2047 Comments (page 17)

Quick question for you guys, if i wanted to import led down lights will they need to comply with any Australian standards before selling them and if so how do i find them out in sites such as alibaba

Instead of being one of many re-sellers, is it possible to find new products to introduce?

Do you think that I can make money selling flash drives?

Do you know if I can make money selling flash drives?

When you are looking at amazon and it says you have to request permission? Asks for upc? If you are ordering from alibaba, how do you answer this information or will it be impossible to get permission?

Hello! Awesome article, thank you so much! This may be a dumb and question and for that I'm sorry....but upon looking at alibaba all the product pictures I have seen are severely watermarked. Do suppliers provide you with non-watermarked pictures once you purchase from them? I find it hard to believe all of the products I see on Amazon and eBay have gone through photoshop witchcraft or Internet trickery to remove these. Thanks!

Hello Great article, thank you for sharing your knowledge! I am thinking about buying hover-boards produced in China and sell them in the EU. I believe the market is good, as I have seen kids driving around with these everywhere. I have an opportunity to start a business in a country where the boards have not become popular yet so I see this as a great opportunity to earn some money. BUT... You write that it is crucial to import small, light-weight stuff. The boards does not fulfill this criteria as one board weight ~10kg. Do you think it is a bad idea due to high fees etc? Best regards S

Does Will ever answer any questions?

The watermarks on Alibaba are just so that people can't steal them from the site to use elswhere.

No. Although I use it for business, my wife has her own account that she uses to buy random things.

Will, this is a great article and is truly amazing the fact that you started your own business so young. I will recommend this website to some friends interested on startups. Best regards, Daniel

Just getting started having samples sent from Alibaba suppliers. Is $25-$30 about normal for shipping cost?

Hi, I've done something similar before, but the biggest problem was shipping, I couldn't just waltz into a post office and post 20 parcels one be one... How did you deal with the scale of your orders? Employ someone? Thanks

Hi Steve, anything electrical sold here in Australia must comply with Aus Standards

Thanks a lot. I wanted to concentrate on a certain type of jewelry. I narrowed my options down using price and seller ratings. I took customer reviews very seriously also. I just ordered for my first major shipment. Fingers crossed

Good guide but something is not quite right. How much stuff can you import from China, especially swords and knives, and airsoft guns, and anything else as well, without incurring customs import duties and taxes, probable confiscations, delays at customs, extra courier and shipping company charges for customs clearance, and a raft of other issues associated with importing merchandise for reselling (not for personal use). You may get away with receiving 50 airsoft rifles a day at your doorstep but how long before someone (the taxman and the customs officers) will want a quick word? The healthy profit margins will soon go when you start requiring purchase invoices on which you will pay import duties, and then taxes on your profits including NI contributions... To make money like this you must dodge all kind of taxes and health and safety checks and laws regarding the items you sell, and public liability insurances to cover you, for example when your LED explodes in someone's face. A good guide for dodgers then.

Hi everyone. I am from Philippines. I'm working at a Brokerage Firm and i am looking an importer that can imports goods here in the Philippine. I will help you regarding in processing in Bureau of Customs. Let's do Business. Thank you. Hoping to your feedback.

Hi ,If somebody is importing handbags, dress and shoes from ALIEXPRESS and DHgate and selling in US , how to be safe from copyright issues as u said your friend story , can u explain which stuff to buy in this category.

Hi Will Mitchell, as you know the law in China basically banned from getting airsoft , unless you get it from Taiwan or Hong Kong these place is the cheapest price you can get from . Also I have the same thought to selling light bulb but the safety issue and power supply in US must be different to the China. I dont know how you get from China from the lowest price you getting much of the airsoft possibly cheaper in USA and mainly made From taiwan. please contact my message in my box if you want to have a chat with me. Thank you .

Did you buy in bulk or droppship them?

I do Kate! As many as I possibly can, at least :)

Thanks for checking out the article @danieldiazmoncada:disqus - hope it was helpful. Fun fact: Recommending StartupBros to your friends is the quickest way to become my best friend :-D

Please let me know whether any basic licences, registrations, legal documentation needed - to get material from Alibaba? I mean from China to India?

Not really, Flash drives are sooo cheap, it is not really worth it to go into that market.

