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  #1  
Old May 23, 2003, 12:59 AM
Adam Bradley
 
Posts: n/a
Default Anyone have any experience/comments re import/export business?

Hi,

I am looking into the possibility of starting an import/export business and was wondering if anyone can offer any helpful advice?

(I live in Australia by the way).

I was contemplating buying the following publication:

http://www.ebc.com.au/products/product.asp?PID=15

Is it a hard business to get off the ground?

Can anyone offer anything helpful on running your own import/export business?

regards,
Adam
  #2  
Old May 23, 2003, 02:32 AM
Paulette Ensign
 
Posts: n/a
Default A resource for you

Hello Adam,

There is a guy in Florida named Dennis Hessler whose business is about helping people get into the import-export business. You can find him through his website at http://www.spyglasspoint.com

Regards,
Paulette


Transforming your knowledge into tips booklets for marketing, motivating, and making money
  #3  
Old May 23, 2003, 09:30 AM
Adam Bradley
 
Posts: n/a
Default Thanks Paulette :>) (DNO)

  #4  
Old May 23, 2003, 08:26 AM
Michael Ross (Qld, Aust)
 
Posts: n/a
Default Here's another good'n...

> I am looking into the possibility of
> starting an import/export business and was
> wondering if anyone can offer any helpful
> advice?

Adam:

First, Jim Straw also has an excellent book on exporting. You can read more about it here: http://www.businesslyceum.com/sellamerican.html (I highly recommend it)

As for any "advice"... that would ultimately depend on WHAT you wanted to import or export.

For instance... say you decide you want to import cosmetics. First, you need to get all the CAS Numbers of the ingredients, then you need to see if they are allowed into the country. If they are, you can go ahead and import. If they are not, you need to apply for a license to bring the chemical in (Yes, I know it is an ingredient, but you still need a license to bring it in.) The license will allow you to import X kilos... maybe 1,000 - which would allow you to import a lot of cosmetic with 0.5gram of ingredient per product.

If you want to import "vitamins" than you will have the same rule apply. AND, you may also need to "list" your product. At $400 per product even if the ingredient is fine and even if it is exactly the same as another product, it will cost your $4,000 to list ten different vitamin products. So one 500 strength Vitamin C will cost $400, one 1000 strength vitamin C will cost $400, one 500 strength vitamin C with a different name will cost $400, and so on and so forth. (Next time you are in the chemist or health store, have a look at each bottle of vitamins. Each one cost $400 to "list".)

Some products may cause you grief when they arrive - what if there is dirt on the tires of tractors you bring in? Customs isn't in the "detailing" business. And they won't let it into the country to be washed. So back it goes. Not even getting offloaded.

Wood may not be allowed in. Depending on type and origin.

Ivory is totally out.

Drugs are a no no. Remember the CAS Numbers. For instance... there is a new soda out called Naughty Boy. It contains opium/morphine. No more than you would get if you had nanna's poppy seed cake. But it is there nonetheless. A product like that would not be allowed in.

Besides all that... importing can cost you big dollars. Far easier to export - or pre-sell the product you want to import and then import it. (There is a chap in Melbourne who did just that. He would get hold of a product sample, run around like a chook without a head and presell a bunch. When he had pre-sold a container load he would bring it into the country. Made a lot of money. Worked hard. Involved selling.) You don't need to buy a container load to start though... a box full is enough - providing there is more than one in a box. :o)

Personally, I would not buy a product from the EBC. I have my reasons and won't go into them here. Go with Jim's course and Dennis' course - download Dennis' primer too, it has good info. Go with the info from people who do it.

Michael Ross


More good info. here
  #5  
Old May 23, 2003, 10:02 AM
Adam Bradley
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Here's another good'n...

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your reply. Some comments/questions:

> First, Jim Straw also has an excellent book
> on exporting. You can read more about it
> here:
> http://www.businesslyceum.com/sellamerican.html
> (I highly recommend it)

I was aware of this book - my only concern was it might be too "americanized" if you know what I mean...some time ago, I emailed Jim and asked him if his information could be applied to the Australian market. His reply was along the lines of "It's been written primarily for an American audience"...

...so I wanted to hunt around a bit more before I jumped in and parted with any cash.

You recommend this (and Dennis' stuff too - also American) so speaking as a fellow Aussie are you confident in saying that this information can easily be tailored for the Australian market?

> As for any "advice"... that would
> ultimately depend on WHAT you wanted to
> import or export.

Good point and one I have already considered. To be honest, I don't have *anything* in mind at this point...that's why I was hoping that the resource that I chose would show me how to this, research the market for potential products and so on - looking over Jim's sales page again, it looks like he covers this - my concern is that this information might be too general (I need specifics) and again not suitable for the Aussie market?

