186 Comments (page 1)

Well...I'll be rethinking things now, to say the least. Another life changing importing post from you Will, it seems like you are becoming the world expert on small scale importing. I'm glad to have found you guys - keep it up!

Thanks Will, i know that not easy to make it clear for this topic. I think "time" and "good mindset" (yes, i got it from your article) 'd help me to find it.

Haha, I don't know about life changing! Glad you could get some value out of it anyways though, thanks for the kind words Pieter :)

No problem, hope you liked it!

Another out of the park blog post. I love the way you spell it out the information so clearly. My kids are reading your blog instead of school books!

Thanks Dom, hope it doesn't bore the kids! They will definitely have a full ride to StartupBros University :-D

Boring compared to books on religion,latin and ancient history for a kid...i think not:)

Great post Will. You really lay things out well. A lot of this information must be almost second nature to you but I guess it's all things you've learned over time. I'm pleased you very clearly noted the mind set of having to work at it and not just "get-rich-quick". And I'm hoping to put your tips to good use soon. Thank you.

I think I found a ton of good products, but the problem is the disparity between MOQ and the number of products I could sell. I found a nice product that I could get cheap if I bought 500-1000, but looking at traffic on Amazon and eBay I would be lucky to sell 1-2/week. Suppliers don't want to sell me 100 pc. The last thing I want is to get stuck with inventory and to wait 1-2 years to recoup the initial investment. Any ideas on how to find products that sell at a high volume?

Haha, maybe you're right. Latin was my least favorite personally, wish they had Chinese instead! Your kids will probably be more likely to pick up a language they find valuable if you give them the freedom - sounds like some good kids :)

Thanks for reading Leo, glad you thought it was an easy read! Hope you got some value out of it. I guess one of the benefits of not selling anything is that I don't have to cover up the ugly parts, like hard work and risk. :)

Well Will, I was one of those people that emailed you and spent more hours that need to be remembered searching. Thanks for the good stuff. We appreciate it greatly. -Josh

Thanks for the comment Keenan! You could try to find one of the distributors that works with that supplier and go through them. But you may be competing with larger purchasers than you then. It's important to think about what your business or product will do differently, that will make the target customer look twice and consider you over the competition. Hope this helps!

That's exactly what I mean. You give it to us straight. No curve-balls. The honesty is refreshing.

Couldn't agree with you more Leo, I'm happy I haven't become "one of them" yet. I think I can hold out for a while, just promise you'll let me know if I start slipping up! :)

Hi Will; My gut tells me that most of the folks who can't find products are simply too afraid to get out there and try. I just sent off 3 inquiries to several companies, about potential products this morning. I have sourced several but I want to start small so I can control everything. We have to approach this like a new business. and we all know it is NOT easy to start a new venture. But as a wise man once said; "If you don't Quit, you can't Fail." Look guys you can always try one of the products will outlined and go from there. I know it seems a bit foreign (pun intended), but sometimes you just have to go ahead and try it. I will give you a head start. Here are some products I have researched and planned to source. I give them to you. don't worry I know that there are thousands more products out there so we don't have to compete. 1. micro needle roller 2. earplugs 3. silicon baking mat 4. magnesium fire started 5. fogless shower mirror 6. lipstick cellphone charger I know these are not glamorous. And they may not be stuff that you would buy; but check them on alibaba, amazon and Ebay and you will see that folks are selling them and making money. I hope this helps some of you get started Bill

Hi Bill, That's definitely a big reason people over-analyze product selection, great point! I may go back and add that in somewhere :-D I couldn't agree with you more, it's all about taking action. You almost don't even have to learn if you're just in the zone taking action. Or better, you'll just Google the information you need when you need it, and not get caught analyzing in fear as you said... Wow, that's quite the symbolic show! I agree with you 100%, there's a limitless supply of products out there if you know how to sell. You giving away your first couple profitable niches should shake up the would-be importers too afraid to take the leap :) Thanks for the awesome comment, Will

Thanks for the follow up article. I think I have reasonable expectations about how much work is involved in importing and re-selling. However -- having trouble deciding how much is a "reasonable" margin. I mean, if I could sell a million items and make a dollar per unit, is it worth the effort of packing, shipping, customer service, etc? Or would that be considered reasonable based on the volume? Ebay completed listings are not very helpful to me, unless I'm not looking at the right thing. Plenty of completed listings are of things that didn't sell. Is that my clue to look elsewhere? But some people sold those items . . . . Also, not clear by what you mean about your friend's "baby lead" websites. Can you give us a link (if that would be self-explanatory)? Maybe I need to go back and re-read your prior articles . . . . .

No problem Laura, sorry it didn't answer more of your questions. It's tough to say what a reasonable margin is, but I would try to achieve a 50% margin. The closer you can get, the better. eBay's completed listings will only give you a feel. The only way to actually see the data is to try Terapeak, which is a pretty hardcore product analytics tool. Worth checking out for anybody doing product research. I'd love to show the site, but I couldn't get permission. He was worried that the site and niche would be stolen. But basically, it's just a very nice blog. Sort of like StartupBros. The concept is that if you can build an audience first, it's easy to know what to sell and to sell it. Hope this helps, Will

I think importing can potentially be "Get rich quick", it just can't be "Get rich easy" ;)

Ah, an important distinction Odai! You're right there :)

Awesome post WIll. I always learn something. Something is wrong w/ your share bar...I wasn't able to share this post on FB. Quick question...how would a person businesses that were wanting to import? I'm trying to find small & medium sized businesses (between $1 - $50 million in revenue that manufactures high tech hardware or materials.

ok I am not able to type today. Let me rephrase the question. How would a person find businesses that are interested in getting into import & exporting?

