Importing from China

[RegMolehusband]

Does anybody have experience of importing goods from China that you may be able to impart to save me making some costly errors?

I'm obtaining a quotation from a large Chinese manufacture to buy goods for our established UK Ltd company. They will complement our range of UK manufactured products very nicely. The initial order value will be about £25K with the stock being topped up every 3-4 months.

We've already obtained samples, all good. It's likely to be a full container load though may end up LCL.

Should I ask for a quotation ex-works and use something like Shiply to sort out the collection and delivery door-to-door? Is there a less costly method?

Should I pay using a service like Alibaba's Trade Assurance, or are their rates uncompetitive compared to paying through an FX company? I've used Earthport-FX before to pay large sums to overseas companies.

We've already got an EORI number.

It would be very helpful if anybody is able to share their experience.

Thank you.

Edited by RegMolehusband on Tuesday 14th January 14:55

[Ean218]

If its a full container you really ought to use a UK freight forwarder familiar with the port it is being shipped from. Different parts of China seem to invent their own rules to make exporting complicated. Ask for a fixed, all inclusive price door to door, in GBP if poss.

You won't have any choice but to pay in advance of shipping, try to negotiate a percentage with order and the balance on container being filled.

If this is your first time you will be taking a big chance that the container isn't just filled with tat. Try to get photos of the stock as it is loaded.

There needs to be an awful lot of trust....

[Tony427]

Ean218 said:

If its a full container you really ought to use a UK freight forwarder familiar with the port it is being shipped from. Different parts of China seem to invent their own rules to make exporting complicated. Ask for a fixed, all inclusive price door to door, in GBP if poss.

You won't have any choice but to pay in advance of shipping, try to negotiate a percentage with order and the balance on container being filled.

If this is your first time you will be taking a big chance that the container isn't just filled with tat. Try to get photos of the stock as it is loaded.

There needs to be an awful lot of trust....

Forget the samples, they are made in the sample factory, not the real factory. Order a small amount to try, not afull container. Only buy a large quantity after you have built up trust and rapport and had numerous deliveries. Even then quality will not be the highest. Been there, done that and got the counterfeit teeshirt. BTW if shipping arrange your own insurance as if you use the Chinese insurance if you ever have to claim for damage to goods they will do a disappearing act.

Cheers,

Tony

[Doofus]

I've been importing from China for around ten years, all good.

My agent and the factory have recently fked me over for $60,000 that I'll never see again.

Given they were the sole supplier for a major chunk of my product range, they have probably killed the business, too.

I'm not in a suitable frame of mind to offer constructive advice, I'm afraid...

[DSLiverpool]

Please please use a despatch agent to test / check the shipment before shipping.

[ReverendCounter]

There was a guy who went out to China to build up business and took the opportunity to diversify his product range. On delivery of his first pallet of those particular new goods, before signing for it he tore into it and opened a few boxes at random. One of the first products he split open has less than 50% of the capacity of what it was specced to contain (can't remember whether it was external hard drives or USB battery banks).

He described the look on the young chinese woman's face as pissed off - not shocked, not embarrassed - when she realised he'd found out they had tried to screw him. So basically, you take the chance of being ripped off on receipt of your goods, or outside the factory when you go to pick your pallet up yourself. It was a guy called Daniel who used to blog about his experiences on 'Young Money China'.

[RegMolehusband]

Thank you for the replies so far. I’m thinking about visiting them for a few hours to see the stuff being manufactured and to view the current stock. This would be a long term relationship that might just justify the £3100 round trip (I don’t think I want to fly economy to Shanghai).

Any more thoughts on shipping agents or transfer of funds please?

[Mikedknight]

Same here I’m afraid. Beware the “golden sample” however they manufacture so cheap that usually you can make a profit even if it’s a bit crap.

Payment each time I’ve imported was by wire transfer. I believe you can use l/c but none of my suppliers wanted to.

Had more luck in Taiwan to be honest.

[KrissKross]

What type of products are they?

[Weezywee]

Yes we import every single day. I cant stress the importance of 1) using an inspection company like SGS or BV, 2) using established factories, 3) using freight forwarders like Yusen. Biggest think to remember is to accout for ALL the costs - when margin washes through you may be surprised.

[6i732]

ReverendCounter said:

There was a guy who went out to China to build up business and took the opportunity to diversify his product range. On delivery of his first pallet of those particular new goods, before signing for it he tore into it and opened a few boxes at random. One of the first products he split open has less than 50% of the capacity of what it was specced to contain (can't remember whether it was external hard drives or USB battery banks).

