Import Goods From China
 

Hi guys,
First i want to apologies If i am on the wrong section of the WF. As I need some solid information and Help from you guys. I am currently selling few different physical product from ebay and make little profit which is great :). I buy them items from china and get them shipped to my house in UK and i do pay some custom fees as the items are cheap and not heavy.

Now i am looking to buy some Lego's items. They are fair expensive. What i need to find out is

1) Am i allowed to import lego brand items from china as there are no lego or star wars company in uk. Some places sell them items example Toys R US.

2) do i need any import license to import the goods

3) Do i need to provide any health and safety certificate or insurance to the UK border

4) Do i have to contact any uk agency to do this for me or can i sort it all out by my self.

guys i have been looking all over google for long time but i didn't manage to find any good information which clear any of the questions i have?

so could you guys please advise me what to do and how to go from here. I want to thank you guys in advance for the help. peace

Re: Import Goods From China
 

so basically your asking for a drop shipper?

Re: Import Goods From China
 

not exactly. i already have supplier in china. who can get me the items i want. for example if i sell items on ebay.co.uk and uk custom stop the items because it branded or any other reason , i won't know what to do. that's why i want to know all before i sell. i do not want my customers to wait or pay the custom fees. And also i do not want to get in to any trouble for importing goods from china. Just trying to cover my back.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

WarriorTX is right. You should look at dropshippers.

Worldwide Brands - Drop Ship Directory, Wholesale Drop Shipping for Retailers, Drop Ship Products is the #1 company in the world.

They have a membership where you can find just about anything you want and have it dropshipped.

Just be sure to check eBay "street prices" against the wholesale price.

Also, pick odd-ball , non-commodity items so lessen your competition.


...Mikee17
Founder: AuctionTNT . com - Tools To Explode Your eBay Profits!

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Lego's are actually not made in China. Do you mean the imitation Legos, that looks kind of like Megabloks?

Edit: Like this?
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/2/8...1_o.jpg?nc=327

Re: Import Goods From China
 

i see. that makes sense. i sell -they ship for me. i was just too scared to use drop shippers because i heard a lot of story people being scamed over and over. I personally never found any drop shipper who accept paypal because i only use paypal for payment security. Can you guys please recommend me a trusted drop shipper. and about the price. i spend atlist 1 day to do my full research ( ebay price>whole sale price>paypal fees>ebay fees= Profit :)

Re: Import Goods From China
 

hey buddy. As far i know they made in denmark but as we know most of the company have branches in china because of cheap labour.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Also forgot to mention lego, Star wars educational Toys, such as Lego Batman Set 7783
http://www.scottstoybox.co.uk/popupl...rks%20Invasion

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Hardly. Actual LEGOs aren't made in China. If you have been buying sets from China marked as "LEGO" they are fake, but there are some really cool megablok style ones made in Hong Kong. I'm one of the main distributors for them, and chances are, if you get some from somewhere like WorldWideBrands, it's probably going to be ordered from my warehouse.

Little back story: Only the electronic components in Lego sets are made in China. Every couple years Lego gets the urge to move operations to Shenzhen (and everyone here in China starts killing each other for their business) - but every single time, the factory starts making poor quality plastic (ABS) pieces to try to save some cash and LEGO stays away from China for another couple of years. Lego is expensive not because of their plastic, but because they are super extensive in their quality testing.

Someone in the U.K. got busted really bad recently for importing counterfeit LEGO's, couple years in prison and it wasn't even that much. Nothing compares to the 10 tons of counterfiet Legos that were seized and destroyed in 2004.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Dude now i am getting a bit worried about it. the supplier i found told me the items are 100% original and they are happy to deal with customs and if any tax need to pay. Also they can assure that the product meets the health and safety requirement.i do not want to buy tons of items. just want to sell few on ebay and get the items shipped straight from china to customers address.

