I am an Import and Export expert... AMA

[Edmund James]

I have been doing trade in China for the last 7 years and own a successful sourcing/trade company, as well as a fashion design and production company AMA.

You can see my companies here:

www.Kekaiexpress.com
www.ifgfashion.com

My office in Guangzhou China.

I am doing a FREE webinar this week, you can sign up here:

http://www.startupbros.com/importing-event

 

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[FastlaneTiger]

I know nothing about importing.

1. Where should I start learning?
2. What books do you recommend?
3. Where did you get your knowledge? Did someone mentor you?

 

[Edmund James]

1. The webinar I posted at the bottom will teach you a ton, I suggest signing up for that.
2. Poorly Made in China is a great book to read about production in China.
3. I got started by living on my friends floor and meeting every factory that would let me come and then leveraging that into B2B sales.

Thanks for the questions!

 

[Jinxus]

Why should I use your service as opposed to Alibaba or related sites?

 

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[ddall]

When importing to US from China, how common is it for people to under report the value of goods entering?

What are the drawbacks of informal entry vs formal entry, and what are the pros?

Thanks

 

[Edmund James]

First it depends on the order size we don't typically deal with any orders under $20,000.

Secondly, people typically choose to work with us because of our good reputation and the fact that we are on the ground in China. Furthermore, we have escrow, inspection and logistics services that makes things much easier for companies importing from China.

 

[Edmund James]

Very common, the drawbacks are if you get caught ou are f#*ked, the positives you pay far less tax.

When importing to US from China, how common is it for people to under report the value of goods entering?

What are the drawbacks of informal entry vs formal entry, and what are the pros?

Thanks

mmon

 

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[Berters]

Awesome! Really appreciate the AMA.

I have found a reliable manufacturer in China, they make the product we need for some really big brands, however I imagine they are not used to talking to small or startup companies.

We have probably been in contact for over a month now, only a few short phone calls but mainly emails, but we haven't even got our samples yet! There has been lots of back and forth because the help we are getting is really low level. I had expected for example a maybe a brochure of different options, or guidelines, or just something that shows different examples of what can be made. What we are really getting back is just 'find something in a store you like and tell us the parts you want'. Is business in the textile industry really this vague?! As we are new to this industry we don't know all the specifics, so finally managed to get size dimensions from existing brands but now I haven't heard back for a week.

I really want to speed things up a bit as everything else is on pause until we can get samples, I'm just not sure how else we can let them know we're serious and to just get it done for us!

 

[Edmund James]

Well there are a few things in here

1. 'I have found a reliable manufacturer in China' - If you have not received samples, and you have not seen a bulk production order from them, there is no way of guaranteeing that they are reliable.

2. Samples - When did you order them, how did you send them, did you get a tracking number?

3. Examples / Guidelines - You should be providing them with exactly what you want. Typically textile factories are working off of your designs not theirs, which is probably why they are telling you to find something that you like in the market, because then they can copy it.

4. Want to speed things up - I hope this doesn't sound harsh, because I do not mean for it to be, but it sounds like most of the delays at this point have been caused on your end (no sample for them, no design, no dimensions) more than likely they have realized that you are really new to this and have either decided to A. not work with you or B. That they will put little effort into making the deal happen.

The best thing you can do when working with a factory is to go in VERY well prepared and know exactly what you want. The more professional you are, the more seriously they will take you. Furthermore, Chinese in general are very very indirect when negotiating so you also have to understand this. Often times it takes far longer to get deals done in China, because they think in a much more multi dimensional level, where as we (westerners) tend to think in a more linear / goal oriented manner.

Hope this helps.

Awesome! Really appreciate the AMA.

I have found a reliable manufacturer in China, they make the product we need for some really big brands, however I imagine they are not used to talking to small or startup companies.

We have probably been in contact for over a month now, only a few short phone calls but mainly emails, but we haven't even got our samples yet! There has been lots of back and forth because the help we are getting is really low level. I had expected for example a maybe a brochure of different options, or guidelines, or just something that shows different examples of what can be made. What we are really getting back is just 'find something in a store you like and tell us the parts you want'. Is business in the textile industry really this vague?! As we are new to this industry we don't know all the specifics, so finally managed to get size dimensions from existing brands but now I haven't heard back for a week.

I really want to speed things up a bit as everything else is on pause until we can get samples, I'm just not sure how else we can let them know we're serious and to just get it done for us!

 

[Berters]

Replies underneath in red:

Well there are a few things in here

1. 'I have found a reliable manufacturer in China' - If you have not received samples, and you have not seen a bulk production order from them, there is no way of guaranteeing that they are reliable.

I guess I am assuming reliability from the quality and the brands that they work with, having seen many photos of the product and packaging in the factory.

2. Samples - When did you order them, how did you send them, did you get a tracking number?

We haven't actually put an order in with the samples, as originally we wanted about 16 units but I understand that this was a lot for them and I think they wanted us to secure an order before making so many. I sent off the 'final' specs for just 4 samples last Friday, still waiting to hear back.

