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 Are quickly superseded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!