to scout things out for me but she has no where to keep anything and no means of dispatching items etc.