2047 Comments (page 7)

The "4 Hour Workweek“ book you refer to in your article under "Negotiate better terms with your supplier" has some very bad reviews on amazon such as " There's a Sucker Born Everyday ( MUST READ BEFORE PURCHASING!) - Seems like more of the same old stuff

Glad you liked the article Karla, and sorry to hear about your misfortune! That is a common tactic for Chinese suppliers. They under value the contents of the package to get their customers cheaper shipping prices. It usually works out just fine, but some packages get pulled and inspected. You probably won't see your shipment for at least a couple weeks, probably over a month. Usually, they just hit you with a small fine for trying to cheat customs. You'll be fine though. Good luck, Will

That's better advice than mine - do that first! :)

Then don't buy it! :) You can go through and find positive or negative reviews, and you'll put weight on wherever your original perspective is. If you don't think you can learn anything from a piece of media, then you won't. I would suggest only reading things that are exciting to you. You won't get much out of forcing yourself to read something just because others recommend it.

Hi Honesty Pays. Congrats! Not many people take time to read reviews before spending money. I think what you need to be able to do is balance what reviews are saying. So you base your comment on the reviews that are bad ones. What happens if you ignored the bad ones? Or you make a comment in a forum based on bad reviews which you have done on here without actually trying out any of the information. Free speech is awesome and Will lets it flow here. I participate in this blog because I have experience spread across many years and if I thought Wills articles were crap I would be the first to tell you. Not everything is for everybody but the actual nuts and bolts of what's is being written holds water. No matter what you think about the reviews. Try reviewing the actual book not basing your opinion on what others say. Its easy to be negative and make judgements and its harder to get of the couch and have a go at something. I trust your couch is a comfortable one! Jim

Hi Will, first off, this is a great site with amazing information! Thanks for giving me motivation to want to start a small business like this. I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions :- 1. Is this method of making money still working? I mean, since this has been posted, I'm sure there are tons of people who are doing or trying this, so how can i uniquely be different from the rest? 2. Slightly similar to the first question, how long will this business last assume that we're doing well for the first 3 months Cheers! Richard

Hi Richard. This method is very tried and tested and there is still money to be made. If your thinking get rich quick then you need to buy a lottery ticket. If your thinking slow and steady then that mind set will hold you in good shape. With importing you don't have to re-invent the wheel. Wheels work fine just how they are but if you could get a great wheel at a great price and be able to sell that wheel for some profit you are on the right track. For me personally i do a huge amount of business and all the products i sell end up in the trash on a regular basis. That perpetuates the new sale so you have customers coming back time after time. Product like this could be garbage bags, disposable gloves, LED bulbs, paper coffee cups. All this stuff gets thrown away daily and needs to be replaced by the customers so it is a good line to think about. Business will last as long as you want so long as you keep looking for new products all the time and maybe tie in your customers with a branded paper coffee cup so they like the look and keep coming back. In a lot of cases many sell similar things and one of the few things you can personally change is the service your customer gets from you. people who set out to achieve nothing normally achieve nothing and get annoyed. People who set out to try something normally get a measure of success and if you learn from it then the next time its a better level of success. Have a good one mate! Jim

Will, I found this article very helpful to my plans to start an import business. I am wondering one thing though. If i were to import something and put my own logo on it would it be considered copyright infringement.. lets say for instance i wanted to import smart tvs and put my own logo on it and sell it. Is this considered illegal since i didn't design the smart tv myself?

I'm after a bit of advice. I've found a supplier that I want to use but their shipping costs seem to be extremely high. $1300 on an order worth only $4100. What are my options for lowering the cost of shipping? Thanks

Hi Cory, As long as Smart TV's aren't a patented technology, you'll be fine that way. Unfortunately, I'm not sure of a 100% certain way to check for patents. The best way I know of is to see if anybody has been suing anybody regarding the products I'm questioning. The "look and feel" of your TV would also have to differ, at least slightly, from major brands. I would assume that if smart TVs were patented, you wouldn't be able to get customized versions of them in bulk via Alibaba. The major brands probably have their supply chains under control enough to prevent that. Maybe Jim knows of a better way, hopefully he will respond also :-D Hope this helps, Will