Awesome post! I get what you're saying every time, but I swear every time I log on here, I learn even more (this is what those business professors in college . I even have my first samples from China coming in so I can test out the market (and the quality of the product); hopefully someday soon I can get out of my crappy 8 - 5 job and build what I want! Please keep the information coming; it has helped me a great deal!

Hey guy's your greeeaaaat and Tony would say…Of course your to young to remember those commercials but …I was just about to do exactly but not because I didn't know exactly what I was looking for, I get stuff from China from the companies you spoke of and YES Search around it pays thanks for the heads up on encouraging me to sell on Amazon and eBay as well as CL Now why am I not paying for your service? Uhmmmm or perhaps I done so via xxxxxxxx needed to make sure I didn't give away the full name am….Hey perhaps that's my new name ….Going to register it NOW as we know some are quick to the draw but not with this chickie, NOT 99% OF THE TIME AT LEAST! AGAIN THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT INFO I WAS JUST THINKING ON HOW AND IF I SHOULD DO SUCH AS THIS AND THIS IS CONFIRMATION …if I had a way to send you commission at least 1% I would hesitate NOT! one percent on a million is nothing to heehaw about! lol great advice as I have been boarded with emails from china wondering why I wont answer them good thing I have another on unknow to them. If I could give you a big Jamician Kisss well you know the rest! PS I get so many get rich quick schemes I can smell their pits…but yours is truly worth reading every bit of information and segment.

OK, Bill. Now I feel like a total idiot. I thought I was doing everything Will suggested. I spent the last 3 days looking at Amazon's movers and shakers, and at Ali Express best sellers. I found NONE of these. There has to be more to searching than just clicking on random items. Where did you start? Step by step, for the obviously internet challenged wanna be importer. Thanks for your input, and for your great suggestions . . . .

I'm an importer for xxx in china many sell by the cases….I do somethings so unque you must check me out and give me some pointer if you please I JUST LOVE YOU GUY'S!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS TRUTH

Hey Eric, thanks for letting me know! I'll have to look into that. Thanks for trying :-P It's tough to find businesses that are looking to cut their supply costs. It's one of those things that they jump on if they see the opportunity, but they're not really going out of the way looking for it. This probably isn't very good advice, but I would just ask around my network of contacts and see what I can find. I've seen deals be made through friends that work at a company, family who owns a company, etc. Hope this helps!

Hi Will - your article certainly hit the nail on the head. It is extremely to compete with the big players. But...obviously they too started small at some point. Given the power of internet these days, the online giants are a real killer. So basically I've started to rethink strategy and focusing more on exports. a few small trustworthy clients and hopefully business will work out in the future. Cheers. Deep.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this as well Bill - any advice?

Awesome, glad you liked the article Deep! Great point, everybody has to start somewhere. Hope your new strategy works out, be sure to keep me updated. Good luck!

Glad you liked the article Dove! Oh, I remember those commercials…but I don’t know if I can compete with Tony the Great :)

yes, now I understand about the baby leads. Thanks for clearing that up . . . .

Boojah! Sick guide, man. The brand is so huge when people are cutting margins. If customers trust / like you, a margin-cutting nincompoop will not hurt so much. Something I gotta keep in mind for the nootropics biz ;-)

Hey man, great post! When first ordering samples or when when buying products to test the market, how many should I buy of a product. I can't really decide on order quantity. I was thinking of just ordering 1-3 items to test the quality, let my friends have a look and get some feedback. But then when I want to start selling, how many should I buy the first time around? Thank you!

