5starcloseouts.com Blog

Overcoming Problems When Importing from China

2007-01-14T00:11-05:00

The prospect of importing goods from China is both exciting and terrifying for many sellers. On one hand there
is huge potential for making money from reselling wholesale goods purchased very cheaply. But on the other
hand, language and cultural barriers present a number of difficulties to sellers. The main issue that everyone
is worried about is payment: How do I pay? Will my money disappear?, and so on.

The difficulty lies in the fact that most Chinese wholesalers will only accept Western Union and wire transfer
payments. These are not secure payment options so they must be treated with caution.

However, the main reason why these are the only payments accepted is that they are in fact the only payment
methods available to the Chinese. Getting a credit card in China is an extremely difficult task with a lot of
government regulations and strict criteria for getting a card.

So then, despite the risks involved with using Western Union and wire transfer, these are the methods you have
to use if you want to import from China with most suppliers. To minimize this risk, our advice is to start with a
fairly small shipment of goods so you are not standing to lose too much money if everything falls apart. Then,
as trust is established, gradually build up your orders over time.

On the whole, most Chinese suppliers are genuine, hard working people who want to establish a long-term
relationship with you. They need your business, so it’s unlikely they’ll try to deliberately rip you off!

Another big issue for sellers importing from China is communication. It can be extremely daunting trying to
negotiate complex business issues when communication is so difficult.

To get around this problem, we always ask a new contact for their MSN or ICQ email address and chat to them
online. They tend to be very friendly and enjoy talking to people who speak English as a first language (this
helps them improve their communication too), plus it gives you a direct point of contact instantly.

With communication now established, you can proceed to ask questions and get them to send you pictures
of stock and so on. Once you’ve built up a relationship, you can then ask them to send you a sample order.
For any genuine company, this isn’t a problem and it allows you to see the quality of the product first hand.
You can then be fairly certain that the company is trustworthy, and that this is the product you wish to import.

One thing we haven’t talked about so far is quality. This can be another major concern for sellers who often
have difficulty telling whether a brand name product is genuine or not.

In our experience, the vast majority of brand-name goods that come from China are either replicas or fakes.
We strongly recommend that you assume that this is the case in the first instance. eBay is currently cracking
down heavily on people selling fakes and it is not an area of business we suggest you get into!

Generally, we find that Chinese suppliers are best suited for cheap generic goods (they are manufactured
there so you won’t find cheaper anywhere else!) that can be sold at higher rates in Western countries. For
example, some of the latest trends are pocket bikes, scooters and generic electronic goods. These goods do
not have to have a brand name in order to sell well and they can be purchased wholesale at very good
prices if you are serious about importing from China.

This should give you a heads up if looking at dealing with wholesale suppliers in China! Remember, always
keep an open mind, ask questions and do your research!

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About the Author:

SaleHoo is one of the fastest growing wholesale websites on the internet. It contains a database of wholesale
suppliers and manufacturers offering thousands of products to consumers at prices considerably less than retail.
Located at http://www.salehoo.com, visitors are allowed to sign up for unlimited and lifetime access to the
completely searchable database of wholesale products. Deeply discounted brand name items may be
purchased directly from the source for the customer's personal use or for resale purposes. Items may be sold
at online auctions, flea markets and retail stores. The database is regularly updated, ensuring that the latest
retail products are always available for purchase.

Click here for more details
http://www.salehoo.com

Steps You Need To Take In Order To Be A Successful Reseller

2006-08-18T23:32-04:00

by Gregg Hall

Okay, so you have decided that you want to operate your own close out or liquidation business. There are some things that you need to know as you get started in your new venture that will help you to be more successful.

The first thing that you need to do in order to be successful as a seller or reseller is to identify a particular niche that you want to specialize in. You will be far more successful and profitable by specializing in one area than by trying to be all things to all people in your business. It will also help you with the learning curve inherent in any business as it will be much easier to learn about a particular niche than a broad range of products.

Investigate the competition in the niche that you want to target and get an idea of what they are pricing their products at and how they are marketing them. If you intend to market online, research your competition on eBay as that is the largest collection of merchants anywhere on the planet.

Now that you have identified a niche and researched your competition it is time to find the products to resell. This is the crucial part of your business as it is the price that you pay for the items that will determine your profit when you resell them. Look for wholesale suppliers, search eBay, and frequent garage sales, whatever it takes to get the products at the right price.

Don't try to rush out and be the Walmart of your particular niche. Start small and grow your business using the profits from sales. It will be much less stressful to operate your business in this way and it will not cost you a fortune if you make a mistake. As a hint here, use eBay to test a market. This is the easiest, quickest, and the least expensive way to find out if a particular market will be profitable before dumping a ton of money in it.

Test a few different products in your niche and see which ones are the most popular and the most profitable. Once you have found one or two products target these and become an expert on them, finding the best prices you can and become the best you can be at marketing them. Once you have done this, repeat the process with additional products.

Now, you need to complete a business plan which does not have to be a formal thing like that you would submit to a bank, just an outline for your own use so that you know what steps you need to take to make your business successful and keep from falling into a rut of procrastination and inaction.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as 5 Star Closeouts at http://www.5starcloseouts.com

How To Find Low Cost Items That You Can Resell For Profit

2006-08-18T23:29-04:00

by Gregg Hall

The key factor in the success or failure in a business that specializes in closeouts, liquidations, or selling products on eBay is finding items at good prices that you can make a profit on when you resell them. Contrary to popular belief it is when you buy the item that you make your profit as what you pay for something is what determines how much your end profit will eventually be. Here are some good sources where you can find products to resell cheaply and easily.

One of the best sources that I have found is the local Pawn Shop. There are pawn shops in just about every community and in many cases are at a loss as to what to do with a lot of the junk that they have accumulated. With the exception of items like guns, electronics, and jewelry they often are just keeping the stuff lying around waiting on someone to come in and find it. In many cases you can go in and offer them a low price for a large bulk of products that you can resell.

Local markets such as Flea Markets can be another place to find items that you can resell. A lot of times you will find people that either don't really know the value of what they have or they are getting out of the business and are offering products at a cut rate price. If there are some traders there that have large quantities of items try to befriend them and find out where they buy from.

Friends are another source that many people overlook. Sometimes friends may have items that they want to sell or they may know of a source that has products available that you can purchase and resell.

Place ads in local papers with headlines such as "I buy anything". You will be surprised at the response that you will get from placing the ads and may receive a lot of useful products.

Don't overlook garage sales for finding items to resell. I have found some incredible deals at garage sales. I found a hope chest for $30 that I resold for over $300! I recently bought three collectible dolls at a garage sale that were still in their original boxes and only paid $25 for all three of them; they are worth more than $50 each. Many times if you come up on a garage sale that has a lot of good products that you know you can resell they will give you a great bargain if you buy it all.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as Closeouts and Liquidations at http://www.5starcloseouts.com