12 Things You Should Pay Attention When Importing From China
Importing from China may be the top topic when you want to source for your businesses. Many companies make a huge amount of money by importing from China.

But it is not like trading in your local. Global sourcing is much more complicated and it comes with much more risk.

Here’s the beginner guide for you. This is Guangzhou Laix Electronics Co., Ltd. Considering some of the new customers of us having questions about importing. We hope this article can help you better understand how to import from China. Moreover, hope we can cooperate in the future.

This article may not be perfect. If there is any objection, please contact to correct us.

This article covers these topics about importing from China (or other countries):
    1. Check your import rights.
    2. Find a product to import.
    3. Check the product you are going to import is permitted.
    4. Check the certificate you need to import the product.
    5. Calculate the cost you are going to pay.
    6. Find a reliable supplier in China.
    7. Negotiate with the supplier.
    8. Order a sample.
    9. Place an order.
    10. Arrange to transport.
    11. Track the Cargo.
    12. Obtain your shipment.

Check your import rights.

If your company has import rights, that’s good. It means you can arrange the import by yourself. 

But if you don’t, it’s ok. Most importers don’t have import right actually. What you need to do is find a forwarder. They will handle all the issues when you import something. A friendly forwarder with a nice service can help you understand knowledge about importing and save you a lot of time.

Find a product to import.

If you have your target product, it’s ok to skip this topic. 

But if you still don’t have yet, you better consider what you want to sell first.

Products you are going to sell should at least meet these features:
    1. It is profitable by importing from China.
    2. It is legal to import into your country. Please refer to the next topic in this article.
    3. There is a demand in the market. It’s easy to be stuck in a strange feeling that you have a genius idea by selling something that never exists in the     market, without any market analysis.
    4. It’s strong enough to bear the collision while shipping. A High damage rate will cost you extra money and offer a bad customer experience.
    5. You have your passion for it. Selling something you are not interested in may help you earn some money, but it’s not going to be a lot.

These are the basic features your product should be. For further discussion, you can refer to this article: 12 Strategies for Finding Your First Profitabl Product.

Check the product you are going to import is permitted.

Different countries have different prohibited products. Guns, medicine, and chemicals are often prohibited by most countries. Make sure your product is permitted to import. 

The best way to check the permit is also visiting your local government’s website.

Check the certificate you need to import the product.

Even if the product is permitted. It’s still something to work with. The Certificate is one of them. 

Some kinds of products are allowed to import but some of them are still dangerous. If the government handle it carelessly, it might damage the safety of the consumer. Therefore, it uses certificates to make sure every import is safe enough.

Again, it is good to check with your government.

Also, asking your forwarder is another way. Some of the forwarders may even help you to get these certificates when you don’t have them.

Calculate the cost you are going to pay.

Transporting is the second-highest cost when you import. The first one is the payment for the goods. 

For sea freight, your goods need to be transported to the harbor in China, shipped to another harbor in your country and transport from the harbor to your warehouse. All these steps all cost money. If you don’t calculate in advance, you may be surprised when it comes up.

Find a reliable supplier in China.

This can be a big topic. For now we just briefly discuss with it.

It’s easy to find suppliers on the web. All of them said they are reliable, with good quality and low price. But you will be disappointed with most of them.

A real reliable supplier should be with these features:
    1. Professional. This is the top one. A professional supplier like LAIX can solve your tons of problems. And even point out the problem of your design while     you don’t realize. You have no idea what a layman will actually sell you.
    2. Patient. As a beginner, your first order may be a small one. Some salesmen may feel impatient if you ask for too many questions or extra work.
    3. On-time delivery. On-time is another dimension of reliability. You don’t want to keep out of stock in some important period like Black Friday in the US.
    4. Quality. It is directly related to price. Prices in China are becoming more and more fixed. A low price usually means low quality or bad service. A reliable     supplier does means low prices. But his quality should be acceptable.

For more features of Chinese suppliers, please refer to this article:
6 Features You May Care About the China Manufacturing Industry

Negotiate with the supplier.

Here is a lot to negotiate with the supplier before you place the order. Details that need to be confirmed is beyond your imagination.

Here are the details you may need to confirm with your supplier:
    1. Price. Yes, this is the first one everybody comes up with. Although the price is fix but still worth a try.
    2. Configurations.
    If your budget is limited and the supplier does not agree to offer a lower price, you can consider changing a lower configuration, and vice versa.
    3. MOQ.
    4. Material.
    5. Color.
    6. Packing. 
    7. Logo and model printing. 
    8. Some styles of components.
    9. Sticker on the products.
    10. Instruction Manual.
    11. Delivery time.
    12. Payment terms.
    13. Warranty.
    14. Exclusive terms. It means the model you need is not allowed for the supplier to sell to other companies.

Order a sample.

It is necessary to check the quality before you place an order. It might cost some budget and time but it is worthy.

After receiving the sample, we suggest you mark down all the details. For those details you want to change, negotiate with the supplier to see if there are better choices. For those details you want to keep, add it to the contract when you place an order.

Place an order.

After so many steps above, finally, you can place an order. 

Here are things need to be clarified on the contract of purchase:
1. The right buyer, seller, and official seals.
2. The right contact information.
3. The right products and details.
4. The right unit price and quantity.
5. The right shipment terms.
6. The right payment terms.

The “right” here is important. The contract is a document with legal validity. Make sure allow the terms on it are right is important to protect your right.

For other details you care about, you should also put it on the contract.

Arrange to transport.

After placing an order, the factory starts to manufacture. After that, you can ship your cargo from China to your warehouse. 

But you should arrange your transporting before the factory finish manufacturing. Usually, you just send your forwarder about your supplier’s contact details. Then they will keep in touch and make sure your goods can be shipped ASAP.

Be attention: make sure to plan your purchase properly because delay is annoying but common in global trading. It’s a long journey for your goods shipping from other countries.

Track the Cargo.

It takes time to transport. But you should not just wait for your goods.

You should carefully check your documents during this time to make sure you can get the goods successfully. Once you find something missing, let your supplier or your forwarder handle ASAP because it usually takes at least 1 day for them to supplement these documents.

Obtain your shipment.

Your goods finally arrive after the long journey, but there is still a final step. Your customs broker needs to clear them through customs. After that, you can ship your goods from the harbor to your warehouse. If this is already in your shipment terms, you can just wait for your shipment where you are.