Importing products straight from Chinese factories and selling them at home country having a large margin: this is sometimes a very profitable method of doing business. However, buying wholesale goods in China just isn’t as easy as visiting the store just across the street. Remember, you are carrying out business with individuals halfway around the world, and there are many risks involved.

Importing goods from China is a long process, easily taking months from the initial look for a supplier before you receive the goods on your doorstep. You will need to buy large quantities to make the investment worthwhile. Whenever your container finally arrives the last thing you want is to locate unsellable products!

Minimize the hazards that come with importing from China by following the following steps:

Step 1: Plan

Something that is very importing when importing from China is to make a proper plan. Don’t just place an order and wait for the best; you might be very likely to end up having faulty products, or with no products in any way. Your product might have to comply with certain health and/or safety standards being allowed to be purchased from your home country, research this initial. Secondly, write down all the requirements you’ve yourself, what should the size of the product be? Which materials ought to be used? Be very specific and ensure every single detail is thought through; this can save you many problems down the road. As part of your plan also calculate your total landing costs to find out whether importing from china financially is practical.

Step 2: Find

There are thousands of Chinese suppliers, but finding the right one can take a moment. There are websites where Chinese suppliers present their goods, alibaba.com is the most famous one. Go to a tradeshow to meet many possible suppliers in the same location. Or hire sourcing assistance which will help on the ground with locating a suitable supplier. Unfortunately there are numerous cheaters actively trying to trick foreign buyers into paying for goods they are going to never receive. Therefore, the way you end up finding your supplier does not really matter, as long as you get your supplier checked before you place an order.

3: Buy

When you found a reliable supplier who are able to supply the product you would like, you can continue to negotiate the price and to sign a purchase order. Choose which paying method you will employ, and discuss the payment terms. These preferably could be 30% upfront and 70% following your container is loaded.

Step 4: Check

Now that you placed the order and made an upfront payment do not sit back and relax at this time. In China generally manufacturers focus on very small margins, and there’s a large share of supplier who won’t avoid cuttings costs and sometimes it means lowering the quality standards. Receiving high quality products is thus your responsibility! Have an official qc done, at least once, during the production process.

Step # 5: Send

Since your production is within process you can preserve to arrange the logistics. When sending products internationally, either by air or by sea, there’s always a lot of paperwork involved. First of all, contact your local customs bureau to find out about the import duties as well as other import fees that you have to pay. Contact a China Consolidated Shipping, who can arrange the entire shipping and customs process for you. Shop around prior to committing yourself to one freight forwarder as there is a lot of competition and price of shipping is extremely flexible.