/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>110235
>Taking the glass dildos part out of it

>>110259

They were exported.

Questions:

1) Do you source your goods online through B2B or in person?
2) How did you get into this at first?
3) How much did you start with?
4) How did you find buyers?

TIA. Been thinking about doing this for some time.

>>110235
>guanxi
I had to look this up just now and I'm definitely not new to the whole China thing. People always make a point about this with English words and while it's a little more true in the China than in America, it's nothing more than common sense. All it means is:
>try to look good to people
>if you establish a business relationship with someone and network, you will do better
Which is something everyone knows anyway. It applies to everything, even basic friendship. If you are positive with people and do things in a mutually beneficial fashion, if you CARE about people or at least pretend to, you will see more opportunities. If you present yourself in a more serious manner, people will take you more seriously.

I've always found it weird that people have to be told this. They're businesspeople, not retarded. But I guess it helps to reinforce that you should show up and spend time with them occasionally rather than just treating them like sea creatures that make your plastic crap.

Someone should probably do a more eloquent writeup than I just did if they want to make the point. But to me, I just see it as human nature.

>>110493

1. I prefer to find my exports face to face and my imports through agents I know personally.
2. I have extensive international contacts from college.
3. 10k
4. Cold calling, mailing, asking if a friend has any friends etc.

>>110501

>nothing more than common sense

No. It isn't trying to look good to people or establishing a business relationship and network. If you really think guanxi is that simple you don't actually understand the concept.

>>110515
Okay. What is missing, then?

>>110523

Guanxi is a cultural institution that involves the exchange of ever growing gifts, each larger than the next. Guanxi is considered to be more important than law or other custom. Chinese will violate international law if it means honoring guanxi.

>>110515
>The United States-Israel Free Trade Area agreement was originally enacted to provide for
duty-free treatment for merchandise produced in Israel to stimulate trade between the two
countries. This program was authorized by the United States in the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984,
became effective September 1, 1985, and has no termination date.

Why am I not surprised?

>>110544
I see. That just seems like general kindness and respect amongst people you're close to for me, but perhaps pushing it a bit by breaking the law for business partners just to show that kindness. I'm not in that situation at all, but of course I reciprocate on positive gestures.

>>110501
No, it's not common sense. It's goes beyond typical professional networking--what we're accustomed to in the West.

>>110515
So do you travel to China? What do you trade in, if you're comfortable saying.

I've spent a lot of time at wholesale markets in China--I think it would be a lot of fun to go and do business with vendors there. OTOH, with Alibaba etc., it seems like it might be a needless waste of money to go there in person.

>>110564

It's not the same, but if you've never been around the Chinese I understand the confusion.

>>110568

I have been as far as Hong Kong but never mainland China proper, though I'm slated for a trip this summer. Mostly because I don't import from there. Too many people are doing it already.

Right now I'm looking around for new stock.

Alibaba seems like a scammers paradise.

I actually sell pipes to china en mass.It is open for global however european dont buy much american buy fair amount chinese buy in large numbers however very small in induvudual numbers. So they sent me some bamboo to make pipes however it got stack in customs. I went there and they told me I need to pay tax I laughed at them said why would I pay tax for bunch of sticks their total cost is like 2 bucks. They let me go after that. To be honest americans have better attitude then others for some reason.

>>110595
>It's not the same, but if you've never been around the Chinese I understand the confusion.
I haven't physically been there, no. Only to places like Alibaba.

Ordered something in bulk from DHgate, what happens next? Will it just come straight to my door or will I have to go pick it up? I don't really understand how this shit works. UK by the way.

I verified he was a real supplier, I asked for the address of the factory and looked it up on Google maps, and he had good reviews and a lot of transactions so, it seems legit.

>>110607
I would post some custom made ones they pretty kwell. Guess who is he kek.

Anyone ever worked as merchandise sourcers / buyers in a foreign country for a company back home? Seems like a preddy sweet gig.

>>110656

Never bought from there. Is it shipping FOB or what?

>>110674

I prefer to take title to the goods myself whenever possible.

>>110656
>Ordered something in bulk from DHgate, what happens next? Will it just come straight to my door or will I have to go pick it up? I don't really understand how this shit works. UK by the way.
Whoa. Dude. You really should've asked this before you made the deal. There are multiple ways to do this. The good news is you can retrieve your stuff but you might have to travel a bit.

>>110698
do you have to deal with a customs broker?

what do those people actually do?

