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

[lovecharm]

I would like to know about importing Silk into the UK on wholesale to supply buyers for apparel.

1) How to source them?
2) How to know they are legit (i.e can be trusted, reliability etc)
3) How to get them interested on a small scale first ?

Nadia

Here are my answers:-

1:- From top of my head, China, India, Thailand, Bangladesh etc.. They produce silks, so you will have to search for the factories and then contact them for price etc. You can check in Alibaba and google for the factory details.

2:- There are several ways to verify their reliability:-

a) See if they have any verification or not.
b) If they are certified by leading standard companies like ISO, WRAP etc.
c) Who their existing clients are and ask what they think of them.
d) Talk to them, see if you feel comfortable or not.
e) You can hire agents who will go on behalf of you in to the factories to verify.
f) You can visit their factories yourself to verify.

3:- To get them interested there are couple of ways:-

a) Go to a small factory who will sell in small scale. This is by far the best way, I know this first hand, because we say no to small quantities several times a day, because we are too big to produce in small quantities. One of our sister factory is small and they can do small batches.
b) Talk to them directly over phone or Skype, not on email. I find in email its always hard to persuade and solve any hurdles, I always opt for the phone or face to face meeting. But then again I used to be a sales man, so I know how to crack people, whether its 5 min or 5 hours, I will crack them and get my way. Watch that film the wolves of wall street, they show glimpse of how to sell. Once you know the basics of selling then you can persuade people to do many things that they normally wouldn't do.

Hope these helps.

Saw that you used to own salon and do consultancy for salon owners. Interesting enough, last few weeks I have been meeting lots of salon owners and after talking to them I am quite intrigued about the Beauty industry. Also one of my friend who owns a salon took me to that beauty expo in Excel couple of weeks ago in London, so seems like that industry has good potential.

LC

 

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[Nadia]

Here are my answers:-

1:- From top of my head, China, India, Thailand, Bangladesh etc.. They produce silks, so you will have to search for the factories and then contact them for price etc. You can check in Alibaba and google for the factory details.

2:- There are several ways to verify their reliability:-

a) See if they have any verification or not.
b) If they are certified by leading standard companies like ISO, WRAP etc.
c) Who their existing clients are and ask what they think of them.
d) Talk to them, see if you feel comfortable or not.
e) You can hire agents who will go on behalf of you in to the factories to verify.
f) You can visit their factories yourself to verify.

3:- To get them interested there are couple of ways:-

a) Go to a small factory who will sell in small scale. This is by far the best way, I know this first hand, because we say no to small quantities several times a day, because we are too big to produce in small quantities. One of our sister factory is small and they can do small batches.
b) Talk to them directly over phone or Skype, not on email. I find in email its always hard to persuade and solve any hurdles, I always opt for the phone or face to face meeting. But then again I used to be a sales man, so I know how to crack people, whether its 5 min or 5 hours, I will crack them and get my way. Watch that film the wolves of wall street, they show glimpse of how to sell. Once you know the basics of selling then you can persuade people to do many things that they normally wouldn't do.

Hope these helps.

Saw that you used to own salon and do consultancy for salon owners. Interesting enough, last few weeks I have been meeting lots of salon owners and after talking to them I am quite intrigued about the Beauty industry. Also one of my friend who owns a salon took me to that beauty expo in Excel couple of weeks ago in London, so seems like that industry has good potential.

LC

Fabulous! Thank you for this. Since you are based in London, it would be good to meet and see how we are able to add business value to the other. Yes, the beauty industry is HUGE! Excel is wonderful, I couldn't go this year--need to go to Birmingham/Manchester in the upcoming ones (if I have the patience to drive for that long!) I will watch the movie again, it was good--yes! I am proficient at sales and closing, however I always take the necessary help that I can get!

 

[lovecharm]

Fabulous! Thank you for this. Since you are based in London, it would be good to meet and see how we are able to add business value to the other. Yes, the beauty industry is HUGE! Excel is wonderful, I couldn't go this year--need to go to Birmingham/Manchester in the upcoming ones (if I have the patience to drive for that long!) I will watch the movie again, it was good--yes! I am proficient at sales and closing, however I always take the necessary help that I can get!

