Importing Supplies direct from China

[josie]

Has anyone got any experience of this?

[ANDY]

i have been in negotiations with a chinese medal manufacturer before

 

coincidently at the same time, a huge shipment of trophies was seized by customs and came up for auction

 

no idea why they were seized but it was off putting, so decided to go a safer route

 

this company were very easy to deal with and the pricing was very clear as was the carriage

 

the only thing was, they quoted in US dollars, so you had to take fluctuating exhange rates into account

 

but it was a hellavalot cheaper than buying in the uk

 

payment was required in full, up front.

 

then there is the worry of "what if the order is wrong or late" etc

 

i have been told by people who deal with china that there is a "certain way to do things" whatever that means?

 

i suppose the best way is to research and contact a supplier, but not one that emailed you, with "very special prices and good luck my special friend"

 

and maybe do a smaller test order at first, to see how it pans out

 

now i've got the kung fu fighting song in my head

[Craig Gardner]

Has anyone got any experience of this?

 

 

importing from china is not hard but you need to buy large volumes to get good prices and use surface ie boat not air for delivery to keep costs low

remember their is hidden costs

they will quote you a price with delivery you will need to pay upfront

but off the top of my head here is a list off hidden costs as it is my day off and no invoices to look at

it will probabaly leave nigbro in china and arrive at felixstowe.

problem 1 you will need a forwarding agent to handle your shipment from felixstowe

problem 2 you need a vat number for it to clear customs or a areo number if you aint vat registered and if not you will need to register for areo number which takes about 4 weeks to obtain.

problem 3 import duty / vat / presentation on your behalf to customs / admin fee / delivery from felixstowe to u all get added into a invoice from the forwarding agents who you also need to pay before they will send you your goods.

problem 4 you imported the goods so are now responsible to replace faulty ones

as an example i had a small delivery from china the goods and boat transport to the uk was $3000 the forwarding agents then charged me another £1200 before i got the goods so the larger amount you import the more items their is to absorb the costs.