>>110759

On imports you just have to pay import duties and show paperwork to take it with you.

>>110691
I know, but I would have just kept talking myself out of it, so I just thought fuck it, I'll see how it goes. It was only a $200 order, so not much lost.

>>110698
Yeah, FOB. I assume I have to pay the postage fees + VAT when it arrives, my only concern is how do I get it?

>>110768
Nice. Were duties prohibitive to you when you first started, or are they pretty much negligible?

>>110767

If it's going FOB then it's probably arriving at a port, in which case you have to pick it up there or get it from a freight forwarder depending upon the arrangement. You have to pay import duties on it though, which for the UK is pretty steep. I'm looking at shipping chiles there and it's between 6.4% and 7.2%. I blame France for this.

>>110787

Depends on from where to where the goods have gone. A lot of things are duty free if there is an appropriate trade agreement. This is the case with a lot of African goods because there are beneficial import agreements in the US with associations of developing nations.

>>110558
thank all the Israeli foreign agents in American government

>>110804
do you import from africa?

are we talking northern africa or dark africa?

>>110791
How do you get notified that it's arrived?

Do I need to fill in any forms or anything?

I've basically ordered it with no knowledge about importing.

>>110859

Not yet. Seems kind of sketchy, and I don't want to be the guy holding the bag for the Russian or Nigerian mafia.

>>110861

Depends upon the arrangement. You have some customs forms you'll have to fill out and you'll have to demonstrate that the goods originate where you say they come from.

What do you guys know about Geoducks?

>>111783
That you can use salt to get them to surface in the sand.

>>111791

It's mostly native americans who harvest them right? Who do they sell to directly? Local seafood markets?

>>111808
Not sure, I just saw a youtube video once.

>>111822

Thinking about exporting them.

>>110595

Are you telling me those barrels of oil on Alibaba aren't real?

>>111825
Sounds ambitious to be exporting perishable goods, unless you have experience in the field.

>>111828

The uranium might be.

>>111828
Not him. A lot of things on Alibaba just aren't real. They're selling Intel processors on Alibaba and those simply don't exist for wholesale on that site. They'll send you a real sample but then later scam you by sending you a bunch of plastic nothing or literally just nothing at all. Then they leave, rejoin, buy gold membership under a new company name and do it again.

It's best to buy products which they could actually create. That means they'll have to have the rights to do so, too.

>>111828

Depends: is the Prince of Nigeria selling them?

>>111838

I'm going to have to do some research, but I'm always ambitious.

>>111861

Do you do this for a living? How well do you do?

>>111957

Pretty well. My margins are damn solid, but perhaps more importantly my turnaround is faster than retail investments usually can manage. Lots of risk but quicker profit.

Yes I do this for a living.

>>111974

Do you speak mandarin?

>>112074

Nope. That's what translators are for, especially Chinese friends from college. Learning though. Those fucking tones are a bitch and a half.

>>112086

Yeah I know I'll never learn it.. Just wondering how important that is when traveling and meeting with suppliers. Unfortunately, I have no friends that know the language :/

>>112111

I'll admit it's a handicap which is why I'm trying to learn. It's never too late anon.

>>112117

I'm gathering that you mostly trade in retail type things? I've also gathered that this is most likely the least risk being the quality of such items is less of an issue.

I am wanting to get into industrial type items that I can try to sell over here. These would be consumable type things and not equipment.

Any thoughts on this?

>>112141

The least risk is working on retainer rather than assuming ownership of the goods yourself. Also the least profit.

Industrial type items huh? That's a big cash investment, and you're competing with a lot of big time international wholesalers who already have contracts with major industries. Might be tricky.

>>112159

Yeah that's what I figured. I'm a sales engineer at the moment, so those are the type of things i understand.

>>112185

Ah. Yeah, the economies of scale and big competitors to that, plus various regulations, make it a bitch for little guys like us to break into.

>>112196

I operated in a sort of niche industry for a while that was dominated by regional distributors. This industry also has end users constantly squeezed for cash, so they're always looking for a deal. Especially in their consumables. This is why my thinking was to provide products for as cheap as possible through amazon or ebay or something. Obviously this is completely in its infancy.

>>112196
Thanks for your input, btw. Love to see constructive threads on this board.

>>112284

Not a problem.

>>112239

Regional distributors as in domestic or regional as in international but not global?

>>112300

Domestic regional as in mostly one or two distributors per metro area. Very "old school" type industry.