Yeah it will be nice to meet in London, but airport has been my home address for last couple of months as I am always flying from one office to another for sourcing, marketing or opening up new offices etc.

Pm me your Skype and we will chat over there, then when I am back in London we can meet up.

 

[Young-Gun]

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

I don't know how to explain it, but this is actually one of my favorite posts I've ever read on here XD

 

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[lovecharm]

Hey every one,

How's everything going on..

Since my last post around March, things has been moving at lightening speed, was living in New york for last 2 months, met up with one of the fellow top fast laners from here, made tons of connections, now I can just open up the office any time and will be in business from next day in NY, learned the business culture and peoples mind set in USA and to finish it off I am about to get involved in Politics.. ha ha, I know, even I didn't see that was coming.. But that's life, you never know what's coming your way, you just have to take it and give it your best shot.

The bottom line is, in last 2-3 months learned a lot about the Branding of clothes and became personal friends with owners and executives of several top brands like American Eagle, Guess etc.

Next, we are diversifying our business, we are getting involved in agriculture and tourism.

And finally, getting involved in Politics, I am still uncertain, tomorrow I will be meeting a top political leader so I will really decide if it will be worth getting involved in politics or not (as I will have to donate almost 6 figure sum first and after that I will have to travel to many countries with my own expenses as well, so there is a huge costs involved).

There are benefits of getting involved in politics and being a diplomat as you will be networking with the leading investors and ministers in the world and as they say, you are the average of the 5 people thats around you, so if those 5 people are worth $100 million each then… Well you can see the possibilities.

Since my work load has calmed down a bit, so I will be able to answer your questions, so bring them up!

 

[Nosferatu]

my boy miki!

glad to see you back on the forum, it was fun having you in ny man. can't wait for you to come back again. otherwise ill head out to london and see you!

Diplomat Dutta! lets go!

 

[Marvin]

I always see people flipping couches and other expensive items from Asia and selling them here for huge profit. How do you gauge the potential value of items like these?

How much would a 17 year old flipping burgers need to start business based on importing from Alibaba?

 

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[lovecharm]

I always see people flipping couches and other expensive items from Asia and selling them here for huge profit. How do you gauge the potential value of items like these?

How much would a 17 year old flipping burgers need to start business based on importing from Alibaba?

Marvin,

It's all about demand, supply and the profit margin.

The potential value will depend on those 3 factors mainly, so do as much research as possible on those 3. For a 17 year old guy, you can do what I did. I was working as a sales executive of a bank, I was saving up money and with those money I started the business and then reinvested to make it grow, then eventually I left the job as business was doing well.

Hope that helps.

 

[MMatt]

This thread must have been forgotten in time but I read it ages back. Did you ever fill those mentorship spots, if so what were the results? (I think it was you talking about this)

 

[lovecharm]

This thread must have been forgotten in time but I read it ages back. Did you ever fill those mentorship spots, if so what were the results? (I think it was you talking about this)

I haven't done it yet as I don't have much time now a days. Didn't even log in here for last 3-4 months, it was that busy.

If I do it then I will need to have enough time to mentor every one and show them every step, I might even get Nosferatu to help me out as well, in that way I will have less work load.

I will do it at some point… Just hang in there for a bit.

 

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[HumbleBeginnings]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this. I am in the process of sourcing products from china to brand and sell locally. However the minimum order quantity to brand is above what I wish to spend at the moment. I want to spend only half of what they are asking. So I was thinking I could buy a lesser amount and have packaging made. The question I have is legal? If you rebrand a product with your own logo....are you liable say if the manufacture cuts corners and some thing happens while the customer is using your product or something? Just as a note I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with a middleman at the moment.

