The curse of the ‘Cheap’ product

China is the focus here again. Not because of any particular bias, simply that it seems to be the first Country that people look at when looking to source goods from ‘Overseas’.

It has the World’s second largest GDP (to the US), but actually takes first place as an economy when the figures are adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity, which takes into consideration wages, price of goods and servicing.

The quest for ‘Cheap’ products seems to be a common one judging from the enquiries I receive, and I have covered this loosely on other posts already, but I need to re-iterate:

CHEAP PRICES MEAN LOW QUALITY PRODUCTS.

What to expect once an order is ready

These are the practicalities of the import process that perhaps we within the industry take for granted but can be a worry to new importers which is perfectly understandable.  I will try and summarise the process from A to B to make it as clear as possible.

Seafreight

Let us assume that your order is ready at the factory or you have at least been given a date when it will be ready.  For arguments sake it is of a size suitable for shipping by seafreight – say a part load shipment (LCL) which is perhaps the most common.

You should have already asked your supplier for an FOB price prior to agreeing to any purchase.  This means the supplier will arrange to get goods to the port of export and will almost certainly be the cheapest option in the long run.

Looking through the eyes of your Supplier

I am often advocating purchasing goods from China to sell in the UK as it can reap substantial benefits such as allowing for higher sales margins and providing access to niche or bespoke products that would sell well in the UK with limited competition.

Part of my day to day job is arranging shipping and logistics solutions for clients once they have made the purchase to make delivery to the UK run smoothly.  This is the easy bit.

During this process I am often copied in on emails back and forth between buyer and supplier which sometimes can be almost endless before a mutually agreeable sale has been agreed.  These emails will usually cover similar subject matter and often are perfectly understandable questions made by people who are usually fairly new to importing and obviously wary of parting with their hard earned cash.

Much negotiation time could be saved and the process could be less frustrating if the buyer could perhaps understand things from the supplier’s point of view before you start contacting them.

Where should I Import from?

This is one of the million dollar questions, but will very much depend on the type of product you are looking to import.

China are now the biggest player when it comes to supplying goods and you can pretty much source anything within reason from there for a good price.  One huge warning about importing from China is to not touch ‘Branded’ goods.   By this I mean Brand names such as Apple, Nike, Prada… You get the picture.  Although more than often these will be manufactured in China, the ones you order will be fakes as they do not have the necessary licences to sell these goods outside of official routes.  They may well look the same but underneath the skin they will be cheap imitations that will fall apart or burst into flames at the soonest opportunity.  If the goods happen to not be fake they will be goods from the ‘grey market’.  Simply put these will come from the same factories that produce the ‘official’ branded goods but they are sold illegally.  In either instance these will in most cases be seized by the authorities on arrival in the UK.  Stay clear of Branded goods from China.

The world is at your fingertips

Trading over long distances is not a new thing.

The earliest recorded instances (depending what you read and who you trust) date back to the 19th Century B.C. where evidence exists that the Assyrians set up a merchant colony used as a base for selling (or swapping) goods.

Before this turns into a history lesson lets spring briskly forward to the 21st Century (A.D.), where international trade is now paramount to the economy of almost every country in the world.  If there is a market for a product, someone, somewhere needs to supply that product.