>>112323

Ah. Then probably lots of vertical integration.

>>112354
Sort of.

Did the Texas anon from the last thread ever check out the price of those chiles at the farmer's market?

Not as good as I had hoped, people were mostly reselling produce because the drought fucked up everyone's crops. Gonna have to do more work on it.

>>115017

Ah. How were the chiles?

>>115032
Only found a some small dried ones, not in season at the moment with the freezing rain

>>115264

Damn. How do these prices look to you?

http://www.thechileguy.com/shop/category/bulk/

I'm considering shopping online because it gets around sales tax if I can find a reputable domestic vender with good bulk prices online.

>>115308
I'll have a look over the next few days, nothing I saw at the market was suitable for bulk orders

>>115352

Ah well. As long as I can at least find bulk prices I'll have something to start with.

could you still get scammed on alibaba even if the company uses the escrow service? i see a couple things i know i can sell and im really tempted to at least get a sample.

>>115545

I haven't a clue, but some anon here who's used it before must.

>>110235

My great uncles do import/export trading out of Durban, South Africa, so I respect the field.

I have a question though.

Do you think the current U.S. economic policy regarding constant trade capitulation is good for the long term feasibility of American business and manufacturing?

Will there be a tipping point if this doesn't stop?

I mean, without your bias, in your own personal opinion, as someone who understands American trade barriers

>>115638

Complete honesty? Nope. The USA's lack of barriers to trade wouldn't be a problem if other countries did the same, but there are massive disparities in tariffs that make the U.S. economy a dumping ground for products from every shithole country who use poisons as a food additive or some equally other ridiculous nonsense, and if those countries don't get their bullshit in line we'll eventually slam up trade barriers similar to what other developed countries have and tell those economies to fuck off, which in turn will result in trade barriers to export from America going up in retaliation.

The real problem is that there is only so much bullshit you can pour into the global economy before people get sick of it.

>>115679

My idea, as it's always been, is pre-empting that.

>The USA's lack of barriers to trade wouldn't be a problem if other countries did the same

I feel like this is so basic but a lot of people don't realize or understand this. It's basic game theory to me.

How do you make people fall in line the easiest way? By incetivizing falling in line. Would a system of tariffs based completely on an economic grading scale (that includes factors like currency pegging, environmental damage, worker treatment and wage, and economic subsidy) that does not change due to good relations or higher tariffs in other countries still cause a trade war?

>>115713

If it was realistic enough that compliance were possible, loose enough in all the right places that profit is still to be made, and enforced tightly enough that it worked long term yes.

>>115545
I think so, but it helps to use it.

>>115739

Cool, thanks for the slight vote of confidence, I'll let you get back to your thread. As far as realism, I was thinking of a tariff of around 12% for China. Just enough that there will be real worry about profit margins for those looking to create factories there. Think that's realistic?

Also (back to your thread topic), what do you think of shaped gold (or other precious metal) vs. gold bars. Is there value in things like coins/watches and the like that will survive fluctuations in the actual metal markets.

>>115775

>Think that's realistic?

Depends on health regulations in both countries and how Chinese wages go.

> Is there value in things like coins/watches and the like that will survive fluctuations in the actual metal markets.

Well that depends. Are you minting the coins/manufacturing the watches?

>>110544
How big of a gift are we talking?

What is the biggest gift you have given?

Also you are easily my favourite trip.

>>115810

>How big of a gift are we talking?

You start small but work your way up back and forth.

>What is the biggest gift you have given?

Without going into detail I committed some serious... breaches on behalf of the fair haired child of a prominent Chinese family.

>>110791
Don't know much about this but can't you just import to say france if the tax is lower, then forward it to the UK since the EU tax is paid?

>>115791

>Well that depends. Are you minting the coins/manufacturing the watches?

Considering, yes.

>>115810
Yeah, he's a pretty cool dude and I'm happy he's a resident here. I'm actually that guy he was responding to. He drops tons of info.

I kinda love this general because I had already been looking into these things and screwing around on Alibaba/express/some others for a bit now. I think maybe half a year. A friend who is uninvolved in this mentioned Johannesburg as something I should maybe take a look at for importing. Too bad I know nothing about anything in Africa or which site(s) I'd even go to. Too lazy to make a quick Google search at the moment because I'm focused on China. Maybe I'll worry about that when I've got most of my money in and I'm sitting around waiting for shipments.