 

[lovecharm]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this. I am in the process of sourcing products from china to brand and sell locally. However the minimum order quantity to brand is above what I wish to spend at the moment. I want to spend only half of what they are asking. So I was thinking I could buy a lesser amount and have packaging made. The question I have is legal? If you rebrand a product with your own logo....are you liable say if the manufacture cuts corners and some thing happens while the customer is using your product or something? Just as a note I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with a middleman at the moment.

Hey,

I don't know what products you are working with, so can't give you definite answer.

However, if they registered that pattern of design then you can't use that design in any way. For example, if you look at true religion jeans, that design in the back pocket is registered pattern, you can't use that design and rename your jeans to something else. So you will have to check and find out if its trademark registered or not.

You can check it on here:- http://www.wipo.int/services/en/index.html#protect Right now I am designing a new menswear brand, so I am registering my design pattern in there so that no one can copy it.

You can get public liability insurance to make sure that you are covered if any one sues you. Just check what the insurance requires.

I know that now a days in clothing industry, manufacturer will have to test their items (for lead and other harmful chemicals) using third party testing company like SGS, ITS etc and then provide the pass certification before shipping the goods. You can check what sort of test is required for your product and make sure you get them too.

 

[HumbleBeginnings]

Hey,

I don't know what products you are working with, so can't give you definite answer.

However, if they registered that pattern of design then you can't use that design in any way. For example, if you look at true religion jeans, that design in the back pocket is registered pattern, you can't use that design and rename your jeans to something else. So you will have to check and find out if its trademark registered or not.

You can check it on here:- http://www.wipo.int/services/en/index.html#protect Right now I am designing a new menswear brand, so I am registering my design pattern in there so that no one can copy it.

You can get public liability insurance to make sure that you are covered if any one sues you. Just check what the insurance requires.

I know that now a days in clothing industry, manufacturer will have to test their items (for lead and other harmful chemicals) using third party testing company like SGS, ITS etc and then provide the pass certification before shipping the goods. You can check what sort of test is required for your product and make sure you get them too.

Hello and thanks for the reply. I am working on a clothing and accessorie line aimed at young adults in a small but captive market. This is a slowlane venture where I hope to supplement income until I can completely quit my job and focus on something fastlane. Everything is original except for two accessories which are dry herb vaporizers. At the moment I am testing samples and have more on the way. The person I'm dealing with on alibaba is a middleman. She sent me the "neutral" package as she called it. Only the box and the manual have the name of the product. No company name, no trademark or anything...Minimum order quantity for them to brand and print logo on unit is 500 peices. I'm only looking to buy 2-250. All I would have to do is reprint badly done manual and box cover. This will sell in my target market which does not have this specific item yet. People will copy and start trying to sell their own. I have a background in photography, video production and some marketing. My plan is to brand it before selling and promote the hell out of the brand. I worry that even though im testing the vaporizers there is something I could miss. A clean air path not burning any plastics or things like that is important. There lies the worry about liability.

 

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[lovecharm]

Hello and thanks for the reply. I am working on a clothing and accessorie line aimed at young adults in a small but captive market. This is a slowlane venture where I hope to supplement income until I can completely quit my job and focus on something fastlane. Everything is original except for two accessories which are dry herb vaporizers. At the moment I am testing samples and have more on the way. The person I'm dealing with on alibaba is a middleman. She sent me the "neutral" package as she called it. Only the box and the manual have the name of the product. No company name, no trademark or anything...Minimum order quantity for them to brand and print logo on unit is 500 peices. I'm only looking to buy 2-250. All I would have to do is reprint badly done manual and box cover. This will sell in my target market which does not have this specific item yet. People will copy and start trying to sell their own. I have a background in photography, video production and some marketing. My plan is to brand it before selling and promote the hell out of the brand. I worry that even though im testing the vaporizers there is something I could miss. A clean air path not burning any plastics or things like that is important. There lies the worry about liability.

Well, I will get a public liability insurance if I were you. That should cover you if something unfortunate happens. Yes it will cost a bit, but at least you won't have to sleep with your one eyes open.

As for box cover, one of the cheap and easy to print on the box is actually Rubber stamp. It can give the illusion that the box is printed, but in reality you just stamped a blank box, thats one way to reduce the cost.

