Discount Giant » Importing from China tips

How to find a local freight forwarder in china

sev — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:47:31 +0000

If you want to import some products form China, one of the main points that you have to take into consideration is how to deal with your product freight. Even if you apply CIF terms, to avoid your lost and make maximum profit, you’d better know how to deal with shipping by yourself.

Decide whether you want to find a forwarder in your country or find a local forwarder in China.
Obviously, finding a forwarder in your country is much easier, but the service charge in developed countries is much higher than in China.
The lower labour cost, lower exchange rate and other factors make Chinese forwarders’ service charge much cheaper.
There are a lot of Chinese freight forwarders, but only a part of them are reliable and are able to offer high quality service.
Post a topic on an international business website or send quotation inquiries to listed forwarders.
You will definitely receive a lot of inquiries.
Carefully evaluate those forwarders.
Get in touch with the forwarders you have chosen.

Tips

Generally speaking, the service charge of Chinese forwarders are much cheaper. So you don’t need to pay much attention to it.
However, you should carefully evaluate the forwarder’s credit, reliability, and ability.
To find international freight forwarders, you can visit these major websites:
- www.fretonline.com
- www.freightnet.com
- www.alibaba.com

You can either contact forwarders directly or post your enquiry on-line (Please note: We in no way endorse these websites, they are merely here for informational purposes).
www.asiacalculator.com is also recommended since it provides freight quotes directly uploaded on the platform by international forwarders, for many different shipping routes. Registered importers can consult them on-line. The website also features automatic calculation of custom duties according to the type of merchandise imported (nature, buying price, quantity, weight), as well as exchange rates calculation.
Have a good level in English in order not to be mislead by terms and conditions proposed by freight forwarders.
Be sure that the freight quote you receive is all-inclusive and leaves no room for unexpected extra costs. Classical error at this level is the packaging, palletising and labelling costs being excluded from both contracts.
Review every detail; the forwarder must include all taxes and extra charges deriving from international shipping. If needed, you can ask forwarders to add insurance to the quote.
Confirm the incoterm used in quotation. Are you supposed to take possession of the merchandise once manufactured (ex-works) or when loaded on the cargo (Free On Board – FOB) ? The impact on total costs is obviously important, so pay attention because there are lots of incoterms.
Choose carefully your shipping mode, the 3 options being:
- Sea freight: cheaper but slower
- Air freight: more expensive but faster
- “Sea and Air” freight: combined freight solution

Take into consideration the total volume and weight of your shipment: air freight can prove to be a cheaper solution if you ship small quantities or very light products.
Check origin and destination addresses of your shipment: most of freight forwarders will give you quotes for a region but not necessarily for a specific city.
Finally, don’t forget to plan quality control of your goods before shipping: it’s the last time you will be able to refuse the merchandise. Remember to notify your manufacturer or forwarder about the inspection. Tell him when it will take place and who will carry it out.

Tips on importing from China

sev — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:43:54 +0000

Pay attention to the kind of business of your supplier; are they manufacturers, or 3rd party suppliers? Compare the advantage and disadvantage. Manufacturers may have a faster response in the process of product development, while 3rd-party suppliers have broader channels that can satisfy your other needs in the future.

Establishing healthy personal relationship with the key employees of your supplier is very important when doing business with Chinese people. Keep in mind that saving face is very important for Chinese people.

You need to have a good estimate of the landing cost before you make your order. Landing cost = cost of the goods fob + transport costs by forwarder + import duties (if any) + local transport costs + cost of service providers (inspections, agents, etc.). There may be many hidden costs (See additionsl Costs)and you can consult an import management company, but the best way to avoid bad surprises is by making a first order of a small quantity, and collect all costs and fine tune your landing cost estimate.

Pay attention to import duties. Import duties depend on Tarrif code of the goods you import, the countries of origin (China) and destination. If your Chinese supplier has some export experience, he shall know what is the Tarrif codes for your product, but do your homework and check the product description of the code corresponds to the product you import. Definitions are sometime vague. A wrong code may delay the custom clearance of your shipment.

A letter of credit is commonly used in trade with China. Go to your bank to get detail formality and cost.

Export agents in China are very commonly hired by Chinese exporters. Some of these export agents are also 3rd-party suppliers, others just provide export services.

Neglecting compliance can be very costly. This may force you to pay expensive and unexpected customs duty, such as anti-dumping duty, as well as risk delaying your customs clearance. This will cost you expensive storage fees at a railway station or container yard.

Visiting trade shows is a great way to see suppliers face-to-face.

If solid wood packaging material is used, talk to your broker. Sometimes pallet packing is necessary to reduce the transportation cost during the process of loading and unloading. Talk to your forwarder for details. All wooden packaging for export must follow the nimp15 treated wood specifications. If your supplier is using wooden packaging, make sure he delivers a nimp15 certificate with other export documentation.