Laura; Thank you for your kind words. Man, where do I start to explain what I do? OK let’s try this. We will try to put what, seems to be a daunting task, into something a little easier. We will start in the kitchen. (mine) I look around and I see, flexible cutting boards, rubber gloves, disinfectant wipes, and pot holders. We will stop with these 4 for now. I could have done the same kind of inventory in the bathroom- toothbrush holders, brushes, combs, small mirrors etc. If you really get stuck. Go visit a 99 cent store and look at all of the things that are there imported from China. Make notes of what you see and then go see if you find them on Amazon or Ebay. Don’t bother looking at Kmart, Walmart, Target of any of the other major big box stores. You will never be able to compete effectively with their buying power. If you have flea markets near you, go visit them. The sole purpose is to find items that you may be able to import and sell. Definitely check the vendors who sell imports. They won’t be hard to find. Again make notes and go check them on Ebay amazon, etsy or any other online seller. Somewhere in here you will find your products. It just takes a little time. OK so back to my kitchen. Let’s lookup rubber kitchen gloves. On Amazon we find 400 items listed. Remember we want to be specific about which gloves we source, so I changed the name to ‘rubber kitchen gloves’. stay away from name brands, and look for items we might be able to put our own brand on. So we find True Blues Medium Blue Ultimate Household Gloves. Sounds like a generic brand to me and there are only 4 sellers, but one of them has 293 customer reviews with a 4.5 rating. This looks like a possibility. The 293 sales and the 4.5 rating means most folks like what they bought. I examine this seller closely, because with 293 sales they are doing something right. I will pattern my ad after theirs. I did Not say steal it. I will instead, see how their ad reads and try to make it better so I get the lion’s share of buyers. When we look up the same gloves on Ebay we only find 7 items being sold by 4 vendors. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=True+Blues++Ultimate+Household+Gloves&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc One of which has sold 39 pairs of gloves at approximately $14 per pair giving them a total of $504 of gross profit. We also check the completed listings and find that several have sold recently. The reason we check completed listings is to see if any products have sold recently. (emphasis on Recent) You will completely ignore products that have not sold. The key here is to write a better description and title. Basically give folks reasons to buy from you instead of the other vendors. It is not that hard to do. As with Amazon, I will use this sellers title and ad and try to make them better. So now over to alibaba. We type in the name of the product and we find a few gold sellers. The average price is 2 to 5 dollars per dozen pairs. So there is a very good markup. The next thing to do is to contact a few gold sellers and see about getting samples. This is not really hard to do. Here is an inquiry I sent recently and the vendors response. You can see that they are willing to work with me to get this done. From samples to negotiating a MOQ that I can live with. Here is my email using Will’s example. Hello, I am starting a company and may be needing a large supply of Beyond Men's Official Ratchet Leather Belt with Simple Plaque Slide Buckle. Could you send me your price list for these Beyond Men's Official Ratchet Leather Belt with Simple Plaque Slide Buckle, along with any shipping and payment information you can give me. Also, could we work something out regarding a sample being sent to me? Products will be going to California, USA. And what would the MOQ be after the samples? Thanks, Bill Here is the vendor’s response: Tom Gao Guangzhou Baiyun District Baiyi Leather Factory Gold Member China (Mainland) Bill,a reply of the Ratchet Belt Dear Bill, Thanks for your inquiry.The unit price for these kind of ratchet belt is about $5.2.And our MOQ is 200 pcs.But smaller Qty can be negotiable.Shipping just as your choose,ocean shipping or the express Payment Terms we accept:Paypal,Escrow,T.T. and Western Union.For more information,you can visit our website:www.ibelt.net.Hope these can help you.Many thanks. Sincerely Tom Contact Information: Tel:+86-15815829868 Skype:tombaiyileather Email:[redacted] Website:www.ibelt.net These particular belts sell for about $39.00 so another good mark up. This is a typical response. Some will go into much more detail, and some will send you free samples, but the basic message is the same. So a quick recap. 1. I make a list of anything I can find in my home that might sell on Amazon or Ebay. I stay away from name brand products. I also check dollar stores, flea markets, Amazon and Ebay for products that I can sell. I am sure that there are many more, but these are the ones I use right now. 2. Once I find a likely product I go to Amazon and Ebay to see if any are being sold. 3. If they are being sold and there are not too many vendors I now go to Alibaba to check on vendors and pricing. 4. Once on alibaba, if I find the product at a good price I send an inquiry email to several vendors and wait for their response. 5. Once I settle on a vendor, I send for a sample. When it arrives I put it to the test to see if it is good enough to sell. If yes I negotiate my first order. If not, I move on to the next product. This is my basic process. I do this with each product I source. Normally I will look up multiple products before I actually contact the folks on alibaba. Just find any product, check it on amazon and Ebay, then look it up on alibaba. That is the whole sequence. Don’t get caught up in the Junk mode. By this I mean don’t look at the stuff you are sourcing as junk. Remember what they say about junk. “One man’s junk is another man’s Treasure!” You are not looking for products for YOU. You are looking for products to sell. Case in point- would you buy a “Horsehead mask?” Look it up on Amazon and you will see what I mean. I did not intend to write a book, but it looks like I am well on my way LOL. I hope this makes sense and that it helps some of you have a better understanding of what we are all trying to do. Bill

Hi Will, I posted a reply to Laura's Post. Bill

Hi laura; well I thought I was responding to your post but it wound up at the bottom of the page. go figure. I hope it helps. Bill

Thanks, Bill. I found it, and will send a lengthier reply later. I actually already wrote it but hit "cancel reply" instead of scrolling down to "send comment." Grrrrr . . . .

OK, Bill -- here's the lengthier reply. When I said step by step, boy, did I get what I asked for! VERY helpful, and it gives me quite a bit more confidence so I no longer feel like I'm floundering about. I've already sent out emails to some suppliers for one of the items you mentioned in your original post, but if that doesn't work out, I feel I have some direction about how to proceed. How many products would you start with (I know you're starting slow and small, like me)? Not just research, I mean actually selling? Also, you wouldn't happen to know anything about tariffs, import fees, taxes and the like, would you? (Not income tax -- I unfortunately have some knowledge in that area $$$). Will - maybe that could be a separate thread, with a shout out to anyone who knows something for their input? note to self -- hit "post comment," not "Cancel reply."