Unfortunately, I would need a whole lot more information to give you any meaningful advice. All you gave me were dollar amounts :)

Hi Cory, I had a quick look at smart TV's and most major brands offer them. Back a few years ago I looked at flat screen TV's from china which pretty much are a generic unit with your badge on them similar to what your looking to do. What I didn't like was the profit. in a 40 ft container I think the count was 700 units. I was about 80.00 ahead of the game in price but I was a nobody offering a nothing brand and had no back up service. When I dug more deeply into how can these huge stores survive making such small margins I discovered they sell extended warranties as the real profit base for the unit. So if I had a TV and the factory I bought it from gave me 3 years, I would tell you my customer that it comes with a standard 1 year warranty and offer to extend that to 3 year for an extra$$$$. either way I was covered even if the unit failed. What i'm trying to highlight Cory is unless you have a distribution channel for these and the customer is willing to take a chance on a nothing brand then ok. If you are going to try and eBay them I personally wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. For me brand on some things like electronics is a comforting thing. Hope I haven't knocked the wind out of your sales mate! safe trading! Jim

Hi Baba, Will is correct lots more info required to make any meaningful comment. Only thing I could add is whatever it is your looking to bring in must be big in cubic dimensions for that sort of cost. I'm bringing into Australia right now something from the states that weighs 65pounds and I am doing that by air for about 650.00 Couriers work on both weight and volume and charge you based on the one that is the biggest. I ship some LCL (less container loads) of steel components into the UK. By the pallet it works out at about 0.50 cents per 2.2 pounds (Kilo) for freight and duty and local delivery from port to the customer. Maybe you need to look at sea freight for a better cost. Regards Jim

This article is amazing bro, Thank you so much. I have a question for you. Where could I get a niche? I mean the information. Is there a website with information about the consume of the people or something like that? Thank you for your time

Hi Gustavo Alonso! That's an awesome name by the way! Refer to a previous comment I made that finding a niche doesn't have to be a niche product but could be special the way you offer it to the market. Say you sold hair dye and wanted to value add to that to keep you ahead of the game. That doesn't mean selling a new brand or being the cheapest but offer something different. Most hair dyes are big enough for more than one application but many only supply one pair of disposable gloves. why not value add for a couple of cents another pair? Try to be better than the rest and make that your niche. Plenty of products out there to sell that are consumed daily and for many people service is not there. Have a good one mate. Jim

Hi, Great blog and so glad I had the chance to read it. I can actually go to China to source the products, and I have only sales experience so I think I have a good base to work off. My question is, the bankable sales channels such as amazon and ebay are increasingly charging higher and higher fees, this heavily erodes the margin. Is there a point where you think, it isn't worth you selling there anymore? secondly, I noticed some people brand up a product and some are just selling the unbranded versions for a lower cost, what would help you decide which way to go? I would like to brand a product up, create a brand around it but how can we say if customers will buy into my brand, or just prefer to carry on paying for the lower priced items, without risking a larger investment? Thanks!!

Hi Gustavo, Jim has a great response here (as usual), so I won't add much. The only thing I would say is if you're looking for consumption data to analyze during your research phase - check out Terapeak. Of course, it's more important to differentiate and position your product and your brand correctly than to have this data, but still useful :) Hope this helps, Will

Glad you liked the post! If you can go to China to source your product, you're already at a huge advantage! People sell more and more through eBay and Amazon every year, so I don't think it won't be worth selling there any time soon. Clearly some people have figured out how to deal with them. Like every obstacle, it can either help or hurt you depending on your skill as an entrepreneur. I personally brand and customize each item as much as I can. It's all about adding value for the end user. Of course, it is riskier and more expensive. Another common principle in entrepreneurship - your reward will be proportional to your risk. If you can pull it off it's much better to create your own brand. Here's some good posts on that to start with. Hope this helps, Will

i think your a great guy for sharing such an info for others !, iam doing exact the same now and reading this gave me a good hint about selling on alibaba , i always buy but never thought to sell tho ! :) its a great one , but the thing iam curious about is shipping out of the states dosent have a traking number and the only way is threw Fedex or those expensive shipping companies , !? apreicate for everything

