9 Revealed Proven steps that makes importation from China as easy as getting your products from your local dealer!
How to import products from china without leaving your desk? The following will guide you through the whole process.
Why are we publishing this information?
We aim to make your sourcing and procurement in China as easy as going to your local dealer/retailer to get your products， so that you can get competitive price and much larger profit margin whether you are a small or big business, a beginner or experienced businessman. By following the steps described below, you can conduct the whole sourcing and procurement process by yourself without leaving your desk regardless of if you are in China or not.
Please do not hesitate to contact us by email: cedric@nexusgroupepc.com or by WhatsApp: +86 15221019907 for further inquiry or if you need quality, professional, reliable, and trustworthy international agents in China to assist you with your procurement from China.
Let’s dive right in the subject
Buying from China can be a very daunting project. Uncertainties, language barrier, products quality, on-site inspection, suppliers trustworthiness, scams, are some of the worries you might have in mind, from where should you get started? How to avoid beginners mistakes that can swallow up your whole investment? Well, the following steps are surely the most comprehensive information you can find out there on the subject.
I. THE BUDGET: Set a budget and make sure it is enough for the volume of the imports you intend to make.
It is well-known that importing from China give you more competitive prices and larger profit margin as China is nowadays is the largest manufacturer of all kinds of products in the world. Be it that you are a beginner or experienced businessman, when you choose to import from China, the thing you should consider first is how much money you should prepare, depending on your business model.
Drop shipping business
If you have a small budget as to Only $100, you should consider starting a drop shipping business. You will have to set up a website for around $29 on Shopify, and then pay for advertisement on social media. Despite the high cost involved at the beginning it is surely one of the best options for beginners.
Mature e-commerce sellers
As your business grows, you should consider a real manufacturer, and here you will be able to slash cost compared to drop shipping. With a $2,000+ budget, You should look for a Chinese supplier who can accept small MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) or for a trading company since the latter works tightly with a lot of suppliers and usually accept lower quantity than the former but you will have to put in some extra dollars, however will come cheaper than the drop shipping.
Brand new products
As you are evolving in your business, you might reach a stage where you can afford customized products with your own brand. For a $2,000-$10,000 + budget, for products like clothes or shoes, you just need to prepare $1000-$2000 for customization according to your need. However, for some products, like stainless steel cups, plastics cosmetic bottles, manufacturers need to make a specific mold to produce items, this will increase your budget around $5000 or even $10,000.
II. The product: Choose the right products that suits best your business models and your needs.
Do not sell what you like, sell what the market demands! A popular saying has it. Once you have decided on a budget for your business, it is time to choose the product in demand in your market that you will import from China. As a beginner, It might look confusing to choose between the plethora of products available on the market, like trending products, daily-use consumer products, brand products, etc. Here are some suggestions:
Trending products
As a new businessman with a small budget, you do not have the means to invest large sums of money into promotion and adequate distribution systems, which are necessary when you want to sell trending products. Trending products such as hoverboards spread quickly, and you can make quick money if you have a strong market insight into grasping the opportunity. Therefore it is not a wise option for a beginning.
Low-value but large-demand products.
It is often a misconception among many importers that products such as A4 paper for instance must be profitable to import from China. But this is proven to be false. Not only the shipping fee is very high but you might end up with very large inventory as you will want to import more units to reduce the shipping fees. Besides, the whole cost from China is not far below your local wholesale price. Therefore, you should avoid importing low-value but large-demand products.
Unique ordinary daily-use products
These products are not suitable for a fresh starter as It is generally not be a good idea to compete against big retailers who are already well known in the market and procured most of the ordinary daily-use products that are usually used in most developed countries. Nonetheless, It will be interesting to try unique ordinary daily use products if you can adjust or recreate the product design to make it unique. For example, happy socks brand in Sweden achieved success in the socks market by selling their unique design socks.
Niche products
With niche products, you have fewer competitors but selling the same product as you. With less competition, you might be able to make more money. However, the more profitable they become the more competitors they attract and hence with time the ROI(return on investment)of the products can drop.