He described the look on the young chinese woman's face as pissed off - not shocked, not embarrassed - when she realised he'd found out they had tried to screw him. So basically, you take the chance of being ripped off on receipt of your goods, or outside the factory when you go to pick your pallet up yourself. It was a guy called Daniel who used to blog about his experiences on 'Young Money China'.

Funny to see this, I haven’t posted on my blog for some time but still exporting from China, think it’s been about 18 years now and I would say I have seen it all in that time.

The article you are referring to is here:

https://www.youngmoneychina.com/2012/07/how-to-los...

Happy to offer some free advice if needed, my email address is on the blog.

Thanks,

Daniel

[anonymous-user]

If the money involved is significant to you, then maybe it is worth a trip over there personally too?

Would you buy a container full of stuff from a UK manufacturer, paying up front, without meeting the people? I wouldn't.

[RegMolehusband]

KrissKross said:

What type of products are they?

I can't be specific here for commercial reasons, They are a mix of PVC and powder coated metal products aimed mostly at the consumer.

[RegMolehusband]

Weezywee said:

Yes we import every single day. I cant stress the importance of 1) using an inspection company like SGS or BV, 2) using established factories, 3) using freight forwarders like Yusen. Biggest think to remember is to account for ALL the costs - when margin washes through you may be surprised.

I don't think the products are sufficiently technical or safety-critical to justify getting inspection companies involved but thank you anyway. The factory is definitely long-established and manufactures a range of products related to my sector so I'm happy there.

That is a very good point about accounting for ALL costs. I have no idea how much it will cost to get a full size container over here yet but am looking into it this week. There will of course be additional handling costs that I'll watch out for.

Dummy/newbie question - would a freight forwarder essentially drop off a container at the manufacturer to be filled and collected when advised?

[RegMolehusband]

6i732 said:

Funny to see this, I haven’t posted on my blog for some time but still exporting from China, think it’s been about 18 years now and I would say I have seen it all in that time.

The article you are referring to is here:

https://www.youngmoneychina.com/2012/07/how-to-los...

Happy to offer some free advice if needed, my email address is on the blog.

Thanks,

Daniel

Thank you Daniel - I've clicked on the link and will have a read. I may well contact you later this week.

[RegMolehusband]

JPJPJP said:

If the money involved is significant to you, then maybe it is worth a trip over there personally too?

Would you buy a container full of stuff from a UK manufacturer, paying up front, without meeting the people? I wouldn't.

Yes £22K is significant to me but it wouldn't affect the business significantly if lost. I'm toying with going over there. At the moment I'm dealing with "Skye" in the office.

[Hadleyiam]

Just wanted to add, I saw in your original post you mentioned Alibaba Trade Assurance, I wouldn't want to deal with someone who doesn't offer this service.

This basically means that none of your funds are released to the supplier until you are happy with the product and it is all accounted for. Takes a little risk out of it.

[RegMolehusband]

Hadleyiam said:

Just wanted to add, I saw in your original post you mentioned Alibaba Trade Assurance, I wouldn't want to deal with someone who doesn't offer this service.

This basically means that none of your funds are released to the supplier until you are happy with the product and it is all accounted for. Takes a little risk out of it.

Thank you. Yes they deal with Alibaba Trade Assurance and are a Gold Supplier. My only concern about Trade Assurance is that I can't find their exchange rates anywhere. But yes I can see how it manages the risk.

Though having just looked at it again you can pay Trade Assurance in USD by wire transfer presumably using your favourite competitive FX company.

Edited by RegMolehusband on Wednesday 15th January 12:11

[egomeister]

RegMolehusband said:

I don't think the products are sufficiently technical or safety-critical to justify getting inspection companies involved but thank you anyway. The factory is definitely long-established and manufactures a range of products related to my sector so I'm happy there.

I would say the inspection is as much to establish that the products are actually as you expect so you don't end up shipping a container full of unsellable crap, rather than specifically for compliance reasons

[egomeister]

6i732 said:

Funny to see this, I haven’t posted on my blog for some time but still exporting from China, think it’s been about 18 years now and I would say I have seen it all in that time.

The article you are referring to is here:

https://www.youngmoneychina.com/2012/07/how-to-los...

Happy to offer some free advice if needed, my email address is on the blog.

Thanks,

Daniel

It's a shame you no longer blog as before! When I found it back in the day I immediately went back to the start and read the whole thing - It was a very interesting read!