Hi Micjael, Selling on Alibaba has its highs and lows. I sell on there and I love the platform it offers sellers such as myself. The highs are obviously the amount of traffic the site attracts. The lows are everyone wants things at prices so unrealistic it can drive you nuts some days. The trick is to offer something your normal Chinese factory wont or cant such as offering to drop ship for your customers. I do just that and it works well. With regards to shipping you can use US Post service to see if you can get a better rate. Happy days Jim

everything was going well until one of the products sellers sent me an invoice per item on how much delivery would be. the price was somewhere between USD 60-70.. which is exceptionally high. this ruined my whole plan.. plus the item i was buying was not very big.. its just the high cost travelling expense from CHINA to AUSTRALIA... what now<

thanks for tips brother! am a student in Tanzania and i hope to start importing smartphones, hard drives flash cards and tablet pc from china in October when we open our universities as most of students need those items at the start of their academic year. i want to import from china from dhgate.com, everbuying.com and many other but those two catch my attention and i was hoping to order with huge amount but with the tip about the starting amount ill try by starting with $200. help me if i can trust those two sites. thanks

Hi Gervax, Good idea to test the water with a small investment. Never pays to over extend yourself financially or otherwise. never dealt with DHgate but have dealt with www.steplfy.com.cn They are good to deal with, sell branded products (proper brands). Good Luck Jim

Hi Pat, sometimes the freight can be frightening. If your bringing in a generic product (like its already in the market in Australia) search for a big wholesaler who might offer it to you at better rates as they would be shipping by sea container. To give you an idea we ship vinyl glovce and the carton is say 40 x 40 x 40cm that would go into a 20ft container about 1200 times. That costs us about 1100.00usd this month. If I sent one case by air it would be a couple of hundred easy as its about 7.5kg. The savings are huge by sea so have a look and you might not be dead in the water just yet! Regards Jim

Hi Will Great work you r doing! really appreciate! Even i wanna start an import business, but actually confused about products. I am going to visit China in next 10days, just to survey the market. As i have heard about YIWU & NANFANG wholesale markets. I am planning to supply the product to wholesalers here in India. Moreover i have prior orders for replica shoes and mobile SD cards. the margins are very good. NOW my worries and queries are.......... 1. how risky it is to import replica or counterfeit products? 2. Price i am offered for 8gb Sandisk & kingston is $3.2 (moq 1000 pieces), which is really mouthwatering and undigestable. Could it be in real or its a pure scam? 3. which are the cheap but trustworthy markets to visit for electronics & shoes? 4. I have got import import licence. Gonna import for the first time. Would it be ok to import on my own for the first time? Sir, got a list of 100 questions in mind.......... But i think answers of these would make it a lot easier for me...... Many Thanks Best Regards

Hi Gaurav, I dont have much to do with electronics since i got burned for over 4000.00 some years ago but i did learn a couple of things. Mouthwatering prices normally mean its too good to be true which means it probably is. If you get caught selling replica goods they authorities will come down like a ton of bricks, not sure about india but in the States, Australia, UK it is dealt with severely and big fines and confiscation of goods is the way it goes. If your a big time importer of knock off brands then it could be worse. Also, replica things such as flashes and cards will be made with inferior materials for sure. Thats why they are cheap. Get some prices from Gold members for the same things then compare. try this company first http://ibiz.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-214237241/Memory_Cards_Flash_Drive.html Lots of electronics made in Taiwan and Shenzen. Taiwanese electronics have a good reputation generally but all suppliers need to be checked out as well as possible. Shoes are all over with many being made in Malaysia and Thiland. As for importing on your own , thats 100% of the profit coming your way or 100% of the fine. If you are trying to make a fast buck then replica stuff can do that but there is no future in it and its not sustainable for ongoing business growth. Have fun Jim

Hi Loved your blog .I have some questions. I live in south africa is it possible for me to do this and if I sell these products do I need some sort of licensing

Hi Niki, You can sell anything you want that is general merchandise pretty much. My crazy lenses for instance are easily sold because they are a fashion accessory not a medical device. That's not to say you must get good quality stock. Any further info on dropshipping crazy contacts please email me. [redacted] Cheers Jim

Is it common to be asked for 100 USD for one sample? It's a toy worth 4 bucks!!