Haha no way Josh, it was well worth the time! Like I said, I went through the same thing, I think all entrepreneurs do. Once you can focus on value-adding and differentiation, you've leveled up as an entrepreneur :) Excited to see where you go next!

And it was incredible :)

Awesome information here Bill, thanks a lot for taking the time to lay it out. I'm sure hundreds of people will value from reading it! You rock!

Great ideas all over these comments! I just need more time to write them all :) Thanks for the recommendation

No problem, happy to help :-D

Thanks Daniel, glad you liked the post! Great to hear you're taking action and have samples coming in, hope this first batch turns out well for you! And we have more content coming out soon, maybe that will help escape the 8-5 (much worse than 9-5!)

Thanks for the love Dove :) Awesome to hear you're already up and running - love your business! There's probably a lot of potential for you there if you can generate demand for your product! Good luck, Will

Definitely! You can get away with a lot if your customers consider you part of their identity. Tough to do, but definitely tough to beat - and thus a competitive advantage :) Is the nootropics business up yet?

Thanks Thomas, glad you liked it! When first orders, 1-3 is a good amount of samples to order, depending on how risky you think the product in question is. The first time around buy as many as you want! It's kind of up to you, and varies widely person to person. Hope this helps!

Great posts! Keep them coming as there helping me start importing again!!

Hi, I read your article and it is an excellent help to everyone. I like to thank you I haven't start up anything yet but I have few questions regarding to duty tax and shipping to customers. For instance: for something worth $20 with let say 4lbs then how much I have pay to send it to customers door!

Hey Bros, Great info ! I've seen a number of established wholesale giftware importers go out of business within the last 3 or 4 years. These are small companies (revenues less than 5 million) that have been around for 15 years. What could be causing this ? I have two assumptions that might be causing headaches to current importers. First, import companies are facing higher labor costs in China. It's no longer dirt cheap to produce product; labor costs are going up by 15 to 20 % per year. The second factor is the cost of shipping. Price of fuel has gone up substantially, since the early 2000s. Shipping from China and shipping product across the US has gotten very expensive. Importers in general operate on slim margins and therefore both of these factors could be causing small companies to go out of business. It seems to me, unless your are a large company, importing may not be as feasible. Large companies usually have their own factories and have an army of sales people to sell large quantities of product. Economies of scale is one of the keys to succeeding in today's importing business. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this matter. Thank You, Charley

Hey! Loved your "Rise and Fall" article, Thanks so much! Question: If I import goods from China, and sell them on Amazon. How and when do I need to pay importing taxes? Also, what happens when I start selling the same product on my own website? Have a great day! Vlada

No problem Nick, glad to help!

Hi Will, i read your 'Rise and Fall post' and i most say that you really put every thing for we to follow. thanks man but i do need a favour from you Will. Could you pls help me with website for car sales and i mean good site where i could buy cars at cheap rate, if possible Will the process to import them. Pls do shoot me a mail. Thanks and hope to hear from you.

Good Day? I am a young Namibian woman and it is my greatest dream to have my own clothing store one day but i would like to start with the platform of importing from China can you give me more info on that?

How many products would you start with (I know you’re starting slow and small, like me)? Not just research, I mean actually selling? Hi Laura; Much of this depends on how much time and money you are willing to invest. What i mean by starting slow has more to do with how the market receives my products than it does the number of products. Let me explain. What I do with every product is to put it up for sale and try to maximize the number of sales. I am much more interested in finding a few good products to sell than flooding the market with lots of different ones. Fewer products means that I can devote more time to promote each product. Also if i only start with a few products and I find that they are selling well; I can then use the proceeds to source other products and keep the momentum building. My ultimate goal is to build each products' sales to the point that it becomes feasible to use Amazon FBA to do the fulfillment. at that point I cut out most of my labor and My business can really take off. Also, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about tariffs, import fees, taxes and the like, would you? (Not income tax — I unfortunately have some knowledge in that area $$$). I never really worry about tariffs and the like. Most suppliers handle this. If you are uncertain just ask them. They are very helpful. Remember they really want to forge a good working relationship with you.

Dear Bill -- thanks again for another well-thought out and logical response. Since I have no one to bounce ideas off of, it helps tremendously to hear the mental process behind the decisions you're making.

Hi there, I just been through your article and it seems to be interesting but would you please tell me where did you keep your goods when you first started your business (I mean when you import random stuff). Im based in UAE with many regulation rules but I wish to start my own business. Additionally if you can advise where can I learn more about the Marketing tools you have mentioned in your great article. Thanks and Regards, Tarek.

You're the man Bill! :)

Unfortunately, there's no way for me to tell what anything would,cost really from what you told me. You can easily look up shipping prices on the website of your shipping company (or compare multiple companies). Duties and customs depends on your country, what you're importing, and more. Hope this helps.

Couldn't agree with you more Charley, I think you nailed it right on the head. Of course importing is more lucrative as you can pour more money into it, but the same can be said about any business. Every large company was once small, and there will always be ways to get there for good entrepreneurs.

Glad you liked the post Vlada! You pay duties/customs fees at the point of entry in your country. I don't think you need to do anything different when you sell on your own website, but the laws could be different in your area...