I do really agree with Will, these are the value experience you can not easy get from others. Every single business starts from small, and it's a tough experience, you pay the money to the society and you learn the experience from it. Well, once you know what you are selling, you will generate your customers, you will get your suppliers, more customers, more better, and even for the suppliers, should not be only one, because you dont know what will happen on them for every order. And I suggest everybody who wants to import from China or Alibaba should be careful, you should start from samples, or MOQ, but MOQ should be small, the suppliers say it's good, that doesn't mean good for you, you should find the right products suitable for your market, you should get the samples to check the quality, that not means quality should be good, the quality should be suitable for your market, like the some of Arabic countries, because they are wealthy, they buy the normal quality stuffs every couple days and change them. And about the shipping, you can do the small volume via express like Fedex, DHL, UPS, aramex or SF express, etc, when you have big quantity, you can do it by air freight and sea freight, there are a lot of choice, you need consider about the time and the cost. And for the import tax, every product has a HS code, you can check on your local government website, then you will know the tax rate, if you dont want to pay the tax or pay less, you can let your supplier make a discount on the invoice to the custom, if you want to minus from your sales, you can tell them real, then you can pay less tax at the end of the year, it depends on your government strategies. I am Tiger from yiwu of China, if anybody needs help or samples from China, it will be my pleasure. Wish you guys all have good business everyday! [redacted]

Thanks for the article! Would you say I have any advantages selling LED controls as an electrical engineer? There's a huge markup from Alibaba to Amazon plus I have access to high quality wholesale LED string modules direct from the manufacturer, so I can sell the best quality per dollar module available plus kit the controls for them into my own products, plus design my own controls such as an automatic dimmer that dims the LED String as the room ambient light goes down. And I don't see these being offered by anyone but I know I would like to dim my kitchen under cabinet lights automatically instead of physically doing it every night. Do you have any advice for me?

Thanks for the info. It would be great to get your supplier to ship directly to your customer, but isn't that a problem when shipping is 6-10 weeks from china? As soon as someone realizes its from china , don't they try and buy it themselves from china or just pay more from someone who can get it to them sooner?

Such a good article to learn from. I wanted to ask like you said we can refer alibaba for trending products. I moreover deal in wholesale so plz suggest any reputed site to understand the trending product which i can bring from china and sell in india. Thanks

Certain Products take longer like clothing. But DHL/FED Ex Express have plans on the ground in China ready to fly for the right price. I say all that to say 3-5 days you have your product at your door!

DIY is a good source and gets you direct access to scammers and legit supplier, its really like Will said having the experience to choose the correct one.

Find you a supplier and have them OEM for you and get to work. Use something like FIver to help bridge any skill gaps you may have whether its website design or technically related. Fiver has it all...

Just OEM already hot product and join the same game as all other retail giants!

great article. however customs and import taxes terrify me from China to the US. Ive tried to find information about the costs but have no luck. where can I get info?

Sir thanks very much for this information ,Please I have question ,what type payment you recommended when I order from Alibaba ,They accept just TT payment from the bank

You can go to the US government website to check the tax rate, each item has a HS code, each HS code has a tax rate, if you want to get rid of the tax, you can apply low value to the custom. If you need more help, you can send email to me [redacted]

you should be careful about that, custom is really strict on it. But if you want to pay more, you can import and export, it's really not a good idea to do that.

Well, I am a supplier in Yiwu of Zhejiang which is famous for the yiwu international trade market, and also own a source agent and purchasing agent company which helps people source the right product in the market or Chinese Alibaba wholesale website factory directly, then make the QC and do the drop shipping to the customers. We sent a lot of goods to all over the world everyday. Any questions or help are welcome!

I love to read this article. It is very interesting and beneficial for me because I want to start online business but i have no idea how to do it. So could I have your email please so I can communicate direct to you. I may also need your advice on how to sell your products on ebay or amazon? Also I want to seek your advice and ideas on the product that will make more profit. Thank you for your wonderful information and experience that you shared to us. Happy new Year.

You still looking for suppliers? My dad has been working in Asia for 25 years, my brother went out there four years ago. And is now almost fluent in Chinese. I'm gonna be moving out there soon.

Thankyou so much This must of took a lot of time and effort much appriciated my main issue in brainstorming a product i have so many ideas on what to go for my main problem is to find the courage to do it

Hi, I am thinking about ordering dresses from alibaba and sell them on my onlinestore. How do I know If the dresses are counterfiet or not and can I put my brand on them? I have seen several websites that sell these dresses around the world, with there own brand on them.

Are hard drives out of the question?

Are hard drives out of the question? (HDD)

im looking for a supplier for the electronics items specially the web cams, where can i find the suppliers from?

Hi Will. Great article and inspired me to finally take action on something I've wanted to do for a long time. I've set up my store website, researched some products in the market area I want to specialise in, and I've also applied to register as a sole trader with HMRC. I know you're in the US, and I am in the UK, but I'm assuming the tax returns still have to be done. How did/do you handle your accounting?

i always read this article and it helps me a lot. now i have my own online store because of this, my small money turn out to be big and it keeps me going.. i won't stop till my dream become reality.. thank you

And best of all, I didn’t even have to touch the product – my supplier even handled all shipping & returns... how did you manage this? How your supplier and you knew if there was a new order? How did you dealt with payments?