>>115837
>Without going into detail I committed some serious... breaches on behalf of the fair haired child of a prominent Chinese family.
Whoa, wait, what? That sounds like serious fucking business. Like, dude. I dunno, maybe I'm just misunderstanding.

>>115851

There is supposed to be a set of unified tariffs and free trade within the EU in theory. In practice this is not always the case.

>>115852

If you are the manufacturer or are getting wholesale prices then this is the only way it could conceivably be worth it.

>>115866

Not too serious, but I've been asked to commit minor crimes before that could have resulted in jail time. That's how guanxi relationships work. EVERYONE who successfully does business in China for any length of time has done this. Ironically this is why the Triads have been around for centuries and aren't going away any time soon.

>>110235
It really seems to me this sort of business will be phased out by technology within the next 10 or so years
I really can't see it being to long before someone who's trying to acquire resources just click click buys from a supplier directly rather than going through middlemen such as yourself
Do you have any worry of this happening?

>>115895

Not particularly. Seems like tech industry masturbation to me. Same as jetpacks etc.

>>115909
Jetpacks just arent viable which is why those aren't really available
Some sort of linkedin/facebook/craigslist type thing for suppliers and buyers seem pretty possible to me

>>115895

Sure, you can do your taxes with turbo tax

But nothing beats an accountant, my friend.

Same idea.

>>115923

Only because you aren't familiar with all the things that go into the process.

>>115923
They already have a few sites like that with alibaba being the big one. To replace traders would mean creating a hyper effecient logistics chain. Removing that much friction is easier if all production is automated and done with unified standards but still hard

>>110235
>3. Keep your shit on the DL from big corporations, they will try and muscle you out if you let too much slip. Wal-Mart is especially bad about this.
OH my god this is so true. Wal mart has repeatedly raped some of my company's portfoliio companies (private equity). They'll take a substantial hit on their own top or bottom line just to get more power over their suppliers in the long term.

>>115894
>Not too serious, but I've been asked to commit minor crimes before that could have resulted in jail time. That's how guanxi relationships work. EVERYONE who successfully does business in China for any length of time has done this. Ironically this is why the Triads have been around for centuries and aren't going away any time soon.
I hope this isn't a strange question, but what if I don't want anything questionable done for me? I can understand if they want it, but what if I'm content with how things are normally? I can't imagine any illegal things I want done pretty much ever. Maybe someone sneaking in a fake Rolex or some shit because it looks nice and I wouldn't mind wearing it around, but I'm just not like that. It's not morals, I just have no desire for that stuff.

>>116034

I grew up in Northwest Arkansas and was around for the big Wal-Mart Vendor layoff. I personally think they're too fucking greedy to last another 15 years, but that's just my opinion.

>>116037

China is literally Montagues vs. Capulettes 24/7. If you want to do business there you are dealing with ruling families in a brutal Communist Oligarchy. If you want to keep any shred of innocence stay the fuck from China.

>>115895
I really don't think so because they can kind of already do this, actually... and it's not a secret. Even ignoring sites like DHgate, many Chinese sellers will sell on places like Ebay or even Amazon straight to the end user. It still isn't killing the industry at all. I mean I get that it'll become easier, but nah, I doubt it'll realistically be a takeover in the foreseeable future. Not to mention other prohibitive problems like needing to ship things across an ocean which either costs more or takes longer, import fees and regulations, etc.

In 10 years, I hope I've expanded my horizons to be more resilient than that anyway. It would be pretty fucking embarrassing if I haven't and at that point I would deserve to lose my job.

>>116073
It's not innocence, I just don't have requests for people to do things FOR me.

What kind of products should I sell?

I'm a Britfag based in Taiwan, is there any advantage to this?

Had a look on alibaba but was a bit overwhelmed with how many products there are. Most suppliers seem to be in China I noticed.

>>110656
I once ordered $10 of LEDs from a DHGate retailer, they sent them international post to my door. Last leg was USPS I think.

>>116117

Eh. Simple requests that are profitable in China often require things behind the scenes you would rather not know. Just... trust me anon. Repressive Communist Dictatorships that have sold out to Capitalism are like that.

>>116143

Depends: can you get around EU tariffs by basing a company and its "products in the British Commonwealth? This is referred to as Triangulation, and if you can then you stand to make a fortune. Talk to me anon.

anyone have an idea what the shipping cost would be with DHL and 100 pcs of mousepads in tubes?

>>116284

Depends on where to where. Check the Baltic Dry Index.