Happy I could help Moses! Unfortunately, I don't know anywhere where you can import cars. It is probably one of the more difficult items to import, and is commonly the punchline of importing jokes because there are so many barriers to entry. Sorry to write such a discouraging response, best of luck to you!

Awesome to hear that Elizabeth, best of luck to you on your journey! We have quite a bit of importing advice on the site, just click around and see :)

Thanks for reading Tarek! When I first started, I kept everything in my house. As I grew, I kept it in friends houses/other areas of the house, and eventually started dropshipping (so my supplier was holding it). Good luck to you, I wouldn't want to deal with those regulations!

This is one of the best website i've came across for wantrepreneurs like me. I am from Malaysia, btw. I have started to test the water with alibaba, amazon, e-bays and the likes recently. And from what little i have experienced, i can see a lot of what you have put up are very real world details which i encountered the same! Scammers from Alibabas (thanks for the tips to deal only with GoldSuppliers!). Learning to spot them is very educational. I have people who tries to sell me stuff at half the cost of market price, some who tries to simply quote me (one fella quote me USD 59 for shipping, i told him/her i would not consider anything above USD 30 and he/she amend the quote in a few minutes and then try to con me in other aspect like hiking paypal charges etc..). When i saw this people who keep changing their deals because i complains, i ran away...can't trust em....and yeah, it's vital you check their website domain...some fella have their websites created the day before they send me an e-mail!!!! I have also learnt to check on Paypal account (when was they created). These are some steps to avoid being conned (hopefully!!!!). So far, i made two sample imports from the same supplier and make a bit of money (about 30%), which isn't too bad for a first timer! The next thing is marketing and dealing with customers. Marketing is important...trying to be different is also important....i make some good customer by focusing on a specific area of my products, i just sell the same products with different focus, it works to a degree, but it's also limiting in a sense, spending too much time to build relation with potential customers....but it does give the people impression i am an "expert" in my area (which i am, actually...not to boast, but to share). Selling something you know well in has an advantage. One customer even wants to buy the product i am testing on hand eventhough i have not decide to sell it! But i feel for long term, not a good idea.... I also find getting hard to find goods is a good way too to make some extra cash. My recent example, saw this AngryBirds telepods. I wanted to get one for my son...i found out it's not available in Malaysia (not even Toys R us carries them here!). Since i am paying through my nose for shipping, i just bought a few extras and sell them locally...i daresay i am only one of the few person in Malaysia who has this product! Well, unfortunately for me, respond not too good...a lot of people don't even know what is an Angry Birds Telepods! (this falls back to educating consumers...to be first guy in the market means you have to educate the people...pros-you own the market for a while (b4 someone else does), cons-you have to try hard to make people understand what you are selling). Fortunaely for me...i can sell it at 100% to 200% profit margin. I just sold 2 and made back my cost....on top of my son getting his for free and giving away one to his friend at a birthday party...lol This is not a long term solution to have a constant sellable products, but it's a good way to supplement whatever you have in your other pipelines. My biggest problem now is still the age old..."Finding Hot product to sell"! I have paid good money to attend internet marketing courses etc years ago but never made anything out of it. And frankly, i still don't know how! Now, all i do is test product i think have potential...if somebody selling it reasonably active, then there should be market for it. All this is a cycle of learning-->DOING--->absorbing--->learning--->DOING.....I believe the DOING part is most important...previously, i was too engaged in learning....there's too much info until i was lost and dares not go in any direction. Now i don't care. I JUST DO. I have just registered a 12months account with esources.co.uk....not sure if it's worth the money or not....but if i don't bang my head, i will never learn. Yoda was right. ..DO OR DO NOT. There is no try. :) May the Force be with you guys/gals.

Good to hear from you TK, hope you have been well. Thanks a lot for your kind words - glad you liked the site :) It's awesome that you're taking action, just keep that up and you can't fail! There are definitely a lot of scammers out there. Gold suppliers are the bare minimum, you should always protect yourself as much as possible! Generally, you'll want to avoid anybody that even tries to scam you on little things like that. If you can find an honest factory, you're golden :) Of course, you also have to make sure you know your stuff, so you know the difference between scamming and negotiating :-D A 30% ROI is definitely good for your first time importing! Congratulations on that :-D You're right there, most of your money will be made after the first sale - if you know how to get it. Customer retention is the new lead generation - if you can retain them you have a real business. Differentiation is also important, marketing, all of that good stuff. This whole entrepreneurship gig never ends huh :-P Like you said, importing is a good side-business until you decide to really scale things up. You were lucky enough to hit some money on your first try, so you have the luxury of playing around and experimenting with some new products. That's always a great position to be in! Once you have one good, sustainable product that is bringing in some cash flow, you can start to expand out. And then like you said again, eventually you just pick one and start to differentiate and develop your own brand/sales system. Taking action is where all the magic happens. I'm telling you, I honestly think you could just keep taking action and never have any problems. It's almost like the universe gives you the information you need when you need it, and anything else is distracting. Of course, I say that after reading about a billion blog posts/books :-P Thanks a lot for the great comment, these are the comments I dream about! :)

Dear TK -- what a great post! Very inspiring. I see myself in almost every line you wrote, particularly the one about spending all your time learning and not doing. That's my downfall, too. My 14 year old son told me the other day that the reason I won't be successful at this is because I research EVERY SINGLE THING beyond the bounds of normal human behavior. Which is really just an excuse for not actually DOING anything! Wise fellow, that Yoda.