This article was just what I needed to read after recently trying to start importing fancy dress from china - any tips on this i have done what you said with alibaba and messaged the top suppliers gold standard! Fingers crossed x

Will, Thanks for the article, I learned a lot. I've found some good products but the problem I'm having now is finding reasonable shipping. I have a product that is $35 wholesale but all the shipping options I can find are $15-$20, thus eating all my margins. Any advice? Drew

Daniel, that's a classic ploy by a factory that really doesn't want to deal with you. Might be because they believe your on going business will not be substantial or something along those lines. If its a toy made in China then chances are many others will be making it as well. Try another search. Regards Jim

This is a great article. I am a young aspiring entrepreneur with a background in accounting and finance, and I have been scouring the internet trying to find a way to get a small business started but always ended up chasing my tail. This article, and the other forums you have written, really hit it home. I was worried that I would become another victim of continuous trial and error and although that may still be true, this article helps to significantly mitigate that risk. I won't drone on about my experiences when starting a business but lets just say I found myself nodding my head several times throughout the article. It seems not only did you reinforced the ideas that had come to my fruition, but also answered many other questions I had. Thank you for summing up years of experience, research, and knowledge into a post that everyone can benefit from. It seems, based on all the other posts, that I am not the only person that is truly grateful for your contribution.

Hi Will, Just a thought, with all the interest on this topic, maybe you should create a forum? It would be very time consuming to go through all the questions people asked (although it's worth it) and would be easier to dig through on a forum where you could search specific questions. Just a thought, I don't have a question about anything at the moment.

Will, I am surprised that to see someone talking positive about AliBaba. From what I've seen, heard and experienced, 90% of the suppliers are scam. My father tried to import bearings - samples pretty sleek, the original product - crap.

Hey thanks for the article really informative. I really enjoyed it and am going to give it a try. Can you just explain a little more about "drop ship"? I feel the shipping portion is very crucial to the entire process because it seems a lot of errors can come from there. Thanks again!

Hello, First of all, your article was of a huge help, to me at least. I am Eva, I live in Greece and I was thinking that it would be good and, profitable of course, to create an online store, selling imported clothes and shoes, both chinese and known brands. Something like NastyGal, but with cheaper shipping rates and, maybe prices, for Europe and Middle East. What I'd like to ask, is if the Asian manufacturer can put tags with my bussiness's name on it and, if in your opinion, would be a good idea to start a bussiness like that, when the internet is full of these. Looking forward to hear from you, on this matter. Thanks, Eva.

HI I THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK .IT IS VERY USEFUL FOR A NEW PERSON .I JUST WANT SAY TO THAT IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO MENTION IN A RED LINE ATTENTION CUSTOMER DUE TO ANY CIRCUMSTANCES YOUR ORDER CAN BE DELAYED OR CANCEL .SO THE CUSTOMER WILL NOT GET ANGRY WITH YOU . I THANK YOU AGAIN . BEST REGARDS AKRAM

Hi, I also liked a lot your article. I am from Bulgaria (Eastern Europe), and Ebay and Amazon are not that popular yet. I wonder if you have ever tried to sell to to stores or you are selling only online? Thanks, Stoyan.

hi, I want to know what exactly you have to do to collect imported goods from china. do you have to go to the port and checkout all th egoods before delivery to ones address. eg if I am importing scooters which come in 20 foot boxes what would I have to do form the point of delivery to get them checked and to my address. Do you have to pay import duites etc and how is this all done?

Hello. I have a question regarding customs. I will be ordering 5000 bottles of an herbal supplement, Ginseng, fish oil, etc. Will these pass customs and get into the usa? One of the Chinese suppliers said their shipments would not pass customs in the bottle but that loose gelcaps pills would. Then another one of the suppliers said that their shipment in the bottle would pass. Do different suppliers have different deals with customs? Or do supplements have to arrive is loose bulk as compared to already bottled and packaged?

