Importing

[teabenny]

G'day all,

I'm at the Canton Import and Export Fair here in sunny Guangzhou, China. Guangzhou is the Chinese city a bit north of Hong Kong, otherwise known as Canton.

It's a huge event, this fair. I visited the electronics pavilion today, which featured about two or three hundred stalls. Any kind of electronic/electrical device you could imagine (apart from robots!) was on display. I was looking mostly at MP4 players, although I got caught up in electronic signage as well. The point of all this is that I'm thinking of importing consumer electronics into Australia. The annual value of Chinese electronic imports into Australia last year topped A$4 billion, and although I'm yet to obtain a breakdown of exactly how much of what was imported, my research has pointed to a trend of Aussies rejecting combination devices in favour of stand-alone items. For example, Australians generally shun a combination mobile phone/MP4 player for just a phone and MP4 player separately.

I know, I know - diversify. I'm looking into other items - digital cameras (strong sales in Australia), DVD players, portable game consoles, and accessories - memory cards, batteries and the like.

The jury is still out on this business idea. For one thing, I don't want to be a dropshipper, selling an item at a time - although I'm not closed to the idea of retailing direct as a sideline. I want to sell to wholesalers/distributors (unless I become one myself, in which case I'll be selling to retailers direct). The problem is that either way you can't really start small - you have to go big pretty well immediately, right? If so, that means I'll need some kind of outside funding, possibly customer prepayments.

So, how do I find these customers? How do I muscle in on their existing suppliers (okay, the products I'm sourcing are very cheap and reliable, but what else can I offer)? How do I establish credibility? And, just maybe, IS there a way to start small (not E-bay)?

I need some advice on making the jump from buying a few samples to actually getting a wholesaler/distributor/retailer to place an order with me. Assume I have the product literature, licences, and a website and everything else set up. What then?

Thanks in advance.

[syia]

In my opinion, 1st you must establish your 'personal' name in the business. maybe you can find some work to do at others business that is in the same industry that you plan to make your business. In this way, you get to learn the business and gain some experiences. Its like if you want to open a sell shoes, go work at shoes factories

[schumi]

maybe i'll check what you said about the Canton Fair this weekend,it's a good idea to import electronics from China,and as you said,i think the biggest two items're customers and fund,
right?did you consider co-operating with others who own customers and fund?hope any other experience next here...

[carrera87]

All chinese people are scammers and can't be trusted i got scammed by them once and that guy knew it he got a bullet between his eyes.. thats what you get for scamming me

[ltressel]

You better be careful what you say here, moron. You're walking on thin shells right about now.

[adamwade]

Canton Fair is a great place to find good exporters. While I agree you can be easily scammed in China, the fee to exhibit at the Canton Fair is over $20,000 usd for a 10x10 booth.

As you can imagine this gets rid of the scammers.

If anyone is interested in attending the Canton Fair in April let me know.