So are you a professional photographer? If yes then I can give you some tips on how to make your page stand out. But I need to know what it is that you are working on, you can PM me if you don't want to reveal it to the general public.

Good luck.

LC

 

[Brentnal]

How does you're company find good products to sell?

 

[lovecharm]

How does you're company find good products to sell?

Erm, we produce the goods based on the current market trend and demand level.

We also source things sometimes, if its cheaper for us to source.

 

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[Brentnal]

Erm, we produce the goods based on the current market trend and demand level.
We also source things sometimes, if its cheaper for us to source.

I really would like to know how to do market research and what tools you would need for that, could you go in depth on this, i would really apreciate it man!!

I use terapeak now and i look at amazon bestsellers.

 

[Berters]

Hey lovecharm, sounds like you're doing well and having a good time! Good job, and keep us posted with you get up to!

As you might remember a while ago I contacted you as I was setting up a business in the clothing market. Things have been slow but we are making progress. I was wondering if I could add you on Skype, not to bother you, but so I could maybe ask a couple of specific questions when the pace has picked up. Would that be okay?

Thanks!

 

[lovecharm]

I really would like to know how to do market research and what tools you would need for that, could you go in depth on this, i would really apreciate it man!!

I use terapeak now and i look at amazon bestsellers.

Hey,

First of all, you will need to realise that we do things differently. We don't directly serve the end customer, we sell to wholesalers, now since I am starting a new brand so I will sell directly to the end customer.

Secondly, I am in fashion world and how we do market research in fashion and clothing industry is totally different. Also, we produce pretty much everything, from t-shirt, jeans, shirt, jackets, underwear etc. So we do more thorough research and we need more technical knowledge compared to some one who just sells printed t-shirts and printed hoodies. Those doesn't require much technical knowledge. Plus, since we produce in big volume eg millions of pieces, so we need more technical knowledge and sourcing knowledge as well, because if we decide that we will product them then we have to follow everything up.

We do market research by going in shops, seeing what items they are selling, style, price, what materials they made out of, what are the top celebrities wearing, whats the current season, where those materials usually comes out from and last but not least what people are wearing outside.

In fashion research you need to know about fashion to figure out what the trend is, it really does takes a trained eye to know whats going on in the fashion world right now, then you need to be a textile expert to realise what materials and techniques they have used to create that item. After that then you will have to draw up or some how show the manufacturer what you want and then they will produce it.

We don't use any software or anything.

If I was selling anything else other than clothing, eg gym equipment then I will certainly use terapeak, google keywords etc.

Hope this helps.

 

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[paultz]

Hey every one,

How's everything going on..

Since my last post around March, things has been moving at lightening speed, was living in New york for last 2 months, met up with one of the fellow top fast laners from here, made tons of connections, now I can just open up the office any time and will be in business from next day in NY, learned the business culture and peoples mind set in USA and to finish it off I am about to get involved in Politics.. ha ha, I know, even I didn't see that was coming.. But that's life, you never know what's coming your way, you just have to take it and give it your best shot.

The bottom line is, in last 2-3 months learned a lot about the Branding of clothes and became personal friends with owners and executives of several top brands like American Eagle, Guess etc.

Next, we are diversifying our business, we are getting involved in agriculture and tourism.

And finally, getting involved in Politics, I am still uncertain, tomorrow I will be meeting a top political leader so I will really decide if it will be worth getting involved in politics or not (as I will have to donate almost 6 figure sum first and after that I will have to travel to many countries with my own expenses as well, so there is a huge costs involved).

There are benefits of getting involved in politics and being a diplomat as you will be networking with the leading investors and ministers in the world and as they say, you are the average of the 5 people thats around you, so if those 5 people are worth $100 million each then… Well you can see the possibilities.

Since my work load has calmed down a bit, so I will be able to answer your questions, so bring them up!

 

[paultz]

Next, we are diversifying our business, we are getting involved in agriculture and tourism.