III. Costs: Find marketable and profitable products. Assess all the cost incurred to import them.
Regardless of the kind of product you want to import, a critical step is to do enough research about all the cost involved in advance.
The first thing you want to know here is the unit price or an approximation of the unit price. You can do so by initiating a chat with suppliers or trading companies on platforms such as Alibaba if you are comfortable enough to chat in Chinese or you can reference the price of products with ready-to-ship on Alibaba to have a grasp of the price range.
Next comes the shipping fee which is also a very important component of the whole product cost. For international express, if your package weight exceeds 20kgs, the shipping fee is around $6-$7 for 1kg. Sea freight is around $190-$310 for 1 m³ including the customs cost, but it usually has a minimum load of 2cbm. Take hand sanitizers or nail polish for example, you should fill 2,000 bottles of 250ml hand sanitizers or 10,000 bottles of nail polish to fill up 2m³. Obviously, this is not a good product to import for small businesses.
Besides the above costs, you should also consider sample cost, import tariff etc… So it is always necessary to conduct a full research about all the cost involved with importing a particular product beforehand to be able to know whether or not it is profitable to import the products from China.
IV. The supplier: Look for Chinese suppliers
This can be done via the internet or visiting China. Once you have conducted your researches and decided on a product you would like to import, it is time to find a Chinese Supplier. Below are 6 online or offline ways to look for Chinese suppliers.
B2B trade platforms
If your order is below $300, Aliexpress is a suitable choice for you. There are a wide range of products and suppliers for you to choose from; If your order is between $300-$2000, you can consider Dhgate; If you have enough budget to develop your long-term business, Alibaba is better for you. You can find manufacturers directly on the platform;
There are also some other B2B platforms, like Made in China, Global Sources. But these platforms have their own area of expertise. For example, Made in China is more suitable for buying machinery products.
Google Search
A quick google search with the keywords of the product you want to import can also give you good results and a list of manufacturers of your product. You will have to be able to identify a reliable supplier to cooperate with; you can refer to our post How to identify a realiable manufacturer in china to make sure your supplier is a real manufacturer and not a scammer.
SNS
You also try other social media platforms like Linkedin, Facebook. It is similar to Google search. But unlike Alibaba or other B2B platforms，there are not many suppliers for you to choose.
Find suppliers at fairs
There are many kinds of Chinese fairs every year. Canton fair is my first recommendation to you, which has the most comprehensive range of products. You can know more fairs in China.
Visit Chinese wholesale market
There are many wholesale markets for different products in China. For instance, Yiwu International Trade City, divided into 5 districts. You can learn more about wholesales markets in China and their google map location from our post: The Top 35 Wholesale Markets For All Products In Different Cities In China
Although the above offline ways appear more time-consuming than online ways, it is still worthwhile for you to have a try. By doing so, you can touch the product directly and get the most competitive price, which is beneficial to your long-term business, or you can find a reliable sourcing agent such as Nexus Group EPC to help you secure and send you samples and go down to the factory location to follow up your production
Although the above offline ways appear more time-consuming than online ways, it is still worthwhile for you to have a try. By doing so, you can touch the product directly and get the most competitive price, which is beneficial to your long-term business, or you can find a reliable sourcing agent such as Nexus Group EPC to help you secure and send you samples and go down to the factory location to follow up your production
V. Assess the suitability of your suppliers, prioritize long term relationship.
Be it on online or offline platforms, there are a lot of suppliers to choose from. A good supplier is a vital element for a successful business so you need to make sure that your supplier is reliable and that you can build long term relationship with the supplier. Here are some aspects you should consider:
Business history
Here you want to go for supplies that focused on the same category of product for a long time such as three years or more. You can ask the supplier to provide his business license to see when he registered his business and it will give you an idea of how long he has been in business. Suppliers that focused on the same category of products on a long period of time have much more stable businesses to a large extent.