This gives me so much inspiration! I just got two questions. What about buying branded products (i'm thinking about smartwatches) and selling them for a cheaper price than the brand does? Is this legal? And what about pictures you use in the information tab? Do you need to ask permission from the brand to use pictures from the product? Thank you!

You sell counterfeit goods which will get U.S. sellers arrested and they will have to forfeit all their assets to cover the profits. Stop with your bullshit.

I have a question, I've been looking on the site allibabba and noticed when I request a sample they want anywhere from $25 to $100 just for shipping! Is that normal? We are talking small items here. Thanks!

Thank you for this useful article.

Did I miss something? Or did he say he lost everything at the end? So why should I follow this plan again?

Hi, Will, how would you settle the payment with Chinese store owner on Alibaba? RMB or US Dollar? Thanks

This article is truly awesome... Thanks man

How did you get the airsoft guns?

I was wondering...do you receive the samples at home and dispatch from there, and then use FBA for the 2nd order and all bigger orders after that?

I want to start importing and selling locally here, in Korea. Any recommendations on products? The market is already full with local re-sellers who have the size and funds advantage, so I need to find something in the "niche' category.

Hi, I've never bought and resold items before and I'm wondering if anyone could give advice on buying from the US and shipping To China instead of from. Like, where can I find consumers from beside Amazon, EBay, etc. Thank you!

Sounds like a question for a lawyer. Maybe try Quora?

I have the same problem. Trying to get them to drop shipping prices is very difficult. Keep in mind that the box they are sending is probably 10+ items, and costs are much higher for oversize and heavy freight. I did some quick rates from international couriers and the estimates go as high as $250. He didn't do a great job of explaining what to expect for shipping. Costs obviously get more efficient with larger shipments, but you can definitely expect to pay through the nose for your initial sample shipment.

Wow, what a truly helpful and interesting article (or should I say guide). I have been thinking of getting into this e-commerce business for some time and just had no idea how to actually get started. Thank you for this wondedul guide!

Really helpfull, thanks a lot :) I'm starting and i do have a problem finding a good niche, any suggestions? thanks man

this is the best article i had read till now about how to choose product to sell on amazon .thanks man. it means a lot to me. i was frustrated too searching for items ,but now u gave me new ideas to work on.

yeah actually you can do that and its legal too.u can buy a samsung phone from a shop at a lower price as compared to a authorised samsung showroom.

lol u tell her man!

Hello Will. Thank you for all the info and experiences that you shared with readers. I am absolutely new to the world of business model and having already a few items in mind to import and sell on amazon and EBay. Now my question is that if it happened to you that a manufacturer lowered the quality of the products that you already ordered from them and were satisfied with them?. Thank you so much

If you sell as an individual, do you have to play taxes?

love you. thanks for all these info. hopefully i can make an income with this. i am already waiting for my first product samples. the shipping is quite expensive thought.example 10 sports bra would cost 29 US dollars for shipping...anyway you are such an inspiration and a huge motivation for me...

i also want to ask this questions, yesterday i paid $29 for shipping, for 10 pieces of joggers. i think it's too dare..is there any other option that's cheaper when it comes to shipping?

Great article with terrific advice. I read through the whole thing, expecting to be pitched on something you have to sell me, but I never came across it, just a reference to another site and a radio button advertising a webinar (which I registered for). Very tasteful. I might add that your fatal error (which I'm sure you realize) was depending on a single product. That's like depending on one boss on a J.O.B. You were at the mercy of just one mishap, and it (mis)happened. I will take your advice and fly with it, and I will add new products as the previous ones become successful. You may already be doing that.

i love article and struggle for perfection.congrats bro

Hi Will. This article was brilliant. Kept it simple and easy to understand. I have read others and was left scratching my head. I love the blow by blow way you have done it. I am a beginner and understood all of what you said. Am looking forward to more.... :) I'm in Australia and would love to brainstorm with other Aussies if you're out there.

Hi Donna , agree great article, also from Australia and also new to this (e-commerce) and see great potential in e-commerce if we have the right structure and sell the right products, Johnny

I just wanted to say how fascinating this article is. I have been contemplating doing this for over 5 years now but not persued it. After reading this i feel ready to take the next step. Just need to source the right product for the uk market. Any advice or support would be greatly appreciated.

Love this article ...great stuff ,

What should i expect to pay for shipping for free samples? Each company ive contacted said they would send free samples for $40 shipping. Is this what many of you have ran into? Also, do you give out your phone number when they ask for it?

Can you please help me with product sourcing models to help me start with identifying the right products.BTW I am frm India.