3. Examples / Guidelines - You should be providing them with exactly what you want. Typically textile factories are working off of your designs not theirs, which is probably why they are telling you to find something that you like in the market, because then they can copy it.

Understood, I guess it's harder without going out to China and actually looking at all of the materials available. For example, I would have no idea about the different types of elastic available, it's a bit of

4. Want to speed things up - I hope this doesn't sound harsh, because I do not mean for it to be, but it sounds like most of the delays at this point have been caused on your end (no sample for them, no design, no dimensions) more than likely they have realized that you are really new to this and have either decided to A. not work with you or B. That they will put little effort into making the deal happen.

No offence taken at all, we actually did have professional designs, dimensions etc but it has been dragged out because we wanted a number of samples in a number of material types/colours etc so that we could pick and choose parts and then place a big order. They didn't seem very keen to do this and said that most companies just order a sample to check the quality of the product. I can understand that, we are just working with a smaller budget than these multi-million dollar brands and so wanted to go the extra step to make sure we order the right combination.

The best thing you can do when working with a factory is to go in VERY well prepared and know exactly what you want. The more professional you are, the more seriously they will take you. Furthermore, Chinese in general are very very indirect when negotiating so you also have to understand this. Often times it takes far longer to get deals done in China, because they think in a much more multi dimensional level, where as we (westerners) tend to think in a more linear / goal oriented manner.

I think this is it, although I have remained professional and friendly I could have been more prepared for sure. It's an industry that's new to me, although there is very little documentation anywhere about designing the product that we would like (read: there is absolutely nothing to be found, and with no background in textile design this has been the most difficult part I believe, sizing everything up and measuring material).

Hope this helps.

That's helped a lot thanks very much. I'm really hoping that perhaps our contact is out of the country again and will reply this coming week, and we can send some money over for the samples and get things going. My strengths are with product branding and marketing, so I have a lot to learn with manufacturing and product design. After getting the first product range out hopefully things can only get easier, and we can make adaptations from there and learn more as we go.

Thanks again!

 

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[Edmund James]

Replies underneath in red:



That's helped a lot thanks very much. I'm really hoping that perhaps our contact is out of the country again and will reply this coming week, and we can send some money over for the samples and get things going. My strengths are with product branding and marketing, so I have a lot to learn with manufacturing and product design. After getting the first product range out hopefully things can only get easier, and we can make adaptations from there and learn more as we go.

Thanks again!

Replies underneath in red:


I do not know how to reply underneath, but here are some more tips.

1. Quality: Never assume by photo, intellectual property rights are weak at best in China, so those could merely be pictures of another factory. Not saying that they are, but 'assume' is a word that is the death of many importers.

2. Samples:16 samples for textile is a lot. It takes one worker almost a full day to create one sample, as these are typically new designs that they have never worked with before, so it takes far longer and much more effort to produce, even 4 samples is a lot. Typically we will not do more than one or two for a client.

3. Examples / Guidelines: Normally they should send you a fabric swatch, which is an example of many different fabrics that you can choose from. That with a sample of their production is enough.

Hope this helps.

 

[Berters]

Thanks very much, I actually looked at import/export shipping container data to find the manufacturer, so I am sure they are legitimate.

We received material swatches but originally requested 16 because we wanted to make sure the sizing was correct and also have a good array of material colours to look at, although I understand now that this is an awful lot.

I'll let you know when I get a response and how things pan out, I appreciate the answers so thanks again

 

[Edmund James]

No problem!

Thanks very much, I actually looked at import/export shipping container data to find the manufacturer, so I am sure they are legitimate.

We received material swatches but originally requested 16 because we wanted to make sure the sizing was correct and also have a good array of material colours to look at, although I understand now that this is an awful lot.

I'll let you know when I get a response and how things pan out, I appreciate the answers so thanks again

 

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[KWilliams1112]

What is your process for coming up with a product? Do you go based off of a need in the market or is it more of fluid thought process? I sometimes struggle with the idea of need vs what I think will sell, I know the latter can be based on numbers and general tracking but I would like to hear your take @Edmund James

 

[Edmund James]

Funny you should ask, I literally just made a video about this yesterday. You can check it out here

 

[FF_Fastlaner]

Hi Edmund,

Thank you for creating this thread. Unfortunately I missed the webinar.

Is there a recorded version of the webinar available somewhere?

I applaud your success

 

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[cjs]

Have you ever done any importing of US goods (or others) into China?
I assume when you write import/export expert, you mean import to US, export from China?
If not, I'd be interested in hearing whatever knowledge/insight you may have.

 

[Dicky Dee]

1. The webinar I posted at the bottom will teach you a ton, I suggest signing up for that.
2. Poorly Made in China is a great book to read about production in China.
3. I got started by living on my friends floor and meeting every factory that would let me come and then leveraging that into B2B sales.

Thanks for the questions!

I watched your guys webinar, it had amazing info and definitely worth a watch. Just a question, in terms of B2B sales how did you go about that? Im familiar with importing from China and selling through ecommerce sales channels to end consumers, but i have no experience in distributing to businesses and how to find retailers...perhaps trade shows in my own country?