Hi,everybody I am a Taiwanese.I can speak native chinese.And I found a big secret about ebay and Amazon. ( Ebay and Amazon ) many things are expensive than china shopping website like Tmall and Taobao website.So, maybe America people or other countries people can buy from there than sell same goods in their country.It have a big profit,but dont have MOQ .

Is it better to go to china to find a supplier of you find a product that will sell good for a long period of time ?

Thanks Will for these wonderful insights, which are rare to find on Internet. I find myself lucky to come across your blog & actually live through your insights. You must have taken a lot of pain to conceive this idea, to put in words. Thanks a lot bro. I wish you great deal of success in your future endeavours. Regards, Anand Hatte, Mumbai,India.

Hi Mellisa, Sorry to hear your dad had a bad experience. I have been using Alibaba for many years and am a Gold supplier myself on it. The platform went through a stage of growth that it found difficult to control. Nowadays the companies selling on it get vetted very well (trust me on this one!) and you should only deal with gold suppliers. We get vetted the most! So I think 90% of bad experience is not the case but there are many steps to making sure the product you are getting is what you are expecting. I have no experience in bearings but I would think your dad had a specification for what he wanted and once the production was made he should have got SGS or some other testing body to randomly test production and send him a report. That way no nasty surprises. Don't lose the faith! Its fun out there!! Jim

Hi Steven, Drop shipping is where you advertise and sell a product but don't actually own or hold the stock. Your drop shipper would take your money, send out the goods to your customer but the goods only have your name as the sender so it looks like they came from you. Great way for startups as its cash flow positive and you have no stock outlay. Downside is theres someone else in the mix taking a margin. Happy trading mate! Jim

Hi Akram, I ship many containers per year. If my customers worked under the cloud that I could cancel their order I would be out of business. As for delays, this can happen but shipping is actually pretty precise. If you are sea freighting LCL (less container load) then it can be a longer process. My advice is not to highlight any potential problems to your customers and make sure you use a good freight forwarder. Make sure if you are shipping that your freight people do not "trans ship". This is a lower cost method of shipping where instead of going from say Shenzen to Longbeach it will tranship via Singapore. Then it waits for space on ships that are looking to fill gaps in the hold which is cheaper. These methods are not highlighted by freight companies and once its been sent via this method it can add weeks to a shipping schedule. So remember, no transhipping, direct vessel is best! Regards Jim

am from Ghana specifically in the capital and i want to know how i can start selling on ebay and amazon.i dont know how to start and i want you to help me know how i can start selling my shambalala beads made from Ghana to the world through ebay and amazone.i would be greatful if even we can go into a bussiness venture together.

Will, Can you please clear something up for me. I've just ordered my first sample batch of mobile phone cases, through a supplier on Alibaba. Being shipped by FedEx, which I've paid costs. Should I expect any customs duty to be paid ? And if so, at what point do I pay this ? Hope that makes sense. Thanks in advbance for any help, Jay

Just wanted to follow up and let you guys know that I took this article as inspiration and built my own business. Thank you again. I took a slightly different tactic, as I am trying to build my own brand of eCigs, rather than be a re-seller. It's a lot more time and money than what is outlined in this article, but I'm hoping it's worth it. And for anyone thinking of copying my niche - good luck! The road is filled with perils I could have never imagined. I never expected to be lumped in with porn, gambling, booze and tobacco.. But the reality is that's the perception of the product. I LOVE dealing with banks these days! :) Thanks again guys.

hi! great post! I want to do business, I have a lot of questions, but now, I will only ask you one, do you always buy the items you sell before re-selling them? or after? Do you understand what I mean? I am wondering, what happens if I post a X item on ebay, but I don't have already purchased that item. Then a bidder buy me the item, and I purchase it to my supplier, and he/she deliver the item directly from asia to my buyer. What do you think? is that a good idea? thank you :)

ive been looking at setting my own business up for a while and have looked at alibaba and other wholesale sites, what confuses me is when they say US $3.75 / Piece Min. Order: 10 Pieces What does that mean as i dont understand what a piece is?

