Importing from China

[sickrabbit]

Since our various suppliers have run out of stock we need to find new ones and I thought since most of it comes from China anyway should I try to import myself and sell on what we don't use...
I can get prices and samples but struggling to get the suppliers to clarify the rest such as transport arrangements and cost, payment terms and any taxation we might incur.

I'm trying to import sheet materials for sign industry. Any advice will be appreciated - thanks in advance.

[ReverendCounter]

How about you pay a little more and find another country to import from, given the fact the world has had to shut down because of that f*ing dictatorship?

[sickrabbit]

ReverendCounter said:

How about you pay a little more and find another country to import from, given the fact the world has had to shut down because of that f*ing dictatorship?

If I could I would manufacture here...I am researching but it all comes back to China as they are the cheapest... #palmface

[dirky dirk]

A good freight forwarder can help
Firstly agree sale terms
Fob ex worksetc,
Youll pay for them theyll despatch them as per agreed terms
Youll get a bjll of lading in the post then you call the forwarder in the uk
Who will pay the duty and vat and chsrge it to you clwar it through customs
Then deliver it to your premises
Job done

[king arthur]

I can recommend an import/export company that deal a lot with China, they have several offices there.

[sickrabbit]

dirky dirk said:

A good freight forwarder can help
Firstly agree sale terms
Fob ex worksetc,
Youll pay for them theyll despatch them as per agreed terms
Youll get a bjll of lading in the post then you call the forwarder in the uk
Who will pay the duty and vat and chsrge it to you clwar it through customs
Then deliver it to your premises
Job done

Thank You

[sickrabbit]

king arthur said:

I can recommend an import/export company that deal a lot with China, they have several offices there.

That would be great - thank you

[khushy]

unless you break the cycle (cheap st made in China) the cycle will never be broken - please be brave and find a different supplier

[PT88]

sickrabbit said:

Since our various suppliers have run out of stock we need to find new ones and I thought since most of it comes from China anyway should I try to import myself and sell on what we don't use...
I can get prices and samples but struggling to get the suppliers to clarify the rest such as transport arrangements and cost, payment terms and any taxation we might incur.

I'm trying to import sheet materials for sign industry. Any advice will be appreciated - thanks in advance.

What are you looking to buy?

[khushy]

PT88 said:

What are you looking to buy?

probably ppe or toilet roll lol

[One Amp Andy]

khushy said:

unless you break the cycle (cheap st made in China) the cycle will never be broken - please be brave and find a different supplier

Completely agree! What were we on about the other week!?

[khushy]

One Amp Andy said:

Completely agree! What were we on about the other week!?

100% - make it in Great Britain

[Nickyboy]

A customer of mine has recently imported sanitiser from Uganda of all places.

[Canute]

Even before corona virus times, there were some pretty serious ethical questions about sourcing from China including genocide, human rights abuses, environmental damage and not forgetting they are a dictatorship.

No country is perfect, but China has been pushing the above crimes for years and we don't do anything about it, now is the perfect time to make things at home and be proud of our industries.

[rog007]

PT88 said:

What are you looking to buy?

Mentioned above ‘I'm trying to import sheet materials for sign industry. ‘

One could imagine that the current social distancing rules and the slow opening up of the economy may now require extensive new suites of signage on potentially a very large scale? As ever in a crisis, there are often new opportunities!

[Birkin1932]

rog007 said:

Mentioned above ‘I'm trying to import sheet materials for sign industry. ‘

One could imagine that the current social distancing rules and the slow opening up of the economy may now require extensive new suites of signage on potentially a very large scale? As ever in a crisis, there are often new opportunities!

Interesting, I run quite a large sign makers up north. What type of sheet material?

[sickrabbit]

Hi All

Sorry for the absence - I'm trying to keep the ship above water.

We manufacture highly bespoke signage and 3d letters and props using a mixture of old and novelty techniques.

We were not bothered about selling COVID stuff until our clients demanded it from us at which stage it was almost impossible to buy any decent spec acrylic or polycarbonate.

