In my last post, I gave some tips to help determine products to import from China.

To save some time, I’ll give you the ‘heads up’ about a product category to think twice about, particularly if you’re new to importing.  Just keep in mind this is my personal opinion, and some people obviously succeed importing this category.

The category is consumer electrical goods, like iPods, DVD players, Mac Books GPS’s, video games and flat screen TVs.

It’s a kind of exciting category, and therefore many people explore it, but here are my reasons against it:

These items are:

1. High value, requiring a great deal of capital to buy a small amount of stock

2. Constantly go down in price, therefore your stock may be worth less than you bought it for

3. Are quickly superseded

4. Competitive to re-sell

5. Low margin

Also, keep in mind the product must comply with your country’s electrical standards.
And if you’re after brand name products e.g. Sony, Apple etc, there is a good chance they have existing exclusive distribution agreements in place.

People more suited to importing consumer electrical goods are generally experienced importers who know how to deal with the Chinese, and have good distribution channels for these products already in place.

What do you think?  Am I justified in saying this, or am I missing something?  Be glad to hear your feedback.

Until next time, good luck with your importing!

Ni hao (‘Hi’ in Chinese, pronounced ‘Knee How’) ,

Where To Start…

You may currently be in one of two boats:
1. You know what you want to import, or
2. You’re not sure what to import

If you know what to import – Great! Your next step is to determine the quantity of products you want. I’ll talk about that in later posts.

If you don’t know what to import, then look for a gap in the market, or extra value you could deliver to differentiate your product or service from the current offerings.

Hint: Identify areas that people are feeling pain.

Different people have success with different products.   You need to be able to sell the product out when it arrives, so do some market research first. That is, ask your potential customers what they want and how much they’d be prepared to pay for it.

Then develop a marketing, sales and distribution strategy. E.g. will you be a wholesaler, have a bricks and mortar retail store, an online store, sell through eBay etc.

China is considered ‘the world’s factory’ so there’s plenty of products to choose from.

You can get some ideas from the product categories section of our other website, click here for some examples.

But don’t restrict yourself to what you can buy ‘off-the-shelf’.

The Chinese are excellent manufacturers, and they’ll custom make just about anything to your specifications.

To keep it simple and low risk, stick with only one product category that you can get from a single supplier in China.

Buying different products from more than one supplier and getting them in the same container starts getting a little more complex.

Not impossible, but for newbies, it just increases the risks.

So, some ideas for what product to import:

1. Ask your potential customers what they want and what they’re prepared to pay for it.

2. See if the manufacturing capability exists in China for your product. Contact us if you get stuck.

3. Develop a marketing, sales and distribution strategy.

The important thing is to take action. Identifying your product can be the first step to financial freedom.

If you have any questions or a pressing need to take advantage of the enormous opportunities that importing from China presents, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

That’s the link for a free feasibility check. Or you can call us on: 07 3392 1421.

Until then,

Zai jian (Good bye!)

Lindy Chen

P.S.

There are plenty of free online directory sites where you can advertise your business.

For example, the Australian Suppliers Register promotes Australian goods and services to overseas buyers through Austrade’s website. http://www.austrade.gov.au/ASD/default.aspx

You simply register online at no cost.

Register at Australian Suppliers Register.

P.P.S.
If you want to see many Chinese suppliers in one place, then a trip to the Canton
Fair, the largest trade fair in the world, could be for you. It’s held in April and October each year, and I consider a ‘gotta do at least once in a lifetime’ experience.