I just wanted to say thanks for the article. I think I am going to give this a try, and its only through the detail and real experience you have shared that gives me the encouragement. I'll let you know if I do something with this.

It's very impressive. I got few questions. How did you deal with shipping and custom things? Did you use sea-freight at that moment?

Hi Will The article is so helpful, thanks! I am currently looking into doing some business overseas and was wondering if you had any advise or info in regards to the customs rules and taxes. I have small online business now and usually get my items from within the US so this would be my first time venturing overseas and have no idea of tax rules and customs when it comes to importing goods. Thanks again! Bessie

Hi, First to thank you for your generosity with both: knowledge and your time. All of the articles on your blog are well written, informative and so helpful to someone like me- I am dealing with importing for the first time in my life. Thank you ! I am looking for printing and diecutting supplier ( I found one through Alibaba) but the problem for me is high cost of shipping if I go through their shipping company. My Chinese friend told me that everyone in China is always using China post, that they are very reliable and cheap ,but sometimes slow ( for now I would prefer to pay less and wait more, than other way around) Did you have any experience in shipping with China post in your business? Thanks Olya

hey will, Very motivating article, well i am from pakistan and planning to export some frozen food to the US. My question is how can i find importers and what will be the consequences ? like will they allow it and who will inspect the food ? any comments on this ?

Hi Joe, Just curious about your merchandise like tops, jeans, denim, shorts etc? Feel free to email me back. I live in California. Thanks' Kevin

Awesome to hear that Katy, hope it turned out well for you!

No problem Drew, glad you could get some value out of it! Shipping is always a big hit for importers. Like I mentioned in the article, it's important to think about shipping costs when going through products. If you can't pick it up with one hand, it's going to be tough to ship!

Hey Seth, thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you liked our site so far, feel free to send your feedback over whenever :)

Not a bad idea Shane, I've thought about it. I always worry about people coming back consistently, but it seems they do here. Thanks for the feedback - maybe we will get one started soon!

Glad you liked the article Stoyan! Yes, I've heard of people selling to physical stores, or even out of retail locations, mall kiosks, etc. As long as you can move the product, do it! Good luck...

Yes, if you're importing 20 foot containers it is a little more complicated, but still pretty easy. You just need to hire a shipping company that will deliver it from the port to your warehouse, where you'll need to unload it as quickly as possible. Scooters sound like they might be complicated, but there's probably some opportunity there. Good luck!

It's always a good idea to go visit factories in Asia/China if you can. You'll get better prices, better quality, and have a better business all around. But it can be an expensive investment!

No problem Anand, as long as you enjoyed it's worth the pain :-P

I think you'd need to find somebody to sell them for you and import them into other countries. I don't think eBay will allow you to sell directly from Ghana. Good luck!

FedEx should take care of that for you Jay!

How does shipping normally work from China? No Customs issues?

Good to hear from you Cort, hope you're doing well! Glad to hear this article could help you out - it's amazing to see what you've built since we started talking. Your site looks awesome, and looks like you've set up a great business for yourself - congrats buddy!

Glad you liked the article Mari. It's definitely not required to have your inventory at the time of sale, depending on how you're doing business. If you're selling on eBay, then you're going to want the inventory first. However, if you're selling to individuals or companies through your own mediums, you can do whatever you want - take half before, half later; pre-sell your inventory; the skys the limit! You definitely don't want to dropship directly from your supplier in Asia though (unless you live in Asia). If you're selling on eBay, you're probably going to need to ship domestically. Hope this helps!

It depends on the supplier, you have to look deeper or ask them what a piece is. For most items that's going to mean 1 item, but for small items it could be more depending on the packaging. Just ask the suppliers!

Glad to help, good luck to you!