Thanks for your comments. :) I think many of us are in that situation of over-analyzing. I think it's the fear in us that made us go into over analyzing, the fear of failure, the fear of losing your money. It's natural.I have a friend, who's also very over detail....wants to draft a business plan, asked tons of technical question when starting an e-commerce site etc...in the end, all to nought. Now, i just wants to keep it simple when starting. "BUY LOW, SELL HIGH"=WINRAR. We also have to be prepared for loss (some of the latest stuff i ordered is no good, have to absorb the cost, no point sending back to supplier because the shipping cost would be more than the product cost.). So i guess i learnt how to prepare myself mentally for loss...not every deal you make money... I remember one guy who i brought my XBOX for repairs, his staff didn't give the correct information to me and in the end, he absorb the cost to fix my machine. He said "In doing business, it's either you make money or lose money". Simple words, now it rings even truer for me. He is an honest businessman. Much later, when i want to buy a PSP, i went back to buy from him. Because i felt he deserves my business and i feels obliged to buy from him! Keeping customers happy and your reputation clean and spanky is certainly something we should all do. Btw, just made another small import just now. This time paying using the Escrow service since the supplier don't accept paypal. So i learnt another new thing(Escrow) today. :) Wish me luck that i don't receive a box of rocks or something worse...lol.

Words of wisdom right here TK - spoken like a true entrepreneur!

Will, Have you ever used Odesk or Elance to hire people "in country" to help you source products from China, etc in order to get around the high MOQs that most on Alibaba ask for? I figure this might be a good way to better navigate the system since people in country have contacts that you and I don't have access to. If so, how has that worked out...any tips for us? What were the typical arrangements with the Odesk person - percentage of order, fixed amount per product sourced, or ?? Thanks! Steve

I've never tried it Steve, but it sounds like it could work. If you can get a partner in China, you'll do much better in the negotiation and quality control phases. It could be a percentage of the order, but that sounds like a bad idea if you're just starting and planning on scaling up. I'd guess there are even companies out there doing this for Americans, I don't think you'd have to give away a percentage, probably fixed amount per job.

That get rich quick state of mind is a tough one to break free from. Just came across your site Will, some great stuff here.

You brought up an interesting opportunity using zip ties. I've worked in manufacturing and know that a lot of these companies to source out locally. You have planted a seed in my head.

Glad you like the site Ian, thanks for checking it out. Definitely tough to break free from - but we all get there eventually :-D

I know a lot of people making money in supplying small-to-medium sized manufacturers - it's definitely not a bad place to be! Glad I could help, good luck!

Hey Will and contributors, I would like to make a comment about having a partner in China to help with negotiations, QC issues, shipping etc. Have a partner who is located in China and speaks both Chinese/English can be of great benefit! The Chinese like to establish a friendship, get to know each other type of business relationship! As an outsider/foreigner it is almost impossible to get the best price/friendly price from a supplier 1st off! We westerners like fast food and doing business fast but, many Chinese set around eating/drinking tea, Moutai and other spirits pryor to almost ALL business deals! I would just like the community to know I'm available in Guangdong China if anyone needs basic assistance. This is a GREAT community and as a successful import/export business man I can help!

Hi Will, Im enjoying your site and your knowledge regarding the importing business. I currently have a furniture shop and buy from local suppliers who in turn buy from China. Competition is getting bigger and harder to compete with because now everyone is selling furniture made in China. My idea is to sell my house, use the profit of the sale to purchase a container of furniture at a cheaper price than I am currently buying from and move / expand from retail into wholesale. The province where I live is about 350 from the Major City where all the current wholesale furniture operates from. If I wholesale I can supply within my town and province initially without any wholesale competition. I am going out into the trade on Monday and am going to act as though I already have my container, and sell current wardrobes I have in stock at cost until I receive my container where then I will make money. And will already have gained a customer. I know that this is a huge risk but I am confident it can work. What are your thoughts ?

Hello, Where can I get hold of you should I want basic assistance ?

Thanks, I want to share three things. 1.Some peoples are smart (not many), 2. some people have taste of humor ( even less than first), but it is exceptional to have both. I think it is even more exceptional to give both free, but what an enjoyment! Thank you again Ventzi

Thank you for your awesome articles! I have a question about what counts as counterfeit. I see a lot of products that are already branded here in the US and I guess the factory that made their product now makes them available for everyone else. The example I have in mind, the product I have seen on Amazon has a brand name, lets say "Mango". They have a tag on the product, that says "Mango". It says on their website that Patent is pending, but I can't find any patent. The only patent that could apply was from 1989, so it would've expired. Now, I found the same product, but without the "Mango"-tag on Alibaba. Is that an infringement? I won't try selling it as a Mango-product, I might make my own brand or just sell it as a no-name. Do you have ANY idea? :)

