4 Reasons You Shouldn't Import Products On Your Own

By now, most people have met someone, or at least heard of someone investing money into products from another country. Quintessential investments in recent years take ages to prove valuable, and, for most people, it's more of a guessing game than anything. Sourcing products from China, Malaysia, Pakistan, and other countries, on the other hand, can be sold online easily and eliminate the games. Online software can help potential investors establish concrete expectations, goals, and guidelines to provide an optimal net. The notion of not only investing in a product, but starting a business, and making money without working more appeals to nearly everyone. Being in control feels good.

There's no point in debating the usefulness of sites like Alibaba, that grant you access to hundred of thousands of suppliers around the globe. The site allows you to search for products, get an idea about how much the products will cost, and put you directly in contact with someone willing to sell them to you. This issue, however, hasn't been the convenience, it's been complications. For people who have navigated, even successfully, a product from another country, it's not unusual to hear about someone who failed to get what they were hoping for. Why? A quick story and these four reasons will demonstrate why:

Sarah's recent experience proves why this is something you should do with caution, and with the guidance of experts. Sarah had made up her mind to import some specialty cups from China, and was eager to sell them on Amazon. She got a few quotes from different suppliers on Alibaba, and eventually narrowed down the results to the factory that looked the most capable and that gave her the best price. Fortunately she was able to have someone fly out to inspect the factory and the results were astonishing.

The pictures and information on the Alibaba page showed a clean, sizable factory, chalk full of employees in lab coats managing machinery. It showed that this supplier had been in business for quite a few years, and they had fantastic ratings. Here are some of the pictures taken during the visit:

1.Quality - The factory may have provided her with the best price, but their injection machines were no where near up-to-date. The cups would have sharp plastic edges, some would be discolored, and wouldn't look like what she was after. There are a lot of things that could go wrong quality-wise, when sourcing a product from China. They can make the product look perfect in pictures but the material is cheap. They can make the sample look glamorous, and then the bulk order is nothing like the sample you received. Ultimately the success or failure of almost all products depends heavily on the reviews and the ratings that the consumers give it. If the manufacturer cuts corners when it comes to quality, the product is destined to fail from the beginning.

2. Fabrication - Obviously the factory isn't what they wanted people to think, but the scary thing is that they didn't even have the ability to create her full order. With 3-5 employees working at a time, and a promised deadline over 100,000 cups in one month is impossible for such a facility. Would they have taken the money and disappeared? Taken 6 months to complete the project instead of 1? There are numerous ways this could have ended poorly.

3. Language - There is an obvious language barrier when working with most factories on Alibaba. This particular factory spoke English pretty well, better than most in fact. Most people assume that the factories that can speak English the best are trustworthy. Sarah worked directly with their representative through email and WeChat, and felt like the factory worker was coordinating things exactly how she wanted. In the end, it had all been a hoax and the supplier's communication skills made no difference.

4. Safety - Law suits, signed documents, and the court system provided us protection from most scams. Doing business with China, from the United States, provides no such security. Signed documents, emails, text messages, etc. all may make you feel safer about things, but in all actuality, if someone decides to take your money and run, there is very little you can do about it. Having someone in the US assist you with the transaction can help quite a bit, but having a physical presence in China will protect you the best.

Hopefully, this doesn't deter you from wanting to import altogether. Despite the risks, people launch product from China all the time, and some are able to do it profitably. Most of the products we use, buy, and consume regularly are from China. There's plenty of money to be made by importing, but to avoid a situation like Sarah's, it is very important to work through someone who can take care of the China side for you.

Prime Business Development can walk you through every step of the process, don't try and do this alone. www.primebusinessdevelopment.com

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