Imports

Yes I have been importing for 22 years, (now retired) and I have experience in large and small orders.

My first word of advice is to ensure that you do all of your research even before you buy any samples.

You need to know your product thoroughly, including how you will sell it, how much you can sell it for, what your selling costs are including eBay selling charges and your delivery charges etc. Then you can start looking for suppliers, getting quotes including all freight costs so that you can work out landed cost and if the final figure including absolutely every input cost is too high, negotiate a better deal.

One very simple trick of the trade you will find in my book is how to be certain that you are getting the best price, and how to do it without haggling.

People think Chinese suppliers love haggling, but they hate it. Don't haggle.

Hi mistauzz,

I am not the right person to advise on choosing a product because I am not an eBay, Amazon, etc. marketer.

I suggest you contact Auctiondebteliminator. His post appears in this thread You could click on his signature and PM him.

Once you have worked out what product/s to sell and how to sell them, I can certainly help you with safe sourcing and easy importing.

Hi sergit,

Yes I was in exporting prior to starting importing. My first job after leaving college was with a big international shipping company. After a few years I started my own business. I was exporting primarily to Asia/Pacific countries. The goods were my own manufacture.

After so many visits to Asian countries I developed a great network of contacts, and began importing. I sold only B2B in a specialized field which I can't disclose because when health problems forced me to retire I sold that business that I had run for 22 years, and the new owner and all my former franchisees are still in that business.

We never brought in container loads, but instead used a system I call "Just In Time" to keep a flow of small orders coming in by air courier with timing depending on sales.

Unloading of containers can be done by your freight forwarder, and reloaded on transport to your business location, or the container can be delivered to you. In either case, there is a limited time available before you are charged rental on the container.

My book does not deal with marketing of products. If you are interested in eBay marketing and want expert advice on that I suggest you contact auctiondebteliminator, who often posts on WF.

In relation to wholesale v retail, I suggest that for wholesaling you consider offering big discounts that depend entirely upon either COD payment or possibly payment within 7 days. Allowing credit is a major risk.

If you supply retail to consumers they do not require credit.

I have seen many attempts at wholesaling fail, because it is rare to be able to sell a container load in one sale. If you break it up into small lots you may as well sell retail.

OK. I see what you mean about "unloading" and I think I did cover that in passing.

The reason air courier worked so well was that we were importing items of small size and weight, but very high value. A 5kg (11 lb) package might have goods in it that were sold for as much as $2,000. Also, products were bought from several suppliers. This would not suit some people but worked well for us.

You are right also about bank fees. I organized monthly accounts with all suppliers, and how to do that is one of the tricks of the trade that I teach. very simple but very effective.