AMA - Ask me anything on sourcing/importing from Asia..

[kyled427]

If this offer is still around in a few months I would love to take you up on this. I am in need of sourcing a product that would fall in the textile category, I think with the right source for it I could turn this into a huge venture.

The only reason I say in a few months is because I am currently going through one start up that will be launching August 7th. Once I get it off the ground I definitely want to jump into this one though, and I have never sourced and imported anything from Asia (aside from clothes for personal use,) so would definitely love some help.


On my end, I made 6 figures last year in online marketing, so I could definitely offer you some assistance in teaching you anything/everything I know in that aspect.

Cheers!

 

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[DarkZero]

When selling imported electronics, are you able to sell them without having customers worry if they are fake or not?

Even still I am having trouble sourcing electronics on a larger scale. Still going to keep searching though.

I've only ever done the buy low/sell high on CL and ebay, but never dealt with more than a handful of at a time.

 

[Talisman]

When selling imported electronics, are you able to sell them without having customers worry if they are fake or not?

They're only "fake" if they are badged as a brand which they are not. If they are their own brand, addressing a problem/need, then they are a legitimate product, but with an unknown name (or your name, should you create one for the product). So you either create trust through your own brand, or you sell generic/unbranded/random brand products, which fulfill a need.

Buying products labelled "Beats by DRE" and selling them as such - when they are not - is fake.

Buying products that look like Beats headphones (without infringing on trademarks or patents, obviously), but labelled "Huy Gon Dang" and selling them under your own brand, is not fake.

*I apologise if 'Huy Gon Dang' means anything, I just randomly put words in there

 

[DarkZero]

They're only "fake" if they are badged as a brand which they are not. If they are their own brand, addressing a problem/need, then they are a legitimate product, but with an unknown name (or your name, should you create one for the product). So you either create trust through your own brand, or you sell generic/unbranded/random brand products, which fulfill a need.

Buying products labelled "Beats by DRE" and selling them as such - when they are not - is fake.

Buying products that look like Beats headphones (without infringing on trademarks or patents, obviously), but labelled "Huy Gon Dang" and selling them under your own brand, is not fake.

*I apologise if 'Huy Gon Dang' means anything, I just randomly put words in there

Ok I understand. I would imagine with something like those headphones you'd basically have to advertise them as fake since people would recognize the look immediately, regardless of whether or not the branding is there? It would make sense to put your own brand but I'm sure people would ask if they're beats replicas for instance?

I use that example as opposed to something like a GPS in which you don't have to buy a certain brand's replica. You just buy "Huy Gon Dang" GPS and sell it as a generic gps/your brand/whatever.

 

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[Talisman]

Ok I understand. I would imagine with something like those headphones you'd basically have to advertise them as fake since people would recognize the look immediately, regardless of whether or not the branding is there? It would make sense to put your own brand but I'm sure people would ask if they're beats replicas for instance?

We're distracting from the thread a bit - but as long as you're not infringing on copyright/trademark/patent material, it's its own product. Sure, it probably HAS been styled after the Beats product, but it does not say it's a beats product, you are not claiming it's a beats product, and you are not advertising it with any relation to a beats product.

Just use common sense - don't go to Alibaba and expect to find Gucci products at 1/3 the price. And don't buy identical looking products that are branded as "Gacci" either (just making stuff up), it's just asking for trouble. Instead find some awesome handbags that look great, are good quality, dont infringe on anyone, and then just call them "Zero Bags - be the hero" (you get the idea).

Good luck.

 

[marc100]

Im very interested in buying some ambiguous and harder to find cloth products from China to sell here in the US.

Ambiguous meaning no name brands (so customers cant shop around for better prices), and not the things people can find at Walmart etc, harder to find.
Like less popular baby blankets, wedding handkerchiefs, Linens, pillowcases, etc. stuff like that.

Is alibaba the best place for this, or do you have a recommendation of who to go to instead?
Im seeing alibaba has high minimums i.e.; I have to buy 4,000 of something, or 1,000 of something else.

I was just about to buy a membership on worldwidebrands and thought I'd ask here first. thanks!

 

[lovecharm]

Guys,

Sorry for the delayed response.. Last 3-4 days has been mental since I am flying back to London (tomorrow) and leaving our Asian office.. So had a lot to delegate to the staff.

It was kind of emotional for last couple of days, as this could probably be the last time I am going to be in charge of our Asian operation, thats depending on how things goes in LA.. So didn't use much net, just spent the days with the officers and handed over my duties to others.