>>116293
china to texas. i think i read it's about $5 per kg up to 40 kg.

>>116293
Just wondering what you used that time to find the tarrifs for importing chiles to the uk?

Their customs website is a mess.

>>116306

Honestly not sure. Too drunk to do meaningful research atm, but I'll get back to you if not this thread then next thread.

>>116388

>https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff

It's searchable.

>>116418
>https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff
Thanks exactly what i was looking for, got stuck on some loop clicking links on hmrc site.

There's a customs tax then VAT on top of it? that's pretty damn high.

>>116432

How does the UK apply a VAT? Does it apply it on the markup between wholesale and retail? If so then the UK is fucked as a country.

>>116432
>>116451

I'm reading the site right now.

https://www.gov.uk/vat-businesses/how-vat-works

>VAT is applied to all profit
>Presumably so is income tax
>Presumably so is corporate tax

Well Britain is just a fucking economically repressive shithole isn't it?

>>116177
Oh I need to research that when I'm more sober. Is it worth buying products from suppliers in Taiwan? Or is China a lot more competitive these days?

I feel with being in Taiwan right now, I could meet suppliers face to face if needed, and have less chance of getting ripped off.

What platform do you sell products on? Do you have a website or sell on eBay or what?

>>116469

Yup.

Well, not that bad.

Could be Brazil.

>>116451
As far as i know, you need to register to be exempt from it if you are wholesale.

I assume same thing applies for importers. Looking at what you need to register now.

>>116506
>>116432
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/international/imports/importing.htm

You can reclaim the VAT paid on the goods you have imported as Input Tax. You will need the import VAT certificate, form C79, to show that you have paid the import VAT. A shipping or forwarding agent cannot usually reclaim this Input Tax because the goods were not imported to be used in part of their business.

Doesn't look good and I'm based in the UK.

I'm a Westerner based in Asia. Should I sell stuff online and then ship directly from Asia to customers in the US and Europe? Or should I move back home before I attempt this kind of business?

If I ship to customers directly from Asia, how do you avoid problems with customs?

>>116493

I don't use a platform, I contact people myself or through an agent. Would depend on the profitability of Taiwanese products, but I'm guessing it's just as profitable.

>>116495
>>116506

VAT as it is applied there seems designed to kill small businesses.

>1/5 of your gross income is subject to tax
>if you aren't dealing in economies of scale reserved for the rich then fuck you

typical ignorant amerifag here
I've ordered a lot of stuff from china via amazon because I like pretty things that have free shipping.

After shopping the dark depths of amazon for so long I noticed that things I order in america often have a $3~$5 shipping fee though the product arrives in a plain white envelope with a 50 cent stamp on it.

When I order from China, the shipping is free, and the item packaging is always the same though of different shapes and sizes. An orange, bubblewrap lined envelope with Chinese letters all over it, but it always says in English:
"CONTENTS:
1 x PHONE CASE
1 x CHARGER"

even though that isn't at all what I ordered or the contents of the package.

Do the chinese get a shipping discount for selling phone accessories or something?

Also I've been pretty tempted to order some of these items on amazon in bulk and then re-selling them at trade-days or something.

So what service do you traders use to transport your goods? Do you guys use air or ocean?
I actually work at a shipping company (albiet a small one but we do air AND ocean) and I am always looking for opportunities to expand.

>>116529

Yeah. So glad we don't have that in the US.

>>116530

Well, what products are you looking at? If you prove a trustworthy supplier in an Asian market and can deal with Western buyers that might be an excellent niche.

Just read up on the US customs link and various EU customs sites.

>>116629

Sounds like fraud and tariff evasion. I'd be sketched out.

>>116700

Ocean unless the value of the goods is high enough to justify air and turnaround time is a significant factor.

>>116741
>Sounds like fraud and tariff evasion. I'd be sketched out.
That's what I thought, too, but it's not just one or two different amazon chinese companies. It's in the dozens.

>>116741
>>116741
I'm curious, how large of an operation are you running? If large, I'm thinking by containers if small I'm thinking by pallets.

Always fun to read speculations on the intricacies of guanxi. Fact is as a foreigner you're not on a level playing field when it comes to this stuff. How Chinese manipulate guanxi is a culturally ingrained phenomenon and most westerners just don't have the expertise. This goes double if you're black by the way, Chinese are hilariously racist. If you don't speak Chinese you want to learn some, it's a pain but if you're just in it for the networking you can probably skip the reading/writing, that saves an inestimable amount of time. Having said that I'm not in import/export, just spent a lot of time out there and had many a baijiu fueled KTV session with Chinese business people.