Good day all ! Will, you are one of the most open and friendly fella in this business, do not get me wrong i am sure there are a lot of nice people but they mostly keep all useful information for themselves. Now today i will make a "short" comment but i will be back after all festive days and post a longer comment or take you up on emailing you. At the moment i am focussing on ebay, i will try amazon after i am less busy with christmas etc. From the age of 16 i always had good ideas or ideas how to improve a product, i would sit down for 2 hours and write things down but never went anywhere with it because it was all to scary and i didnt see the end of the tunnel. Now, years later i kind of lost that "touch" (growing up takes up to much on my mind maybe) About nearly a year ago i bought a few ebay items, paid 5 times to much for it and tried to discover where they came from to sell them myself. this does work but it doesnt bring much money in, thankfully i found a glitch on ebay so i could sell international even when i did not have the required feedback for it yet. The last 2 months (after i had a bit more positive feedback) i made 600 dollars with chinese products, where 1/3 is my profit. so 200 dollar profit in 2 months, Note that i only sell cheap products so i will not order samples because people are not willing to pay for postage on low cost items in my experience but they dont mind waiting 2 to 5 weeks on china post. Yes i do make money, no it is not alot and how much i make seems to be based on luck and the fact that 1 customer paid 20 times more then the item actually cost me. so i decided it was time to research! After reading 3 of your articles multiple times it starts to slowly get into my brain, i am sure i will still have to read it over more times in order to understand it better but i am getting there !. In this article the fact you say that simply changing the color can make a difference made me realise something (after days of all information sinking in). I am sitting here typing away with a beautifull christmas tree next to me. Looking at the tree i realised that the gold christmas baubles have patterns on it, if they just would have been plain gold baubles i would not have bought them and this made me realise better what you wrote, if you just change a simple thing it can have a (massive) impact. Also the fact that you say something along those lines : "you are not buying it" On the radio i hear very young kids saying they want a TV for christmas, this might be normal nowadays but when i was younger i got a tv once in my life and not that young. I even see 5/6 year old kids walking arround with iphones. My point is, i agree with the fact that even if i would not buy it myself, other people might think different and do buy the same item i say no to. My last subject for now is undercutting prices and marketing, Daily i get spammed with "need a loan?" adverts with APR going from 50% TO 3100%. I am bringing ths up for others and myself because it can be usefull to check out which one is getting the most customers or profit (you already said it, if people want your product bad enough you can charge big prices for it. Everything i said has been 1: to thank you Will . 2 : To make others think, like the baubles story and how simple it CAN be, it is in front of our faces and lots of us just dont see it. Ofcourse this is not a guarantee and lots of people will buy plain baubles but i try to give an example to make your product stand out as i didnt realise it due to all the info i read. I hope you all like long stories :D .... The main reason i wanted to comment at first was to say : Merry christmas all :)

You can contact me here if possible!

I want yo get into import export business but do not have any support how should I go for it?

Great article! How exciting to know there are so many guys are interested in starting their own business. I am a china supplier run a international trading company for 7 years. I am glad to help should you guys have any question in exporting/importing. Raymond

Hi Will, Thanks for the great book I have downloaded, it helped a lot. Just one question....how does the freight companies on Alibaba operate? If I say for example put in an order to one of the companies( obviously the quote will be FOB) does the freight company do all the logistics side of shipping the items for you?The airport i will be receiving the goods will be in Johannesburg in South Africa. Johan

Will I am Reading this from Mexico and loving it, once I start I will let you know. take care My best Daniel

Hi Will, Awesome stuff thank you :) What do you suggest for me starting up in Indonesia? I will be living here for the next few years and have a lot of spare time . Do I list on Ebay and just ship within Indonesia ? And if I list on Amazon does the order get sent directly to them ? Or me ? Cheers Tina

Finding good products to import is difficult if the volumes are small. I will give an example. We are a wholesaler in Germany and it is far cheaper for us to buy the cheapest forms of pig skin gloves (which is not our core business) from another importer who imports them from China. (who is a competitior in that field) The reason is simple, he imports 20 containers of that product a year and also guarantees the quality. Quality from China is quite often an issue if you do not have a person or agent there. Try to find a big importer where you are and buy from him. It will also save transit times on the goods. In b2c the best products are the expensive, branded quality ones. If you are wishing to import from say Germany you will need someone there to arrange things for you in that you will need someone who can buy from the manufacturers there. The same applies to a great degree with Alibaba and tradekey viz a viz China. All the best products will have distributors already so to get an edge you must by-pass them if possible. Another example. A certain company makes the best tools spanners and the like in Germany. (probably about the best in the world) A friend of mine wanted a set of them as he is a mechanic and I could get them for about half the price he was quoted.

