New business venture - feeling out of my depth already!
Discussion
For many years I have worked for the private and public sector and longed to escape and have my own business. Finally, I have managed to find a niche market and have a contact in India who is already running a successful business. He finds that shipping costs of the products from India to the UK deters many UK customers buying from him. For this reason I approached him to become a UK distributor.
I have set up a limited company and am expecting my first large shipment to land port side in February. I am still not 100% clear on customs, duty, vat etc. I also need some help with accounting SW and also the obligations of a company director. I visited a chartered accountant today, who scared me with prices and numerous obligations required by companies house and HMRC.
Does anyone on here import from non-EU countries to sell in the UK? I would be keen to talk to you and ask for advice.
Any help appreciated.
I have set up a limited company and am expecting my first large shipment to land port side in February. I am still not 100% clear on customs, duty, vat etc. I also need some help with accounting SW and also the obligations of a company director. I visited a chartered accountant today, who scared me with prices and numerous obligations required by companies house and HMRC.
Does anyone on here import from non-EU countries to sell in the UK? I would be keen to talk to you and ask for advice.
Any help appreciated.
My wife imports from the US for her business - very easy. In her case the courier deals with duty etc, but I am sure even if you are picking up from the port, they won’t release your goods until you pay.
Guide on process and costs is here: https://www.gov.uk/starting-to-import
Ted2 said:
How do you intend to handle the endless stream of returns from customers changing their minds?
Unless you're in clothing then this "stream" is very low. I find less than 0.3% of my products sold get returned due to changed mind. I would imagine however clothing is probably nearer to 30-50% with sizing issues, seeing it in person and not liking it etc?ymwoods said:
Ted2 said:
How do you intend to handle the endless stream of returns from customers changing their minds?
Unless you're in clothing then this "stream" is very low. I find less than 0.3% of my products sold get returned due to changed mind. I would imagine however clothing is probably nearer to 30-50% with sizing issues, seeing it in person and not liking it etc?An acquaintance of mine set up as the UK distributor for a bunch of Chinese dashcams thinking he was going to make a tidy packet on the margins set out. The reality was that he ended up spending about 70% of his time dealing with aggro from angry customers with broken dashcams and organising returns to the manufacturer, and the other 30% flogging new ones. The costs and time involved dealing with the refunds/disputes/refunds rendered the whole venture a complete waste of time and money.
I note that the OP has said his acquaintance in India was struggling to find a UK distributor. If his product was any good I find that hard to believe as drop-shippers would have been all over it. If it sounds too good to be true....
I export to India and it's painful.
Import is much simpler.
Make heavy use of the UK government services for import and export.
https://www.gov.uk/starting-to-import/importing-fr...
Import is much simpler.
Make heavy use of the UK government services for import and export.
https://www.gov.uk/starting-to-import/importing-fr...
Thanks for the replies all. I appreciate your help.
I have contacted a company who are selling products all over India via the web. They often see UK customers, who then abandon their cart due to the shipping costs from India.
I will be importing and selling Mens hair care products and cotton material.
I have set up a limited company which included VAT registration, service address etc. I have contacted a couple of import brokers for help, but nothing back as yet.
The plan is to initially sell via Ebay, Amazon etc and then creating a UK website (using Worldpay) to sell the items.
I have contacted a company who are selling products all over India via the web. They often see UK customers, who then abandon their cart due to the shipping costs from India.
I will be importing and selling Mens hair care products and cotton material.
I have set up a limited company which included VAT registration, service address etc. I have contacted a couple of import brokers for help, but nothing back as yet.
The plan is to initially sell via Ebay, Amazon etc and then creating a UK website (using Worldpay) to sell the items.
Ray Singh said:
I will be importing and selling Mens hair care products and cotton material.
From your post you are sea freighting it? Make sure it is well packed - especially the cotton, condensation can be a big issue in containers. I ship furniture from Indonesia and I always make sure that they hang a dampstick or two inside.Granted, it's furniture with an inherent moisture content.
AlanQ said:
Curious to know how you got on with this OP? My last shipment from India had an unexpected 18% IGST applied which I am told has to now be added to all exports.
I am interested in this, as I have some hotel FF&E coming from India shortly.According to this https://cleartax.in/s/what-is-sgst-cgst-igst#integ IGST is zero rated on exports - why was it charged?
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