>>116780

Refer to Rule #1: the Chinese always cheat. Always.

>>116784

I'd LOVE to move up to all containers... but so far mostly pallets. I've only been in business a short while and I only had 10k starting funds.

>>116849

Yep. As a non-chinese my guanxi is automatically handicapped.

>>116780
>>116629

>this is what americans know about chinese cheating

This is why you'll always be suckers for that chinese dick, America.

This is why there will never be another tariff on chinese goods.

Feels bad man.

>>116854
Have you ever imported something and sold directly yourself?

As in not sold to a wholesaler or retailer?

I'm looking at importing some kitchen ware stuff from china (inb4 stay out of china) I'm too greedy you can't keep me out, i know i can sell it myself for a good profit. But don't want to be sat on this shit for 1 year trying to sell it. Can also imagine it being a pain to convince wholesale/retailers to get on board with.

>>116964

I have, though it was European in origin.

>I'm too greedy you can't keep me out

A common problem.

>kitchen ware stuff

Lube up in preparation for a lawsuit.

>i know i can sell it myself for a good profit

Do you operate a retail store? No? Then don't waste your time.

>>116973
Nope no retail store, would be selling it on the internet basically (read ebay).

It's disposable stuff, tableware is probably more accurate, don't think there's much legal threats so long as the plastic isn't shitty.

Might try split the difference, keep a small portion for myself, something manageable try sell the bulk of it to retailers that already stock it.

Do you normally probe potential buyers before buying yourself, see what they are paying what they would be willing to pay etc? or just deal with it once the order is placed.

>>117089

If you have the money, know how, and capital to import something at a price that you could sell it, and instead of making a bulk sail for a modest return and having the money to go do something else you instead opt to fuck around for months at a time selling your wares for peanuts you have incurred a massive opportunity cost. In laymen's terms you have squandered time and money through sub-optimal use of your resources.

>>117189

>All those typos

I seem to be too drunk to make sense, but I'll be back tomorrow.

Okay, I'd never actually import/ export career-wise, but now its looking like something I'd be interested in exploring further.

A few basic questions:

>How did you guys get into it? Did you work with a company, or did you just start doing it online one day?
>Where did you get the initial capital?
>What skills do you need for it? It is primarily financial, supply chain, interpersonal etc?
>Is it lucrative? How much would your average I/E guy make?
>What major companies are involved in this? In terms of a newb gaining experience through internships etc, I mean.

My undergrad was in Mandarin and French, and I also speak a bit of Dutch, so I'm a languages person. I'm also doing a general business masters which covers a fairly wide range of topics. Think this skillset would help for this business?

>>117475
That entire image is beautiful, I fucking love capitalism.

bamp for interest

>>117475
>Okay, I'd never considered actually import/ export career-wise

Bleh

>>112086
Mandarin speaker here.

Use the sticky on /int/, a load of us contributed to it a while back, so imo it's about the best tl;dr of How To Mandarin out there

can someone explain to me what you are actually trading?

is this just buying cheap from one country and selling to another?

Bump

>>117954
Yes.

That is literally the whole thing.

>>117475

>How did you guys get into it? Did you work with a company, or did you just start doing it online one day?

It was the idea of a friend of mine who bitched out and didn't stick with it while I did. I don't really do that sort of thing online and don't understand /biz/'s desire to conduct online only business.

>Where did you get the initial capital?

Small business loan.

>What skills do you need for it? It is primarily financial, supply chain, interpersonal etc?

Language is good, being able to track large amounts of detail is good, being able to relate to other people and other cultures is also good. It's a hodgepodge of skills.

>Is it lucrative? How much would your average I/E guy make?

It can be. You can also fuck up and go broke. There is no average, it's all performance based.

>What major companies are involved in this? In terms of a newb gaining experience through internships etc, I mean.

All of them. But if you aren't entrepreneurial enough to do your own reading to the point of needing an internship in imports and exports then this might not be for you.

>>117947

Thank you. I'll check it out.

>>117954

You just described selling literally anything.

>>121416
>don't understand /biz/'s desire to conduct online only business.

Sure you do, that way you don't have to come out of the basement and spaghetti everywhere.

>>121478

Nah, there's no way most of 4chan is that anti-social. Right?