Hi Will, great contents, thanks for sharing. I have a question for you, hope you can reply. In your experience, what would be the average life of your product? I am referring to its "life cycle". Since you find it, and you start selling it...for how long will you be exploiting that business? I have got the feeling that it would be e relatively short period of time. By the time new sellers take over with lower prices or simply all the possible interested customers are satisfied, you will have to find a new niche and product to work on. Am I right? Thanks for your time Pepe

Hi Pepe, Well there are 2 types of products we sell. One is what I would call the once off, the customer buys something that is not a consumable and that is it. There you will hardly ever get multiple sales. eg a pallet jack. The other types are things that get used all the time such as adhesive tape. Price and ease of purchase are what makes a customer loyal. If its a made to order product they are also more loyal. On average we find each customer will only buy 1.5x with about 10% being loyal for 5 yrs or more. If it is an evergreen product such as tape you will always sell it if your price is ok. On the specialist tapes its even better. eg tamper evident transfer tape of which there are various grades. They are needed for air freight and the cheapest one sells best. http://www.verpackung24.com/Sicherheitsklebeband/ We do not sell on ebay or amazon as the Führer does not believe in them for b2b. He is both correct and wrong in this. On a b2c biusiness go for quality. eg in the US there is someone selling hot water bottles on Amazon from Germany for $18-24 each!! and its a best seller; the make is Fashy. It may be slightly seasonal but its life cycle will be long. http://www.amazon.com/b?node=3763901 Not a bad price for 330g of PVC. If you can identify say 20 products like this and source them you will be able to build a reliable money spinner. You will however probably have to invest $5-10,000. Remember Amazon/ebay cost about 12% or more. Ultimately it will also make sense to have your own simple webshop as Amazon does compare prices. Customers who have bought from your own shop will be more loyal. Amazon is perhaps now also competing against its own customers on certain products so using them in the end is only building up their business and their knowledge of your business. Intelligent buyers will find a product on amazon and then go to the website of the seller if he has one. We find that the loyalest customers are the biggest ones who have complicated accounting packages such as SAP or Dynamics AX. It is such a hassle to put a new supplier into the sytem that once you are there they will quite often not bother to look for another one. This is of course for small purchases that they make up to $1,000 per purchase. Looking for new niches will always be a good idea and as an individual you can concentrate more on 1 product than say a big wholesaler can. (We have that problem). Regards Robert

Hi, I have a silly question: What kind of money is everybody starting with? The reason I ask is this: I have the perfect product, it sells constantly on ebay and I already know who made it and got a *great* price from the manufacturer. But my issue is that in order to take advantage of the great quantity price, I'd need to order a 40' container. I am not doubtful that they will sell and I have already worked out the logistics, but I really wish there was a way to borrow money for your first order while using that order as collateral. Does anyone know of anything like this? Thanks, Quantella Owens

How do you deal with the frustration of searching for a product and you come across similar products with one priced at $35.00 per piece and the othe at $0.25 per piece. Sometimes both are from the same supplier.

If you are using Alibaba suppliers they are lying just to get your response and then will try to switch you to other products or the price will be different, etc!

Thanks, I was wondering about the 50 adds for the same products at various prices. I guess the Chinese are really masters of spam. Is it better to just completely avoid these kinds of suppliers altogether or is it still possible to negotiate a good price from them in you experience? Even if they have like 8 years gold account, with everything verified. On an unrelated note: My first comment! :D You guys at Startupbros are awesome and Im incredibly glad I found this site when I decided to try importing a product. So much info in one place its amazing!

Thanks Bill for all the information, Ive learned so much from this site already and now Im learning invaluable information from comments such as yours. I have to ask though about tariffs, import fees and import taxes though. Is the general practice really that suppliers handle this (on your request or just in general). As far as Im aware the FOB price means the price you pay for the goods to be loaded onto the ship/airplane and everything after that is payed by the importer. Is that why there are always two prices on Alibaba, one for the price of the product and one for the price with all fees added on? Im sorry for my newbie question, English is not my main language. In any case Ive spent the last few days studying and calculating how much the product will cost me once it arrives to my door. If all/some of that can be taken care of by suppliers I think my idea just got a little bit better. :) If anyone is interested in what product Ive ended up deciding on, its the wayfarer 80s retro sunglasses. They come from FOB $0,3-$0,7. They pack 500 of them in 1m3 box with 16kg weight, so Im hoping the transport will be cheap. Im planning on putting on a cheap custom logo and name and selling them online and in various other places as "party" glasses for 10 euros ($13,5). You dont know how much people need disposable sunglasses that get lost or destroyed by drunk people. Also great for the beach when you want to be care free! ;) I am sorry for the size of my post though, Ive shortened it twice. :S

I would NOT give up if you think you can sell the products [s] but, I would get samples 1st! If you need REAL assistance/help I'm in Guangzhou! My wife is Chinese and my student/her good friend works for Alibaba here!

Hey Beno, Sunglasses are GREAT if you can sell them!! They are light, break and get lost a lot! If you have a Gold Supplier he/she CAN help you with shipping and the declaration amt. they state could save you $$$. I like DHL from China to most countries

Thanks, I have found multiple gold suppliers (I also always check if they have verified on-site location, escrow, etc.) and some of them organise shipping as well. Selling them I am not completely sure yet, but how I would go is imprint a "catchy" name and logo on them, advertise all over the net and sell them online. I also have a friend who owns a bar that has afterparties for all the major events in our town and would sell them there and various other places like that. I have lots of ideas how to move them once they are there, I am also meeting with a friend who is a professional in designing websites to fill me in on what I need (I taught him math so now he has to teach me this :P).