Hi Donna another eager Aussie beginner here too. Would love to brainstorm ideas on building the right e-business model.

What if you are only selling through Amazon? What if your product doesn't match a current listing? Do you add a new listing, and if so what will the brand be? Does this mean you start private labeling right away?

Hi Mark! In what kind of products you are interested in? I have just recently returned from Southeast Asia, spent over 120 days to do research of different markets (Visited 6 countries) and to lookup products what could have sales potential in Europe. Furniture, design elements, fabrics, different ingredients for manufacturing, foods etc. I was concentrating on 2 things - uniqueness or very low purchasing price. My conclusions - it is not easy to get low prices for products who are already being sold in EU, and if you go for new & previously unseen products, you will be taking a risk. Also market can suddenly change, product might not be demanded anymore. Always be sure about your sales channels. I am originally from Riga, Latvia. Maybe we can do some trade in future, as sometimes I might need some products made in UK, or some other manufacturers in my region might be willing to reach the new markets. Most of the case you can get a very low purchasing price, when they are expand their sales! Feel free to write me here or send me direct message to - [redacted]

very helpful and encouraging, I was just searching for ideas on how to start my business.

Any time you have income, the IRS will want their cut. This applies whether you're running your own business or not!

How refreshing, you simply give out a wealth of information freely. I kept waiting for the typical pop up ad for the pitch to buy the info. Thank you

What are key components I should write in my email to get a higher chance of a response

Hi! Great help that was, thankyou!! Am I allowed to use images from aliexpress on eBay? I don't find my own pictures to be anywhere near as good. Thanks

Hello Will ! I just read this fantastic article ! It was mind blowing hah :D . I have one question and I'll really thankful if you can help me . So I'm living in Central Europe , Hungary . If I buy 500 pieces of scissors and I sell it on eBay one by one , do I have to get the whole pieces or have some way to sell them from China ? Sorry for the bad writing I'm trying to be perfect in English .

How did you pay for import shipping, duty fees, etc.?

hi , I have been on sites looking to what product will be best to resell in my country . I am still doing research on the best product and that when I came across your article and I took every note I could to help. I am planning to start slow and see how I go I see so far that the demand of counterfeits are very big back in my country and I tell you it is crazy money .So far I see its Jewelry,shoes,phones,phone accessorizes,beauty products..

Mr. Will Mitchell! This is really a cool stuff and a very good effort, i really appreciate. Can I please have your e-mail to disuses in more some extra ordinary ideas. Regards Muhammad Bilal

Hi it's very inspritional for me.i am a mother who wants try buy things maybe from china but don't have a lot of money.i am blind of technology and internet.can you help me.by giving free tutorial how to import things and being enterpreneur.thank u

Really cool article :). I am from Cape Town, South Africa. My dad owns a hardware store and I've been encouraging him to start purchasing direct from suppliers in China as things are much cheaper. I know his competitor is doing it in the bicycle spares space and with great success. The location where the store is trading is lower to middle class people where price is the only factor. Quality is not important for them.

Hy Will Mitchell, It's great. it's very useful and attractive tips to Make Money by Importing From China. E-Commerce Empire Roadmap is the best option. Thanks for sharing this information

Thank you for this article. I am new to this, but really want to learn. I am hoping to get a little more training before diving in. I am a little nervous about picking the wrong product as I don't have a lot of cash to invest. What do you feel is the minimal amount I would need to start?

hi , thanks for all the valualble tips to start off new bussines , my question is "how to collect the money from the clients."? i barley know about ebay , open account , then to have bank account with credit cardholder and paypal , to accept the client transaction could you please descripe it in details . after i confirm the product is it better have the manufacture ship it to the clients or i order it to post office and i ship it to the clients? lebanese but i live in kuwait . thanks;..

Simply wanna admit that this is very useful, Thanks for taking your time to write this.

Hi Will, Don't you think this is getting a little saturated? It's very tough to come up with a product that has little to no competition these days. Almost every product you can think of is sold by numerous competitors, who have been around for a long period of time...

Hi Will thank you for writing this. It is a great article and I'm going to read your other ones. You are an inspiration to me to try this. Thanks for wanting to help me and so many other people with your valuable information.

Hi Will, hope you're well. I've recently launched an online pet business which imports good from China. I would love to chat to you about how best to grow this business now. Thanks, Tom

Is it safe to sell branded items in AliExpress? I feel like they are the most legit and easiest ones to find.

Very interesting article, thank you. Can you explain what you mean by illegal. I have a great selling product, I bought it on Alibaba and have found out that it is a copy of a product which has a patent in the US, Europe, China and Japan. There is no patent in my country. So can I sell the copy product under my own brand?