>>121416
>>121478
>>121495
Because the internet is a convenient and comfy way of reaching many people at once. It's no secret. It opens up a ton of options.

>>121495
It will be the death of this board, mark my words.

Bunch of NEETs, talking big but eating out of Mum and Dad's fridge.

Hey The Trader, do you primarily export the products you import? As in, how much of your imports do you sell domestically?

Do you only import products with an existing demand or have you ever attempted investing in things you need to hype up yourself?

>>123833

If I import it I sell it here. If I'm selling it somewhere else then I'm exporting it to somewhere else other than the US.

I've introduced products to local markets before.

>>123880
Thanks, I thought you'd have passed out from alcohol poisoning by now, haha. Glad to have you on /biz/.

In my country, most people don't know about tongue scrapers. There is also next to no supply for it. But I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in having a better breath, moreover after trying once and seeing all the crap you remove from your tongue I'm sure you'd be convinced. Anyway I was thinking of selling Chinese mouth scrapers here in France- do you think there is potential in this market? How would you go about introducing the product?

>>123959

Passed out. Woke up in the afternoon.

Seems like very much a market that relies on bulk sales anon: those are tricky. Very tricky. You could try finding a source for the product (a reliable one) then talking to store owners about potentially stocking them, maybe have some samples.

what are you guys selling exactly? Do you mail order 200 umbrella hats then go door to door trying to sell them?

>>124003
Samples seem like a good idea. Should have thought of it before. I found suppliers on Alibaba. The deal would be like, I buy and stock the product by the thousands while these store owners would buy them from me by the dozens/hundreds? How does one even approach big companies like Wal-Mart about it, or can one just make a proposal to the local Wal-Mart?

>>124043

>retailing bulk products yourself

Not unless you own a retail location.

>>124061

I wouldn't do business with Wal-Mart unless I had to. Start smaller. Start with smaller stores, maybe cosmetics places.

>>124069
K, thanks a lot for the help. This wasn't much but it seems I made a lot of progress in my thinking thanks to you.

One last question: is it necessary for me to own any stock before even making proposals to retails. It would seem a lot safer for me to get business agreements and then start importing.

>>124095

It's possible to work entirely on commission as a middle man or to work on retainer, in fact it's actually what most people do. It'd be a lot safer to get a feel for the market and know prices before buying anything yourself.

>>124127
OK, thanks. I'll be trying to import stuff (not necessarily tongue scrapers) this year, I'll let you know if I find success~

>>124069
So you import cheap rickety chinese step ladders and sell them to hardware stores.

>>124160

Can't say I do.

>>124163

Do so. Also what do you know about buying truffles?

>>124180
I'm sorry to say I don't know anything. Do you have any stories involving buying truffles?

whats the best favor you've received?

>>124195

Not yet, but I'd like to.

>>124196

I'm saving them up for something big so far. Guy tried to set me up with a Malaysian girl, but she was too much of an airhead for me to be interested.

I was spearheading a "rebranding" push for a line of products out of Taiwan for my company.

Put in my two weeks and now I think I'm going to rebrand the line myself and sell it. How much sued am i?

>>124214
Fuck I'm retarded when drunk.

"Private label" or "re label"

Not rebrand

>>124180
so what have you bought/sold then?

is it even possible to start small using alibaba and ebay? i've found a few things i can sell but i have no idea what is involved. it can't be as simple as contact the supplier, make a deal and it shows up, right? how are duty fees and shit handled?

>>115894
OP just played some Sleeping Dogs and is now the expert on exporting and importing goods.

>>124242
they are just few of the ways you can shift merchandise

>>124242
This article is useful http://andrewminalto.com/how-to-import-products-from-china/

You make a deal with the supplier (for many products you have to take care of the transport from the port/airport to your place or warehouse, be careful)

You will have to pay import duty on the goods' value (2~5%), and then VAT on the value of the goods, shipping and import duty altogether (20% in the UK and France)

Then you're good

>>124214

I'm not an expert on IP, but depends on how much you violate trademarks.

>>124240

Mostly consumer goods, antiques, things of that sort.

>>124371
Do you ever go to tradeshows? I know most people in this do, I'm just curious because you do things differently from most people I run into.

>>124406

I haven't yet but I need to. I'm a bit new to this really. I do however go to the occasional gun show.

>>124656
Are you registered as a company or do you do this as self employed?

>>124696

I'm registered as a company, though I am sole owner and sole employee. I had a partner but he's trying to work for Amazon because he's a little bitch about entrepreneurship.