I don't use sea-freight at the moment, as I don't import things any more! All of the answers to your questions are in the article and the follow-up :)

Hi Bessie, glad the article could help! Most people won't have any trouble with customs or taxes. In most circumstances, it's taken care of by your shipping/logistics company. As long as you're not importing something that is heavily regulated, it should be easy! Good luck, and congrats on the business you've built so far :)

Happy to help Ali! If you're trying to find importers, then you should try listing yourself on sites like AliBaba. If you're exporting/importing food, then you're probably going to fall under more regulations from agencies like the FDA. I'm not sure how to help you there, as I've always avoided heavily-regulated products. Good luck!

Shipping, customs, and taxes are usually easy to deal with. Especially if you're importing via air, but it's pretty easy via sea as well. As long as the product you're importing isn't something heavily regulated (food, drugs, animals, plants, etc.) - you don't have much to worry about :)

Hey D, thanks for the comment. Wish I could help you with this one - but I'm not sure. I've never dealt with any consumables due to regulations and liability. I would suggest talking to your suppliers more and trying to figure out what is going on there. Good luck, and sorry I couldn't help more!

Glad to see things are still progressing with your company James, hope all is well!

Awesome to hear that, keep it going! :)

I'm glad the article helped you out Eva! Asian factories can definitely do custom tags for you, if not they are pretty cheap regardless. As to if it's a good idea, that depends on what you're trying to do. I think it's a great idea to start your own site and your own private label brand, and customize/differentiate your product as the market demands it. However, that takes more resources that many don't want to invest. Do whatever you feel is best for you!

Hey Omar, Yes, I've used Amazon's PPC and in the past used whatever else they had. I set up my own site eventually. Hope this helps!

You'll boost your margins incredibly shipping via sea freight, and it's not too tough. Of course, it does require some additional investment and carries some additional risk. But, that's all part of the game :)

Awesome to hear that Ian, glad to hear it's been working out so far! Haha, I've had some people email me in regret after using their personal email. Glad you're not one of them :-P

Escrow is fine, just make sure you have third party financial protection!

Not to point out or something ! I have to agree your article is just awesome. But I ám edging to ask this are you doing affliate marketing for Alibaba. :).. Even if you do one, i do not care because this article is great. Although this article is a great startup advice.. I would also like you to sometimes post a column and update once in a while telling the "The problems faced by you and how your overcame them" one problem a time.

Hi Will, I currently do not have a website yet. But I'm planning to make one with bigcommerce.com soon. I'm an 18 year old college freshman, and I had decided on opening an online boutique. ( thanks for you advice on staying away from products that we buy everyday, but as of right now, I really want to do apparel ) I know about Alibaba, but I turned away from it because their minimum quantity is out of my range. I found fashion71.net, they carry really cute things and do not have minimum quantity requirement. I was thrilled and I recently ordered a couple of items that I really like, to see the quality of it. The problem is this. US has a new care label law. Asian countries do not necessarily attach care labels to their clothings. I don't know if it'll be legal for me to resell them here in the United States. Can you give me some insight on this? Thanks in advance!

Hi Will. Awesome article. So I got to samples and they require a fedex/TNT/UPS account etc to post? Is this standard? Cant they just mail the sample to the address I supplied? Thanks Mate Pete

Hi Will, I ordered 500 t-shirts from a company in China (paid in advance) and got hit for $600 by phone at the U.S. Port to release them for DHL to finish delivering them to me. How do I avoid this or at least arrange to know what amount I will need to pay to import them?

Will I have been reading and re-reading your articles over several months to ensure that I fully understand them and have found them very comprehensive and informative. In doing so one thing that I noticed that stood out to me was your reference to your clients. I was wondering what service you provide as I may also be interested. Steve Douglas

This article is unbelievably valuable, same goes for "how to pick a good product" Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge! I have 2 questions: a) when looking at volume on Ebay, what determines Low/Med/High? e.g. if there are say 10 completed listings would you classify that as low? b) when comparing best/worst case dollar amounts for products, do you look within the country or do you tick 'worldwide'? Thanks Alex

Hi Will, I was very glad to find you and your blog and I was looking for start my own business. I buy a lot on amazon so I'm not familiar with ebay. Can you tell me how to tell the volume of units sold per week on ebay? I just couldn't figure it out. Thanks!! Mai

