The thousands of success stories on Amazon serve as motivations for prospective online sellers to import goods from China and sell on online platforms such as Amazon. You may know of an entrepreneur whose first profitable online business was importing goods from the world’s largest manufacturer and sell them online in major shopping stores. However, the thought of staring this type of business can be scary, challenging and downright painful, thus the importance of planning and selecting the tools and strategies to make the process more efficient. This article helps to explain some of the things that an entrepreneur may need to consider when importing from China, starting from selecting the right products and tools.

Choosing the right product. In choosing your product, you will need to have a good understanding of the laws and regulations that may have an impact on the importing process. This is an important step as you will not want to go through the process of importing products that will turn out to be prohibited in your country. In this process, you need to gather relevant ideas and information prior to selecting products to import and sell. An important factor to consider is to know whether any special permits are needed to transport the product from China to your country. Moreover, the beginners who have no idea what to sell are advised to take the time to review some of the retailer websites to check the bestseller niches and lists.

Finding a trusted supplier. After deciding on a product to sell, the next step is to source these products from trusted suppliers. Many companies have already established good business relationships with suppliers across China, which makes it easier to find, negotiate and manage the importation arrangements. Nevertheless, it remains critical to plan and spend sufficient time to identify the suppliers, and most experienced importers suggest listing about 10 suppliers with whom to communicate directly. Having this list helps in reducing the feeling of not knowing what to do next, as it gets you the opportunity to build relationships and negotiate with trusted and reliable manufacturers.  

Requesting for a sample. One of the downsides of trading with Chinese suppliers is communication barriers. While Mainland China has Mandarin as its official language, other languages such as Tibetan, Mongolian and Cantonese also share official status. Importers who choose to engage the services of a translator may need to check the expertise and experience of the person in the regional dialects. Even with the introduction and use of the English language in China, the cultural difference may result in miscommunication. This requires the need to be extremely specific with sample requests from suppliers.

In requesting a sample, it is also important to note that the chain of command in the majority of manufacturing companies in China is not always direct. There is the possibility that your instruction will not be adhered to in detail, especially when there are two or more people who receive and relay your instructions before it gets to the person who is in charge of making the sample. This can be prevented by asking to speak directly to the factory’s line manager and to avoid redundant stages as this can pose challenges in communication, given the language barriers.

Selling the samples. As an entrepreneur, you may want to test the viability of the product, before ordering larger amounts. This serves as a validation stage, as the product samples are considered as essential in the importation process, not only in China but also elsewhere. You want to know whether the product sells before you order for a larger production. In addition, ordering product samples is a way to test, not only the profitability of the product, but also to test the reliability of the supplier. In fact, this is one of the key reasons for requesting product samples, as you need to prove that they can deliver quality products before you place larger orders.

Placing orders. This is the stage when you decide to scale up your business. After validating the acceptability and viability of the product for your online business, you may feel secure in bulking up your order. In placing your order, you may want to consider the different ways by which to channel your payments. Some of the most popular methods of paying for your imports from China include international Wire Transfer, Open Account, Letter of Credit, Online Escrow, Cash Advance, and Documentary Collection. 

Product Delivery. Importers from China and other countries can benefit from familiarizing themselves with Incoterms, otherwise known as International Commercial Terms. Knowing about the different shipping, freight and trade terms is essential for anyone who is engaged in international trade. Transporting the products from China to its destination is an intricate process that involves many parties. It is necessary that both the shipper and the consignee are aware of who prepares the documents, who manages customs requirements and who is responsible for the freight costs.

Design for packaging and labeling. Another integral part of international trade is the packaging and labeling process. In October 2019, China imposed changes in its regulations on the management and supervision of both imported and exported products. The exporters of prepacked foods are required to meet the standards of the importing country, as well as the requirements of the commercial contract. 

Some countries, such as the US require its customers to require that imported products are labeled with their country of origin. Marking the product with its country of origin is necessary, and for many obvious reasons, such as in making clear that the product can be legally imported and that it can clear the customs without unnecessary delay.

Product container. The size of the product container is another important factor to consider in transporting from China. It is important to calculate the dimensions of the imported load before choosing the container. Most importers suggest the use of full container load (FCL) when planning to ship in bulk, although there are other options available to importers with lesser cargoes.

Other factors. There are other critical factors in the importation process, such as choosing the delivery and documenting for customers’ clearance. 

Marketing and Selling the products on Amazon. With an efficiently selected and transported product, you are now ready to optimize your product lists on Amazon. 

The elements discussed previously can help entrepreneurs in their journey towards importing and selling goods from China. However, both beginners and experienced entrepreneurs may want to concentrate on the selling and marketing part of their business, and may not want to go through the step-by-step process of importing.

The realization of the difficulties associated with purchasing from China and selling the products in Amazon paved a way for the establishment of Bliss Sourcing. Entrepreneurs can source their products with Bliss Sourcing, a trading company in China that specializes in product sourcing. The company is dedicated to helping small businesses and Amazon entrepreneurs to import products from China. Using Bliss Sourcing expedites the importation process, given that the company is well experienced in China manufacturing and the Chinese culture as a whole. Another factor that differentiates Bliss Sourcing from other sourcing companies is that it does not charge a commission from suppliers, which means purchasing products at their lowest price possible.