>>124762
an ID? what, how

>>124785

Moot is experimooting.

Tried dropshipping bitcoin miners through a seller on AliExpress. Seller gave me invalid tracking info that doesn't work even after 3 weeks.

Even gave me a tracking number for a package sent to Brazil last year.

I capped it at 10 orders to contain the risk.

I've opened disputes for all my orders. I'm still within buyer protection time.

What are my chances of recovering shekels? AliExpress has been pretty proactive and responsive to my requests and emails as I've sent them.

Worst comes to worst, I can request a chargeback from the bank since it's obvious my customers never received anything.

>>124798
That's going to make it harder to shitpost about Sony/Jews/Pretending to be a communist while giving out entrepreneurial advice in other threads.

Well played mootles.

>>115837
Thank you for starting this thread, Trader. Had never heard of guanxi before. Just wondering-
what are some external examples you've seen or heard? Anything over the top worth sharing?

Also, have you ever been asked to do a favor that would conflict with another client's business?

>>128442
Not who you asked but I've got a fair bit of Chinese experience. Guanxi isn't just the exchange of favours, that's just one aspect of it. Fundamentally it's the establishment of a relationship, usually relatively informal. If you're someone with a lot of Guanxi, it basically means you've got a lot of people with whom you've got a bit of pull. Maybe someone owes you a favour here, maybe you went to school with that guy, maybe you've done business with that guy and stuck to your word and they're inclined to do business with you again. It's all about building trust, and the Chinese prefer to do business with friends. It's not just a two way exchange, it's a web of influence, and for the most part it's not hugely extreme or overblown. You get given a bottle of whiskey by someone, maybe you take him out to dinner when he's next in your neck of the woods. Maybe someone gives you the inside scoop on a project you're bidding for where they work, in return you put in a good word with the guy he's being interviewed by next week. It's simultaneously on the surface and the back door routes, it really permeates all levels of society and interaction even if it's never really directly spoken about.

>>128572
Thank you for sharing!

Off topic question: Once was eating with a Chinese family (friend was born in USA, family from mainland) at a restaurant. The strangest thing occurred. When it came to paying for the meal, they would almost start to fight. The friend's father and uncle insistence of paying escalated into a tug-of-war fight over the plastic case.

Was this something cultural?

>>128732
Yes that's really wrapped up in the concept. Being cheap or miserly with friends and family is a big no-no, so quickly conceding the bill would be shameful. Even if the conclusion of the argument is forgone, the person being paid for has to put on a show if he wants to save face. This is really common in other cultures such as Arab too. There's a similar exchange when it comes to compliments. Often if you compliment for example a Chinese person's cooking, they might say "Oh no I'm an awful cook really, I'm sorry you even have to eat it!", and the western practice of simply saying thank you when receiving a compliment would come off arrogant, so you see almost a debate over a compliment. It's examples like these that show that simplifying guanxi down to simply favours is too simplistic. I don't believe the father or uncle were trying to keep the other in their pocket for a favour, but being generous is something that would give you positive guanxi if that makes sense.

>>127093
>maximize wealth
>give control to VCs

Hahahahahahaha

>>128769
I'm beginning to understand. What experiences have you had in fostering a business relationship through guanxi (likely not the right choice of words).?

Read a story in a business magazine few years back-- gist is if you are still getting to know a Chinese client (from the westerner's perspective), never turn down an invitation. Woman in the article turned down an invitation from potential client to go to some Orchard on a Saturday. She expressed politely that she was already booked for an important business meeting with her company back in the States and couldn't make it. She didn't hear back from the person.

Thinking social-tactics, what is the more respectful way to handle a situation like that? Immediately ask to make plans for another date?

A little off topic, but In your example: What would be proper etiquette if that Chinese individual was a professional Chef. How would someone who excels in an area express thanks? How about if someone was representing a company that manufactures widgets? What would their proper way of saying, "Thank you, we strive to make the best widget."

Now wondering how poorly the Curb Larry David would do in China.

>>126137

Depends. I don't know much about AliExpress but I would be dubious of any site that allows this many scammers to peddle their wares on it. I'd go to the bank over this.

>>128442

This poster >>128572 is correct.

Truffles. Anyone know anything about European truffles?

>>132064
I heard vente-privee was selling truffles at a discount to day. I'm not sure what to make of that but maybe you'll find it interesting.

>>132184
:s/to day/today

>>132184

Vente-privee?