Hi, Great article, but can you please explain how you could sell Alibaba inventory on Marketplaces like Amazon without UPC codes? I see the value in being able to purchase overseas but I don't understand how I could sell them effectively here. Thanks in advance!

hey Will, great post! just a question, can you buy products off of alibaba and then sell them on ebay as your own brand? so if you get the product and then put your own logo on it and then sell it on ebay

Hi Will, I enjoyed your article and found the tips really helpful. I have a few more questions for you.. if you can help that would be great. I am currently looking into setting up a business. I would like to order some pre-existing products from China as well as have some prototypes re-produced (importing to Europe). I would however start by importing existing items and take it from there. I have already done quite a bit of research in the area, know what products I would like to sell and build a brand around. - Would you recommend first registering as a company, before importing and selling? - You mention Alibaba as a key source for suppliers. Do you have any experience with websites such as: www.hktdc.com - Can manufacturers in China produce products with my newly created brand name and how can i protect the brand name? What if i like a product on offer but would like it with certain modifications? - Product safety standards are very important in my chosen market. Do you have any advice on how I can ensure ordered products meet European safety requirements before reselling? Any mistakes in this area would be an immediate brand-killer. - If I compare the buying price in China to the selling price in Europe there is a good margin. In forecasting profits, what other costs should I account for... import duty? VAT? Other taxes and custom fees? What costs can be claimed back against tax? - When you started importing and selling did you do so as a private individual or a company and did you pay tax on your earnings immediately? - You advise against bulky/heavy product. Some of the products I wish to sell are in fact quite bulky with one unit taking up a carton size of 60 x 30 x 41cm. The material is wood in some cases so it would probably be quite heavy. Can you further advise why you warned against bulkier products and perhaps offer some tips on avoiding any problems? Thanks for any advice you have. If you have any recommended further reading on any of these topics would also be grateful. Melanie

I consider myself very fortunate to find your article before I even have a more solid thought of what to import and sell on eBay. Thank you thank you thank you. One question I have though. I notice that lately there are many sellers from China selling on US eBay and their pricing is quite low with free shipping. How do we compete or distinguish ourselves from those sellers? If quick shipping from US is our winning selling point, how do we eventually achieve the ideal drop ship option? Wouldn't drop ship add quite a bit to shipping time in oppose to having our own inventory on hand?

Wow, this is what I have been looking for! I love business, especially international business. I have been struggling on how to start one and I couldn't find any good information that fit me but man, this is it! I will take your advice and act now. I will refer anyone to your site if they need help on. Thanks a bunch!

What great article... I had no idea where to start or what to do before reading this article. Well done mate. I'm needing some advice on sale price and trying a product that hasn't been in the Australian market before. It sells well overseas in America, UK and Europe but no one is selling it in Australia for no reasons I can see other than we could be a little behind the times. The product is very practical and a very good solution to a common and expensive problem. I have followed the criteria you mentioned in the article, found some reputable suppliers and have negotiated a good and very profitable price. I'm looking at getting three lot's of samples which will cost me around $250, with each suppliers product being of a different brand. The quality varies a bit between each product but the price doesn't vary that greatly compared to the profit margin. If I sell and list these on Ebay, do I list them all from the one account/store? Do I sell these at different times or sell from different accounts? Do I list them at the same price and see which sells better based on what they prefer/buy most? Or do I sell based on what I think they are worth or a set profit margin? Also how do you suggest I go about trialing them on Amazon?

Hello Will, I just gave a feed back earlier about how great is your article. I have a question about searching for items that are sellable on eBay. How do I search and know if my items are not counterfeit to sell on eBay? I know that there is VeRo but I have no way to find out if my item is trademark, copy right, etc. It seems like the only way to find out is to list it and wait to see if eBay will remove it. Thanks in advance!

Great article! Very informative! This is my situation I have $350 to invest and have been wanting to import and sale airsoft guns online preferably ebay but I am also will to deliver them in my area for Craigslist buyers. I am 21 and want to establish a source of extra income. Can you give me any trusted suppliers names you have worked with in the past ? Any help is appreciated thank you !