I know in Asia its tough as there are so many staffs to manage, its stressful and time to time irritating as well.. But when you keep doing it for a while then you get used to it and attached to it as well... So when you are leaving them then it gets quite emotional.

Any way, I will reply to everyones post and PM's in here from tomorrow... Sorry again for the little delay.

Miki

 

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[Phones]

To all the guys here thinking to import fake products. Don't do it. You will eventually have problems at customs, either Asia or your country. And if you get big you will get shot down by the original brand. It isn't fastlane at all.

Find a niche, find a gap in a market, if you don't have the money to brand yourself, look for general chinese brands, sell them, scale a bit, start to brand your products with your brand, go big.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[arcola]

Hi loveCharm,

I understand your very busy, I am extremely interested in fabric and design printing, if I can't buy from your company, I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I really am curious on how to filter out all the suppliers I found.

Could you give a sort of Checklist a supplier in Asia (textile or other) should meet?

EX:

1. They have ____ certification
2. They products do not have _____ materials in them
3. They are registered with ____ organization

I am really over my head and I want to redline it.

Thanks a ton in advance!

 

[DarkZero]

To all the guys here thinking to import fake products. Don't do it. You will eventually have problems at customs, either Asia or your country. And if you get big you will get shot down by the original brand. It isn't fastlane at all.

Find a niche, find a gap in a market, if you don't have the money to brand yourself, look for general chinese brands, sell them, scale a bit, start to brand your products with your brand, go big.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah exactly. What I was trying to get at was finding a way to avoid replicas/fakes (even without branding) and buy an original product and branding it yourself. I guess the goal is to stay as far away from the look of an original product so that customers don't bother asking "are these ___ fakes?". I just wouldn't want that in a customer's mind and just have them think this is a new, original product.

I'm just using these as examples. I'm not even looking to get into a market like that. I'm going for something new.

 

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[MMatt]

I have found a product with a decent market in the us. The problem is finding quality batched of this product being built in china. It has moving parts and I want to build a brand known with quality and durability. Alibaba and DH gate are littered with low quality versions of this product, not what I want to build my name brand on. I found one company that looks of quality but after three attempts to contact them I gave up on hope. So my question to you is is there any other methods to find quality products, or what do you do when every option available to is not of high enough quality?

 

[21yearaussie]

Hi thanks for all the amazing advice, it's really going to help me hopefully. I'm trying to start a buisness selling roller walkers, you know how old people use like a walker with wheels on to move about? Would i be better ordering the wheels, frame, basket separately from china and putting them together myself here? Or just buying the whole thing from china and re-selling them here in Australia. I'm trying to get a good product to go niche in the home health care industry, i tried to dropship but that doesn't work in aus. Your advice would be super appreciated i feel pretty lost on where to head.

 

[Mr Cracker]

Hello, i'm looking to import from Asia with a partner, we are barely starting.

We are thinking about importing handbags and accessories for women but i'm not sure about this, because i don't see how i could brand it and stamp my logo on it at this point. If we don't brand the items we sell we would just be another re seller in my opinion. How can i find the right item to market?

Thanks

 

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[moonjun]

Cool, will look forward to it..

Mind you, I would also like to point out.. I am new in online marketing world (seo, email marketing, traffic conversion etc), so if any one wants to mentor me on that then I can certainly mentor them or help them source things from Asia..

I have offices and staffs who can source things, audit the factories, check if the supplier is genuine or not (frankly speaking whenever the supplier hears that we have offices in china then they simply don't even bother to do anything silly) and do all the paper works, this will be a gold mine for some one who has no connections in Asia or in two minds about importing.

LC

Hello dude, thanks for the thread. I can help you with online marketing and share tips with you etc.

But first, I have a question for you. I have found a great product from US that I want to import

to my country, Singapore. How do I go about doing it?

Anyway, you can PM me or add me on FB - https://www.facebook.com/chinmoonjun

 

[arcola]

Hi LoveCharm, I need a great textiles company to work with, can I buy from you?

 

[Phones]

Hi lovecharm, I managed to get 2000€ worth of sales in one week for preorders on my new ecommerce website. I'm going to push the order to the forwarding agent tomorrow so it can get here at the end of the next week (I'm shipping by DHL Express).

If you need any help with marketing I might have some tips but only for retail marketing, idk about wholesale marketing :/

I'm now going to get some more different kinds of products so I can cross-sell and use the client base I already have

 

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[lovecharm]

Well,

So, apologies for going quite.. Was swamped with paper works when I was back in London, its been almost a week and finally my life is back on track..