Our usual suppliers which a good relationship with )we thought so) either sold to the big players in bulk or genuinely don't have anything on the shelves.

We have tried four of the usuals our preferred one manufactures in UK , the second one in Spain and the third one in France - we did our bit to cut China out of the picture on the day 1 of the business 5 years ago.

We have now tried about 20 new suppliers - prices and delivery times are unacceptable - I even tried manufacturers in Europe directly.

This forced me to think outside of the box and side of container from China - sadly I have tiny balls which didn't allow me to risk 100k signing a deal over skype with someone who kind off understands me (I'm foreign as well to add to the challenge).

Now back to where I was unable to produce anything sing wise if it's made of acrylic and unable to jump on the COVID screens wave for the above reasons.

My usual supplier tells me to commit to buying xx amount and they will try to deliver by xmas.

We might have 20 sheets coming next week - this was sorted through a friend of a friend and he's a Chinese uncle...

Does anyone want to buy a sign company? (serious) Wife want's to live in the bushes over in the motherland and I can't blame her worlds going nuts.

Do you want to hear about floor graphics laminates next? lol

[Birkin1932]

I have had a similar experience, however I managed to obtain 50 sheets of 3mm & 5mm clear, I do exactly the same as you.

I would not buy from China unless you really know the agent well, acrylic can come in so many different types. I had Amari plastics trying to sell me 3mx2m sheets of 5mm styrene the other day for £235 a sheet if i bought 20, so the price gouging going on is a joke, what are they normally £70?

We have managed to stay fully operational so I am thankful for that, but the high street work is woeful at present

[sickrabbit]

Birkin1932 said:

I have had a similar experience, however I managed to obtain 50 sheets of 3mm & 5mm clear, I do exactly the same as you.

I would not buy from China unless you really know the agent well, acrylic can come in so many different types. I had Amari plastics trying to sell me 3mx2m sheets of 5mm styrene the other day for £235 a sheet if i bought 20, so the price gouging going on is a joke, what are they normally £70?

We have managed to stay fully operational so I am thankful for that, but the high street work is woeful at present

Same boat my friend same boat...our normal work has dried out now - we were lucky as we are only just installing the last job ordered prior to COVID tomorrow...unfortunately I think it's too late for us to jump for 'sneeze screens money' without a decent supply chain behind us we can't advertise something we might not be capable of producing - we have 8x4 co2 laser and a router sitting idle now gathering dust...

We did 1% of our normal turnover within the last 2 months

On a separate, not some cowboys out there our next-door neighbour ordered a sneeze screen online it's made out of no-name extruded acrylic which already craked, rough edges, no feet and came with a pile of router dust as a freebie - they paid £78 quid for it as well #bangshead

[skwdenyer]

sickrabbit said:

Birkin1932 said:

I have had a similar experience, however I managed to obtain 50 sheets of 3mm & 5mm clear, I do exactly the same as you.

I would not buy from China unless you really know the agent well, acrylic can come in so many different types. I had Amari plastics trying to sell me 3mx2m sheets of 5mm styrene the other day for £235 a sheet if i bought 20, so the price gouging going on is a joke, what are they normally £70?

We have managed to stay fully operational so I am thankful for that, but the high street work is woeful at present

Same boat my friend same boat...our normal work has dried out now - we were lucky as we are only just installing the last job ordered prior to COVID tomorrow...unfortunately I think it's too late for us to jump for 'sneeze screens money' without a decent supply chain behind us we can't advertise something we might not be capable of producing - we have 8x4 co2 laser and a router sitting idle now gathering dust...

We did 1% of our normal turnover within the last 2 months

On a separate, not some cowboys out there our next-door neighbour ordered a sneeze screen online it's made out of no-name extruded acrylic which already craked, rough edges, no feet and came with a pile of router dust as a freebie - they paid £78 quid for it as well #bangshead

There are often new routes available. I heard the other day that a sign company I used to use in the Lakes many years ago started a sideline making those "your speed is.... slow down!" radar signs. That's now pretty much their entire company, and a very successful one (although they still do conventional sign-making on the side).