Tourism industry has great.... margins...we also,get a large number of tourists in our country esp. Kilimanjaro,Serengeti,Ruaha,Ngorongoro etc. but very few companies...'business is filling the gap' your posts really energizes youth..Thanks!

 

[Brentnal]

Hey every one,

How's everything going on..

Since my last post around March, things has been moving at lightening speed, was living in New york for last 2 months, met up with one of the fellow top fast laners from here, made tons of connections, now I can just open up the office any time and will be in business from next day in NY, learned the business culture and peoples mind set in USA and to finish it off I am about to get involved in Politics.. ha ha, I know, even I didn't see that was coming.. But that's life, you never know what's coming your way, you just have to take it and give it your best shot.

The bottom line is, in last 2-3 months learned a lot about the Branding of clothes and became personal friends with owners and executives of several top brands like American Eagle, Guess etc.

Next, we are diversifying our business, we are getting involved in agriculture and tourism.

And finally, getting involved in Politics, I am still uncertain, tomorrow I will be meeting a top political leader so I will really decide if it will be worth getting involved in politics or not (as I will have to donate almost 6 figure sum first and after that I will have to travel to many countries with my own expenses as well, so there is a huge costs involved).

There are benefits of getting involved in politics and being a diplomat as you will be networking with the leading investors and ministers in the world and as they say, you are the average of the 5 people thats around you, so if those 5 people are worth $100 million each then… Well you can see the possibilities.

Since my work load has calmed down a bit, so I will be able to answer your questions, so bring them up!

Damm, awsome intel!! opportunities everywhere!

 

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[Esquire]

I am in the social community business ... never tried my hand at the product importation side ... but I would like to dip my toes in the water ... diversify my background ... and start marketing some products as well.

So one of my concerns is NOT being in the commodity business ... where my product can (easily) be found 100 other places online at lower prices.

So what I would prefer to do is take existing products ... and re-brand them with new labels ... and position them as "something else" So if someone tried to find the same "product" online ... they couldn't. In other words ... take a generic bottle of ___________ ... and slap my "unique" label on it ... call it something different.

Are there places you can go online (that you know of) ... that are well suited for this ...?

Pick a product from an online catalog... upload a custom label ... pay for shipping ...?

 

[Wrkn2BRich]

Ali baba would be my 1st choice^^^^

 

[5holiday]

Hi Lovecharm,

I am currently living abroad from my home base in another country.

In your experience, does this situation present any unique opportunities for importation than normal?

I note that you seem to be living in a different area of the globe each time I check this thread, haha.

Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[caezlar]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P6EQPW/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

I want to import the same thing to Indonesia if it is not patented design. Anybody know how to find the supplier on alibaba or where?
Thanks.

------------------------
Here it is:
http://www.nbdooda.com/en/productsd.php?pid=124

 

[michael40]

Question.
Im living in Seoul and keen to send some phone cases overseas. The quantity per parcel wont be much to begin with.
Maybe 1 or 2 per parcel.
Im thinking of just going with regular air mail which will take about 1 week..
Any alternatives as it may risky. Need to keep the costs down.

 

[Clive]

By the way - Interested in China ? This membership here is a MUST!
http://www.enterchina.co
At $300 I can give you my membership. Official fee is higher. I am Not "interested" any more.
PM please.

Edit - Actually, I am no longer using this membership due to lack of time. Motherhood has taken all my time. Otherwise - very helpful to any wannabie for China.

 

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[Vigilante]

By the way - Interested in China ? This membership here is a MUST!
http://www.enterchina.co
At $300 I can give you my membership. Official fee is higher. I am Not interested any more.
PM please.

WTF?

Buy this! It's essential! (yeah... I don't want it any more but it's essential for YOU!).

Why is this membership a MUST, and why do you want to dump it? How does this post add to this discussion?

 

[MoneyDoc]

By the way - Interested in China ? This membership here is a MUST!
http://www.enterchina.co
At $300 I can give you my membership. Official fee is higher. I am Not interested any more.
PM please.

Shut up and take my money!

(Someone post the pic)


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