I am going to answer all of you today one after another..

First of all, been getting quite a lot of questions about mentoring, so here's the details:-

I am not mentoring any one yet because I am still in the process of learning the online marketing and how to improve the online sales.. I am making progress, however, it is still going to take me several months before I master the online marketing and actually selling in big numbers.. Once I do that then I can mentor people.. You see there is 2 components.. One is sourcing, which I know and another is marketing, which I am learning.. WHen I have mastered the online marketing then I will take the people on board to mentor..

Besides, I will probably tell MJ to make that thread a special thread, so that all of you hear about it..

SO the bottom line is.. I am still not taking any one to mentor.. When I am ready to do it I will let you guys know and will create a thread about it..

LC

 

[lovecharm]

Hi LoveCharm, I need a great textiles company to work with, can I buy from you?

Hey

Yeah sure, PM me the details and then will take it from there..

LC

 

[lovecharm]

Hi lovecharm, I managed to get 2000€ worth of sales in one week for preorders on my new ecommerce website. I'm going to push the order to the forwarding agent tomorrow so it can get here at the end of the next week (I'm shipping by DHL Express).

If you need any help with marketing I might have some tips but only for retail marketing, idk about wholesale marketing :/

I'm now going to get some more different kinds of products so I can cross-sell and use the client base I already have

Congratulations on the sale.. Thats pretty good going..

I will PM you later to discuss about this.. Got quite a few people to reply to here first as I have been away from the forum for a bit..

LC

 

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[lovecharm]

Hello dude, thanks for the thread. I can help you with online marketing and share tips with you etc.

But first, I have a question for you. I have found a great product from US that I want to import

to my country, Singapore. How do I go about doing it?

Anyway, you can PM me or add me on FB - https://www.facebook.com/chinmoonjun

Well,

Here's what you can do:-

1:- Finalise the price with the wholesaler or manufacturer of that product.
2:- Then decide if you want to send it to singapore via air or sea.
3:- Check with Singapore customs about the vat and other regulations.
4:- Once you are satisfied and everything got green signal then bring them to Singapore (via air or sea, depending on what you chose).
5:- Do the customs clearance when the product reaches singapore.
6:- Bring them to your warehouse and sell them.

LC

 

[lovecharm]

Hello, i'm looking to import from Asia with a partner, we are barely starting.

We are thinking about importing handbags and accessories for women but i'm not sure about this, because i don't see how i could brand it and stamp my logo on it at this point. If we don't brand the items we sell we would just be another re seller in my opinion. How can i find the right item to market?

Thanks

Ermm.. didn't quite understand what you want to be honest..

You can do branding, there are plenty of resource which will help you.. its just too big subject.. Just google how to brand a product..

As for putting your logo.. well manufacturers can do it for you.. You won't have to worry about it..

If you are looking to find the right product, you simply have to do market research.. Again, its big subject to cover.. Just look earlier in the thread, I think I have posted some links on how to do market research..

LC

 

[lovecharm]

Hi thanks for all the amazing advice, it's really going to help me hopefully. I'm trying to start a buisness selling roller walkers, you know how old people use like a walker with wheels on to move about? Would i be better ordering the wheels, frame, basket separately from china and putting them together myself here? Or just buying the whole thing from china and re-selling them here in Australia. I'm trying to get a good product to go niche in the home health care industry, i tried to dropship but that doesn't work in aus. Your advice would be super appreciated i feel pretty lost on where to head.

Well, I would just ask the following questions to myself:-

1:- Do I have enough equipment or expertise to put things together by myself? If no then better to get manufacturer do it.
2:- Even if I get the equipment and learn how to put things together how much time will it take me, since time is money, you should find out if people in china can do it cheaper then you, if they can then ask them to manufacture it.. You can then spend your time on marketing and making business decisions.

LC

 

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[lovecharm]

I have found a product with a decent market in the us. The problem is finding quality batched of this product being built in china. It has moving parts and I want to build a brand known with quality and durability. Alibaba and DH gate are littered with low quality versions of this product, not what I want to build my name brand on. I found one company that looks of quality but after three attempts to contact them I gave up on hope. So my question to you is is there any other methods to find quality products, or what do you do when every option available to is not of high enough quality?

Well, if you can't find quality products online then try to look for them offline. You guys should always keep in mind that, majority of the big manufacturing deals are done offline.. I mean 100% of our manufacturing business comes from offline.. So that should tell you something about the manufacturing world.