Now i don't know what to do. i surely do not want to get busted for S***.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Who is the supplier? I could meet with them.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

dude can you pm me your skype if you don't mind. so we can have a clear chat. as you know well about items i would like to be in touch with you for future products and hopefully get from your source as i have some other friend who are going to start ebay business aswell.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Hi Aminur,
Have you worked with this supplier before? Where did you find them? There are a LOT of scammers on the internet. You can completely eliminate dealing with scammers by going through Worldwide Brands. If you want to venture out on your own, that's fine too. I've had a lot of luck with that, but there are a few obvious signs to look for. First, if your supplier is writing you from a hotmail, yahoo or gmail address, chances are, they are scamming you. Second, if their prices and minimums are ridiculous, they are scamming you. I was trying to get a camera from China once that sold for $600. The supplier told me that their minimum was 2 units and that they were $150 each. THAT is a scam. Just be on the lookout and know who you're dealing with. If you can't check them out yourself or have someone else check them out (see reply above) then have them take a picture of the goods holding a sign with your name on it- this will show that they actually have the item in stock. This should also show whether or not it is genuine. Hope this helps and good luck on your adventure!
Daniel J.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

hey buddy thanks for all the information. i have used the supplier before for SHOES. when i look for suppliers for lego star wars items only place seem to be is ALIBABA.COM. we all know that 90% of them are scams. my supplier takes paypal payment which makes a little bit safe. I asked her to find me the lego star wars product and she took 1 week and found the items, as she said there is a star wars factory near by. most of the factory suppliers only take western union and i am not going to deal with that. so the deal i made with her is i will pay her by paypal and she will buy for me from the factory and also post for me. as she already has business where she sells shoes and has enough experience she guaranteed me that items won't be stopped at the customs. if they do she will cover the cost and her agent will deal will every thing. her price is fair. it's around 20 to 30% cheaper then normal price but if i buy bulk it will be little bit cheaper.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

If shes accepting PayPal, then she's new at what shes doing. The reason factories only take Western Union is because they have probably been burned at one time. I see it every single day.

Someone arranges to buy an item or bulk, usually bulk for say $1,200 USD.
Factory makes arrangements, often investing their own time and money.
Person pays with PayPal, factory thinks all is well, and they forward the items.
2 months later, they get an e-mail that there is a dispute, and they have returned the money to the sender. Banned account.
This is REALLY common with PayPal. People here are usually burned on a small scale of like $100 or so before they get to the point where its even possible to be burned for a larger amount.

At least she is being honest about not having the inventory herself. But yeah... LEGO's still aren't made in China.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Before you run and use alibaba, do some due dilligence on the fraud cases.

Alibaba chief executive, operating officers resign over massive internal fraud

Re: Import Goods From China
 

I also want to do the same offline business model. For me offline business, meeting new people is always interesting. =)

dropshipper. But I can't speak CHINEEESSEEE!!! wa... cing cia... lol... kidding. I don't understand chinese.. I think China is growing to be a very very strong economic giant, and I should learn their language.

But, no google in china, just baidu if I wasn't wrong the name of their biggest search engine. =)

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Aminur,
Alibaba is actually a very good place to find legitimate suppliers. It is true that a good number of them are scams, but certainly don't discount the entire site just yet. I've found a handful of good legitimate suppliers through the site. It sounds like you've worked with this company/individual before. FaJeeb is right that most suppliers on Alibaba won't accept Paypal and that is perfectly legitimate, but NEVER use Western Union with a supplier you've not worked with in the past or that you know is legitimate. The fact that they are willing to use Paypal works in your favor here. If it were me, I'd go for it. If it's a scam, Paypal will cover you. Hope this helps.
Daniel J.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Not knowing Chinese isn't even the half of it. Took me a good solid 3 years to learn to speak Chinese, and now that I live here I can actually speak it... but yeah, it isn't the half of it. I still had a lot to learn about doing business here, and I learn more every single day.

On the most basic common level, Chinese people and Westerners do business very differently, and when someone says something, it could mean very different things.

In America, you say "Do you have this in stock?" - you mean.. "Can you provide this item to me now?"

in China, you say "Do you have this in stock" - it means... "Can you find this item for me and provide me with it?"

When there is issues of any kind, a supplier WILL NOT go out of their way to make up a solution for you or a list of solutions, you have to Tell them how to solve the solution for you. For example:

You are buying an item and the supplier no longer has it. You ordered 200 units, but the supplier comes to you and says they only have 180. Thats it. You assume they themselves will order more for you, but you would be wrong. You have to say "Order 20 more from wherever you get this item from" - if they say "Well, minimum order is 100" - they are just telling you what someone else has told them.

Re: Import Goods From China
 

Check out this for postal rates, China Postal Service starts from US$0.95, International Courier Service starts from US$7 - SFC Service Ltd.

I'm in China, and was looking into setting up an online store last year... then I found the warrior forum and the rest is history.