Countries exported
This information also plays an important role in the choice of your supplier. Knowing countries where the supplier has already exported before can give you a good indication about the quality of his products. For example, if supplier exportation focuses on developing countries, chances are that his products are not suitable to be sold in USA and you might get bad reviews from customers because of quality problems.
Compliance certifications on products
It is also very important to check in advance with your customs broker or the platform staff where you intend to sell your products if you need a particular certificate for your products, in order to make sure that your supplier can provide you with the relevant certificates otherwise your products might not enter your country or you might not be able to sell on some e-commerce platforms. For instance, products toys imported in America need CPSC certificate. You should make sure your Chinese supplier can provide you with the relevant certificate for your product before choosing to cooperate with him.
Punctual lead time
You should choose suppliers that have records of delivering goods on time, as delays might influence your sales to a large extent later. Especially for Amazon sellers, the lead time appears particularly crucial for your online stores. Once one of your popular products on your online store is out of stock, although you replenish products later, it will impact the product’s rank a lot. It means that you will spend a lot of time in marketing the product again.
Quality control (sample)
Only products with good quality will bring faithful customers and long-term profit to your business. Quality is a vital factor in the success of your business. Make sure you can get samples from your supplier to approve before the mass production. Conduct an inspection for quality defect early during the production as it will be difficult to correct defect when production is almost done. You need to go on site yourself or hire the service of competent agent such as Nexus Group EPC to follow up the whole production and send you quality inspection reports.
VI. Trade incoterms: Understand trade Incoterms. Get accurate product quotations.
Incoterms are common when you negotiate with suppliers. There are many type of incoterms, which will influence the quotation accordingly. Below are the most common 5 types of incoterms you will often encounter.
EXW: Ex Works
Under this term, the seller is only responsible for making the products. Once the goods are transferred to the buyer at the named place of delivery, the buyer should undertake full costs and risks of loading and moving the goods to the destination, including arranging for the export clearance. Hence, it is not advisable for international trade.
FOB: Free On Board
Under this term, the seller is responsible for delivering the goods to the port, then load on board of the named vessel. They also should be in charge of customs clearance of export. After that, the seller is free of all risks of the goods, and at the same time, all liability is transferred to the buyer.
CIF: Cost Insurance And Freight
The seller is responsible for delivering goods to the board on the named vessel, besides it, the seller will cover the insurance and freight on the shipment, and the customs clearance of export. But the buyer needs to undertake all risks of loss or damage on the shipment.
DDP (Delivery Duty Paid) and DDU(Delivery Duty Unpaid):
Under DDP, the seller will be responsible for all risks and fees generated in the whole process of delivering the goods to the named place in the country of destination. And the buyer needs to undertake risks and fees after completing the delivery at the named place without unloading the goods.
About DDU, the buyer should undertake the import taxes. Except for it, the requirements for the rest of clauses are the same as DDP.
In a word, the quotation will be different according to the agreed trade terms. Moreover, the liability between you and your supplier varies from different trade terms. You should choose the best suitable way according to your own situation.
VII. Confirm all details with suppliers before start manufacturing.
Before massive production, you should confirm the following details about the products again with suppliers.
Confirm quotation again
It is necessary for you to make an ultimate confirmation with suppliers before placing orders. The original quotation is usually based on the basic price of the product. you need to confirm with suppliers again that the final quotation is inclusive or not of cost of the packaging, logo design, material, etc…
Payment method & time of payment
Chinese suppliers usually adopt: 30% deposit before manufacturing, 70% balance before shipping out from China payment clause. But it varies from different suppliers and industry. For example, for product category usually with low profit but large-value order like steel, to obtain more orders, suppliers may accept 30% deposit, 70% balance before arrival at the port.
In most cases, Chinese suppliers accept USD payment. The most common payment method is wire transfer(T/T). In addition, if you want to pay via credit card, you only can pay via the following two ways: Paypal, Alibaba trade assurance. However, it will charge you a 3%-4% service fee.
Besides, most Chinese suppliers will not accept Paypal payment for orders with large value.