If no one is selling what you are looking for then you will have to do custom products, so they will make it according to your need.

LC

 

[lovecharm]

This thread is incredible!

LC, I need to have pillows with graphic designs manufactured, could I do business with your company or can you refer me? I have so many questions this thread is a gold mine!!

I have PM'd you back.

 

[lovecharm]

If this offer is still around in a few months I would love to take you up on this. I am in need of sourcing a product that would fall in the textile category, I think with the right source for it I could turn this into a huge venture.

The only reason I say in a few months is because I am currently going through one start up that will be launching August 7th. Once I get it off the ground I definitely want to jump into this one though, and I have never sourced and imported anything from Asia (aside from clothes for personal use,) so would definitely love some help.


On my end, I made 6 figures last year in online marketing, so I could definitely offer you some assistance in teaching you anything/everything I know in that aspect.

Cheers!

Thats great.

Send me a PM with what you are looking for and will take it from there..

LC

 

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[lovecharm]

Im very interested in buying some ambiguous and harder to find cloth products from China to sell here in the US.

Ambiguous meaning no name brands (so customers cant shop around for better prices), and not the things people can find at Walmart etc, harder to find.
Like less popular baby blankets, wedding handkerchiefs, Linens, pillowcases, etc. stuff like that.

Is alibaba the best place for this, or do you have a recommendation of who to go to instead?
Im seeing alibaba has high minimums i.e.; I have to buy 4,000 of something, or 1,000 of something else.

I was just about to buy a membership on worldwidebrands and thought I'd ask here first. thanks!

Well, alibaba is a good start, you can also check esource as well..

Don't have much knowledge about worldwidebrands, but I have been told to list my company there, so will do that today..

WHat you are looking for is home textile manufacturer, so google them too, and see what you get.

 

[Kak]

I don't know if you can answer this one. How do I find off directory suppliers all over the world. I am looking in Bangladesh, Veitnam, India, Phillippenes, South and Central america. I want to diversify my supply chain and also shorten it in some instances like Mexico and the Caribbean.

I know items like mine come out of these countries. Where do I look?

 

[marc100]

Thanks Lovecharm, 1 more question.
I'm also debating between selling toys or pet supplies. Is there one that clearly a winner to go with? Or are they both pretty equal in the volume they do??

My eventual goal is for my store to sell everything, but I need to pick one area to start with and try to gain traction.
So far ALL of my sales from SEO have been toys, but Im thinking pets would be easier for me to promote as i have more friends with pets than i do who buy childrens toys.
In your experience does one blow the other away?
thanks

 

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[lovecharm]

I don't know if you can answer this one. How do I find off directory suppliers all over the world. I am looking in Bangladesh, Veitnam, India, Phillippenes, South and Central america. I want to diversify my supply chain and also shorten it in some instances like Mexico and the Caribbean.

I know items like mine come out of these countries. Where do I look?

Well, I don't know what your product is, so can't exactly give you specific advices.

However, as a general rule, you can do these followings:-

1:- Google for the manufacturer of your product in certain country.
2:- Look for business forum of that specific country and from there you can get the suppliers list.
3:- Look for trading companies in the specific country, these trading companies have the list and they usually act as the middle man.
4:- Go to the local yellow pages of the country and from there look for them..
5:- Go to the local chamber of commerce page and they should have list there or you just ask them for suppliers and they should be able to give the list to you.

LC

 

[lovecharm]

Thanks Lovecharm, 1 more question.
I'm also debating between selling toys or pet supplies. Is there one that clearly a winner to go with? Or are they both pretty equal in the volume they do??

My eventual goal is for my store to sell everything, but I need to pick one area to start with and try to gain traction.
So far ALL of my sales from SEO have been toys, but Im thinking pets would be easier for me to promote as i have more friends with pets than i do who buy childrens toys.
In your experience does one blow the other away?
thanks

Hey

Well, if you look in to any products, then there are always positives and negatives.. It all comes down to which one suits you best and which one you feel comfortable working with.

I know I have personally worked with products that makes less profit simply because it was easier and I wanted less hassle at that time of my life.. But I also worked with with products that makes really high profit however it was really stressful to deal with..

Right now at this time of my life, I am really charged up, positive and aggressive.. So I would take on new things and much bigger things than what I usually can handle...Just simply been really positive and aggressive lately..

So you will have to ask yourself that question and only you can decide the answer to that.

LC