Hello everyone. I live in a Chinese city which is a home appliance manufacture base. A lot of plants here produce home appliance such as loudspeaker, shavers, fan, hair dryer, hand dryer, blender... etc. I have seen much people export these products to foreign country, So, I want to be involved in this business too. I have some questions here. 1. How can I be found by the buyers, This question can turn to "how buyers find their supplier". If they find supplier through internet, where they get infomations. 2. What if I act as a virtual agent for these buyer? 3. I can only read & write English, is that enough?

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Are there some forums people talk about wholesale, import, export and anything like this?

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I live in a Pakistan and have seen the chinese product spread around the market. They are cheap and easy to buy. I can't really tell you about the people or the websites that might cater for this type of business but what i can tell you is that the places where you want to market your products, you have to visit them and then meet up with the current distributors of the products. We have people marketing the products and selling on the streets, in the buses, almost everywhere.
There is also the possibilty that you can contact any one of the people who are selling the products abroad and ask them how they got around to doing this. The situation you want is possible but you have to improvise on it see what the possibilities are available for you.

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Thank you Soby.

I think I must find the way to communicate with someone doing this business, and in that way I can got some idea of what to do.

I think if I just act as an out source agent or in another word as a virtual office of some abroad compay will be a good method.

I am finding what is meet the requirement of clients and do some good service.

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hey there , one of the best way of import /export business is to get online.
there are lot of internet manufacturers diractory like www.alibaba.com , jus register there , add all your products and then learn a bit about export import laws about ur country,. .

one major advantage is that u are from china and ppl in ur country produce products dirty cheap, so take this advantage and u can have a sucessful business,

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If you want to get a supplier here's how you do it:

1. find the market you want to get into, let's say the US.
2. find stores you'd like to be in
3. call the managers or stop by and ask who supplies them, often, especially at larger stores, it will be the central warehouse or straight from the factory. But a lot of your smaller companies will use distributors/reps
4. Call the distributors/reps directly and ask them what they'd need to carry your product

But remember, just because you have lined up reps doesn't mean you;re home free. create an advertising and promotion plan to build recognition. Be prepared to give incentives to your reps. the easier and more profitable you make it for them the better. If they go to one of the stores they supply and the store is asking about your product and th rep makes good money on selling them, you can be sure they'll move them. Once you get som brand name established you can ease off on promotion and move to larger distributors.

Trevor

 

 

 

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This is old topic and seems like you just revived it. And this gives me reason to judge your oppinnion

OK here is the big flaw in your design for this guys success. firstly I think and I asume that you haven't read this guys first and initial post because he nicely explained where he live and what he do. And your design might work for someone who lives in united states but I doubbt that it will work for anyone else because people cannnot just stop by from china and go to some small stores in united states that is the main reason why we all suggested that he should do his buisness mostly and prmarly over the internet otherwise he cannot succede.

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Hi, I have been working in trade for years. It's my pleasure to explain you what i knew.

First of all, if you've never involved in the international trade line, please try to work for a factory to know products and production well, in this way, you will be gained experiences and understanding of the products. That is very important! Trade is not as easy as you imagine, you have to know what you are doing.

Secondly, when you know all the procedure of the business ( from production, quality control, inquiry and quotation skills, to logistic arrangement, declaration, payment term, contracting and shipping .... ), you can search for more opportunities for yourself. Without practising these procedures, please don't dream order is coming.

Last but not least, when you are sure you have experienced, try to judge if you are qualified working independently. Some people really suit for seting up their own business, but others are more achieved in a corporation.

About your questions, friends here have given you good suggestions. No more to say.

Hope we can help you in some sense.

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first off, the poster right above me gave EXCELLENT advice for anyone who wants to get their feet wet. starting from the bottom and working for someone else already doing it will give you invaluable information rather than making mistakes trying to do it without the knowledge or trusting in the advice other people give you. i'm assuming that you want to be an agent between the manufacturer and the buyer? or are you planning on investing money in storing what you buy from the manufaturer in a warehouse somewhere? whatever it is, you want to concentrate on major retailers and major wholesalers/distributors who supply to major retailers and small stores....the key is to ship in bulk though. this will cut your expenses so that your profits are higher.

you can be found on the internet in todays age. where to look on the net? i don't know. if you pay me, i will research it for ya google it. there is NOTHING i have not been able to find just doing a search on google. i mentioned tradezone.com in another thread. go there for starters and see what your competition is and what buyers are out there. it may not be the best place but at least it will give you some idea of what your getting in to for starters. knowing your export laws in your own country is a MUST! also knowing the import laws of other countries is a MUST! start reading up start communicating to other exporters and take names and #'s for the ones that aren't exporting the same goods as you. they will be a great resource if you can convince them to give you some trade leads that they can't use, and if you come across any that don't deal with your product, you can pass them on to other exporters. it's a give and take thing and works well. you scratch their back and they will scratch yours. they also may have been in the business a while and know how to guide you as long as you aren't competing with the same products that you plan to export.

go to these manufacturing plants and talk to the people in sales. ask them if they drop ship. some do, most don't. but if they do, then your market is also single individuals. best time of year is christmas where everyone is looking for a good deal. not as much money can be made this way but it's good if you want to get your feet wet while learning the business and building contacts. you wouldn't even have to learn the import/export laws in your country and others. you would essentially be acting as a middleman. people send you the money, you send the cost of the product to sales along with the customer information and you keep the balance of the money. or if they don't drop ship, what sometimes they do is allow you not to buy in bulk, but as few as 10 items at a time and as few as 1. sometimes they will even GIVE you a sample product that they manufacture. so because sometimes you can buy as little as one directly from the manufacturer, you can handle it the same way as drop shipping except you will be taking the item back to your office and setting up a fedex account or some other international shipping carrier to ship to a single residense. again, this way you make less money just like drop shipping to individuals, but you are getting your feet wet while taking names and #'s and other valuable information in to grow your business bigger and in bulk

keep in mind that when you deal in bulk, most buys will want a sample before they buy. they want to know it's a good quality product because the buyer doesn't want to invest in crap where it gets back to them and the lose their respectable reputation and lose acounts and business over it. so keep in mind, those sample products will be a loss in some instances where in some instances the buyer will not be obligated to ship it back if he/she doesn't like the product for some reason....usually due to quality and being misinformed.

i don't know what else to tell ya but it takes time and patience and ALOT of research just like any business.

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I think anwiii's sugguestion is quit well.

Continuing with anwiii's talk, I add a little: business, after knowing all the techniques, if you want to be involved in deep, is more likely an examination of your personality. Especially for those SOHO, or middle man, can you insist on without order for long? Can you balance your fear and depression when meeting failure? Can you resist betray and cheat? Can you suffer loneliness and bias? ....Well, all these are basic stuff as a business man. However, most important, I believe, is confidence and persistiveness. Don't just take it as a money-gaining tool (at the begining it is), take it as a career, making a detailed plan as big as you can imagine, and make them a definite target and deadline. You may find you can achieve at least 50% firstlly... 100% step by step.

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