Lead time
Most Chinese suppliers do not make stocks or inventory. They manufacture your product brand new after receiving your order. Generally, it takes 20-30 days to produce goods for most items. But a longer time will be needed for some special goods, like clothing, it may be as long as 40-60 days because of the dyeing process. Therefore, you must confirm the lead time with your supplier before massive production.
Pre-production sample confirmation
The pre-production sample is the standard for bulk production, so it is necessary for you to ask a sample for confirmation. Especially when you buy it on e-commerce platforms, the physical item may be a little different from the image on the online store. By asking a sample, you can touch the item directly and communicate with your supplier about the details better, which can help you get satisfactory products in the end.
In a word, no matter what kind of channel you use to place an order, be it online or offline, it is necessary for you to confirm the above aspects with your suppliers again before starting the bulk production.
VIII. Quality Inspection and shipping from China to your country
Quality inspection:
Quality control must start as early as on the samples received from your supplier and must also take place early in the production as it is easier and less costing to timely catch and address defects at 5% production than to do so at the end of the whole production. You should also inspect your goods after the production and before they leave the factory and before arranging shipment. If you place the order on Alibaba, you can pay extra fees to choose their inspection service. Their inspection partners will help you inspect the products.
You also can hire 3rd party inspection companies by yourself on Google. The fees usually are $200-$300/person/day. The risk here is that they might issue an inspection report to you without really tackling the problem.
Shipping methods:
There are 4 main shipping methods: international express, air shipping, sea shipping, and railway shipping. As a new importer with small business, international express or sea shipping are suitable choices.
The shipping time from China to America is usually 7 days by international express. For package weight exceeding 20kgs, the shipping fee is about $6-$7 for 1kg. But the fees usually are calculated based on the bigger parameter between the actual weight or dimensional weight of the goods.
The shipping time from China to America is usually 30 days by sea. The whole cost is about $200-$300 for 1m³ including the sea shipping fees and the cost in the whole import and export. But it usually has a minimum shipping volume of about 2m³.
In a word, you should choose a suitable shipping method according to your needs.
IX. Custom clearance, doorstep delivery.
Do get your goods to pass the custom clearance, you should know what documents or certificates are needed in the process. For instance, to clear customs for exportation in china you will generally need the following documents:
Contract
Commercial invoice
Packing list
Bill of landing
Certificate of origin
Of course, there are additional certificates needed according to different customs supervision requirements. But for the export process, you should not worry about it too much as the seller usually will help you tackle with the whole documentation.
To clear import customs in your country, you should inquire to your local custom broker, or your freight forwarder as additional documents might be needed. But these 5 standards documents are needed just like for the export process: commercial invoice, contract, packing list, bill of landing, certificate of origin.
Apart from the certificates, you need to pay for customs duties. But the standard is different according to countries or products. For example, if you import shoes from China to America, you need to pay customs duties, MPF(merchandise processing fee), and HMF(harbor maintenance fee).
You can calculate the duty roughly by the following method: value*duty rate.
About duty rate: you can check it on USITC .
But the most convenient way is to consult freight forwarder or your custom broker.
Conclusion
We hope that this guide can bring you more insight and that you can benefit from it regardless of if you are running a traditional or e-commerce business. Please share it around to let others benefit from it too. Please fee free to drop a comment or to Contact us if you have any question, it is our pleasure to bring you some value. We can also help you source your products in China and make sure that you get the best for your investment.
It is remarkable, what you are sharing here is very valuable!
Thank you very much for this comment. Please do not hesitate to contact us by email: cedric@nexusgroupepc.com or by whatsapp: +86 15221019907 for further inquiry or if you need any assistance, we will be more than happy to help and bring you more values. Have a nice day. 🙂
Exceptional write-up here, all those information is very useful, thank you very much for sharing.
Thank you very much for this comment. Please do not hesitate to contact us by email: cedric@nexusgroupepc.com or by whatsapp: +86 15221019907 for further inquiry or if you need any assistance, we will be more than happy to help and bring you more values. Have a nice day. 🙂