FBA and Importing Goods From China

[vinisterz]

when you find a product that you want to import on alibaba, how do you know you are not infringing on someones invention that the chinese manufacturer just copied?

 

[Kerin]

Hey there,

I'm based in Australia but am going to start selling on Amazon UK. With regards to the VAT - do you know what the threshold is before VAT is payable upon importation?

I'm assuming if you are registered for VAT you could reclaim this anyway however being a foreign company I believe it is optional to register and charge for VAT? Trying to gauge whether we can import stuff into the UK and avoid VAT altogether.

Cheers

 

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[Kerin]

You won't be able to avoid VAT unfortunately especially if you're shipping normally. The option to register and charge for VAT is basically option to reclaim your input VAT (VAT on your costs) and offset that against output VAT (VAT on your selling price). If you're not registered for VAT, you simply get what you sell for and costs is as it is.

For e.g. (assuming selling price of £12 and cost of £5):
Registered for VAT:
Output VAT (20%) = £2, for your purpose you assume selling price of £10 plus £2 VAT. VAT portion would be absorbed by your customer
Input VAT = £1
You need to pay HMRC (aka the Government) £1
Your net profit = £10 - £5 = £5
So you can reclaim £2 and offset against VAT on your costs of import

Not registered for VAT:
Not VAT, so net profit = £12 - £6 = £6

By not registering for VAT, you basically gain the portion of VAT that you were meant to pass on to the government. Hence why higher net profits.

I hope that was what you were asking...

Perfect, thanks for clarifying that. It seems the most logical thing for me to do would to sell as unregistered for VAT as the input VAT will always be lower than VAT payable to the govt - therefore I'll always end up in a payable position.

I'll just have to absorb the input VAT and take it as a hit.

Thanks again!

 

[caezlar]

im talking to a few manufacturers regarding a products with good margin but they want 200 dollars for shipping for 10 samples. Its about 10-11kg. Is this good price?

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not good price, DHL charge is around120 dollars.

 

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[hatzil]

Thank you for your thread!
my question:

have you ever imported big quantity directly to amazon FBA or some inspection/preperation service that you can recommand?

 

[Late Start]

I've found exactly the item I was planning to sell on Amazon and eBay from a manufacturer on Alibaba, and it looks like they make several other items I'm thinking of testing the waters with, but haven't had much luck finding the same item on Aliexpress, which would be ideal since I would like to start off with a small supply and go from there.

 

[Late Start]

I've found with the limited manufacturers that I've worked with on Alibaba, that their shipped price is less than what you'll find on Aliexpress. I've had good luck with Alibaba manufacturers selling me less than MOQ amounts. On a company with a 1000 MOQ, I've ordered 5, 50, 300 and will make their MOQ on the next shipment. They aren't thrilled about the short runs, but if you appear to be serious, they'll oblige.

This type of progression seems to be working out good, as it builds a trust relationship with the seller. Now that they know I'm a serious buyer, they are sending me pics and notes about up and coming products they are working on that haven't hit Amazon or Ebay yet.

That's good to know - the manufacturer I've found seems to make just about everything I'd want in the niche I'm looking to start out in, so if they're willing to do a short run, I think we'll do well together.

 

[pacmanz3451]

Hello everyone

It is my first post so I would like to welcome all members. I have a question and I think that it is the best thread for it. I'm going to make my first order from China. I was looking for the product and picked up some. Now I want to evaluate my choices and I have a problem with one of them. I hope that some of users with bigger experience in this field suggest me what to do. So, what do you think about importing cosmetics? Is it good type of product or should I avoid it? I know that I should avoid products with trademarks but on alibaba I found that manufacturers offer "private labels" So they can put on the product my brand? If I understand correctly?

I would like to know your opinion about importing cosmetics, is it a problematic product? For example people can have problems with skin, hair etc. What do you think about it? I found good market demand but I hesitate that it is the best choice and product to import. I will be very grateful for all your suggestions.

PS: I know that my English isn't perfect but i hope that everything is understandable

 

[Jean-Pierre]

Meanwhile I will try to answer some of the questions posted since he left the scene. I have numbered in red the two parts to your question:
1. Importing cosmetics from China is a very risky thing to do. I would never import anything that goes on the skin or is to be swallowed either.
2. You can have almost anything private labelled, but you should consider the product liability issues, in particular with cosmetics.
3. Problems can include the need to meet FDA regulations.

Yep, second that.