Usually an initial deposit of between 30-50% will be requested by a Chinese Manufacturer to get your product/order into production.

Steps to import from China

sev — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:41:56 +0000

1. Find the products you’re interested in. There are many sources to find your products. The internet is the easiest one to start with. There are many web listing services, including here, you can register your username, post the products of your interest, and you will receive tons of products supply information and perhaps a price list.

2. Establish a relationship with potential suppliers. Select a few potential suppliers to communicate with. When contacting suppliers, provide information about your company. The good suppliers already have more business than they can handle – you want to market yourself so that they want to do business with you. When qualifying suppliers, you can ask them how long they’ve been in business, which trade shows they attend, how long they’ve been attending these trade shows and which companies they manufacture for. Check and confirm everything that you can.

3. Narrow down to the supplier that you really want to work with. Discuss the price and trade relationship. Obtain product samples and review them (and their packaging, instructions, and any other collateral) for quality – you may have to pay a nominal fee. Discuss shipping and payment terms. Gather all necessary information to prepare for placing a trial order. When placing the purchase order, include as many details as you can think of.

4. Understand trade terms and use them. Before placing any order, you need to understand and confirm with your suppliers about shipment terms. Most popular are “fob” and “cif”, as well as payment terms. These are closely related to your landing cost calculation and risk assessment. You can consult an import management company and a freight forwarder for detail break-down on the costs and risks. You can also use an import management company to negotiate the trade terms.

5. Understand payment terms. Somewhat common is to pay 30% at time of order, and the remaining 70% when the product ships. The down payment gives the manufacturer/supplier funds necessary to begin production. These terms are negotiable.

6. As the Importer of record, you (not the supplier) are legally responsible for making sure that goods brought into the country meet all national regulatory requirements. Goods that don’t meet requirements can be stopped at the border or can result in future legal suits. Don’t just take a supplier’s word that requirements are being met. Do your homework on compliance issues and make sure you know requirements are being met. You need to understand the relevant import compliance regulations beforehand. Compliance issues can be very complicated for some products. It is highly recommended to consult a good customs house broker or HMRC before placing any order.

7. Select a forwarder and customs house broker. Go to your local international trade organization/association and customs office to find the list. Visit them, and select the one you like. For the first time importer, use more individualized services, because you need more attention than you would expect. You may ask your local customs bureau for help on assessing custom duties amount for your products, or use online services such as AsiaCalculator

8. Place a trial order with a written purchase order if everything goes well. In the purchase order, besides typing out a detailed description of the products, product requirements, packaging requirements, etc., and trade terms, list all needed shipping documents.

9. Appoint an inspection company to check your goods on site in the factory, and give you a detailed report. It is very helpful to provide the inspection company details about what to check. Without such details, the inspection company may think products are okay even though you won’t. You may also consider having inspections done of components that are going into assembly early in the process. This can help avoid last minute quality problems. This is usually done a few days before the expected shipment, so you can address any issues that would be raised. This will allow you to avoid receiving defective or non-conforming goods.

10. Track the transportation and customs clearance. Your forwarder and customs broker should take care of your transportation and customs clearance. However, you also need to track the process and assistance, such as providing additional products information and endorsing bill of landing. (See Documents Required for Importing)

11. Receive the products and keep the records. Now you can go to your next step to sell your products and make profit.

12. Do not order counterfeit or branded products, unless the supplier can prove they are an authorized reseller. You can contact the brand owner to confirm the supplier is an authorized reseller.

Ways to import from China to the UK

sev — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:39:17 +0000

If you have decided that you want to import goods from China but don’t know where start probably the best point of call is to find some manufactures to see what kind of goods they sell to get an idea of what is available.

Such website as

Alibaba.com

Give you direct links with manufactures in China from which you can contact them directly who can organise the goods to be made and sent to you.

Good points with dealing direct with manufacture.

Deal direct cut out any middle man a good cost reduction.
Establish a direct relationship.

Bad points

Quality control may be an issue, samples sent may not be the same as goods received and goods not arriving in a good condition.

Communication can sometimes be a problem though majority of companies do have English speaking and writing staff.
Need to know all there is to know about importing that good and any associated costs involved in clearing it though UK customs.

Using an agent based in China

There are many agents based in China that facilitate sourcing shipping goods to over seas customers. They can be found quite easily in major manufacturing cities in China and on the internet.

Good Points with dealing with agents in china

Can help simplify the whole process of importing from China from sourcing, arranging samples, quality control, arranging necessary documents needed and organising the shipping of the goods.

Bad points with dealing with agents in china

Agent fees incurred

Finding a good agent to provide you with a good service some agents take kick back from manufactures to get clients to buy their goods.

Agents will acquire you your goods and get it shipped to you they can not advise you on any import taxes, legalisation you may need in order to get in out of customs in the UK (see associated costs)