>Besides all that... importing can cost you
> big dollars. Far easier to export - or
> pre-sell the product you want to import and
> then import it.(There is a chap in Melbourne
who did just that......)

Regarding importing, what you say here is exactly what I had in mind. ie. pre-sell *before* importing...I definitely would not go down the path of importing product unless I had a committed buyer who has paid cash up-front.

Any more info on the sort of products this guy in Melbourne was importing?

Thanks for your comments Michael :>)

regards,
Adam

> Adam:

> First, Jim Straw also has an excellent book
> on exporting. You can read more about it
> here:
> http://www.businesslyceum.com/sellamerican.html
> (I highly recommend it)

> As for any "advice"... that would
> ultimately depend on WHAT you wanted to
> import or export.

> For instance... say you decide you want to
> import cosmetics. First, you need to get all
> the CAS Numbers of the ingredients, then you
> need to see if they are allowed into the
> country. If they are, you can go ahead and
> import. If they are not, you need to apply
> for a license to bring the chemical in (Yes,
> I know it is an ingredient, but you still
> need a license to bring it in.) The license
> will allow you to import X kilos... maybe
> 1,000 - which would allow you to import a
> lot of cosmetic with 0.5gram of ingredient
> per product.

> If you want to import "vitamins"
> than you will have the same rule apply. AND,
> you may also need to "list" your
> product. At $400 per product even if the
> ingredient is fine and even if it is exactly
> the same as another product, it will cost
> your $4,000 to list ten different vitamin
> products. So one 500 strength Vitamin C will
> cost $400, one 1000 strength vitamin C will
> cost $400, one 500 strength vitamin C with a
> different name will cost $400, and so on and
> so forth. (Next time you are in the chemist
> or health store, have a look at each bottle
> of vitamins. Each one cost $400 to
> "list".)

> Some products may cause you grief when they
> arrive - what if there is dirt on the tires
> of tractors you bring in? Customs isn't in
> the "detailing" business. And they
> won't let it into the country to be washed.
> So back it goes. Not even getting offloaded.

> Wood may not be allowed in. Depending on
> type and origin.

> Ivory is totally out.

> Drugs are a no no. Remember the CAS Numbers.
> For instance... there is a new soda out
> called Naughty Boy. It contains
> opium/morphine. No more than you would get
> if you had nanna's poppy seed cake. But it
> is there nonetheless. A product like that
> would not be allowed in.

> Besides all that... importing can cost you
> big dollars. Far easier to export - or
> pre-sell the product you want to import and
> then import it. (There is a chap in
> Melbourne who did just that. He would get
> hold of a product sample, run around like a
> chook without a head and presell a bunch.
> When he had pre-sold a container load he
> would bring it into the country. Made a lot
> of money. Worked hard. Involved selling.)
> You don't need to buy a container load to
> start though... a box full is enough -
> providing there is more than one in a box.
> :o)

> Personally, I would not buy a product from
> the EBC. I have my reasons and won't go into
> them here. Go with Jim's course and Dennis'
> course - download Dennis' primer too, it has
> good info. Go with the info from people who
> do it.

> Michael Ross
  #6  
Old May 23, 2003, 05:22 PM
Michael Ross (Qld, Aust)
 
Posts: n/a
Default Some more...

> I was aware of this book - my only concern
> was it might be too "americanized"
> if you know what I mean...some time ago, I
> emailed Jim and asked him if his information
> could be applied to the Australian market.
> His reply was along the lines of "It's
> been written primarily for an American
> audience"...

> ...so I wanted to hunt around a bit more
> before I jumped in and parted with any cash.

> You recommend this (and Dennis' stuff too -
> also American) so speaking as a fellow
> Aussie are you confident in saying that this
> information can easily be tailored for the
> Australian market?

Can the info. be tailored to the Aussie market?

Yes.

Go over to the link Jim posted and have a read. That's it in a nutshell in Australia too. Oh sure the departments might go by a different name, but it's pretty much the same.

You can find Freight Forwarders online and in the Yellow pages. They can handle a lot of the stuff for you. Think of them like the post office. What would you do to send a parcel from your place to mine? That's what the frieght forwarders to. Bless their hearts.

I imported some stuff from India. The documents that came with it were quite similar to what Jim has in his export course (I was importing they were exporting). So it is even applicable in India... and they don't speak English like we do.

> Good point and one I have already
> considered. To be honest, I don't have
> *anything* in mind at this point...that's
> why I was hoping that the resource that I
> chose would show me how to this, research
> the market for potential products and so on
> - looking over Jim's sales page again, it
> looks like he covers this - my concern is
> that this information might be too general
> (I need specifics) and again not suitable
> for the Aussie market?
> who did just that......)

Specifics? Like, for this product go here, for that product go there, kinda specifics?

That's unrealistic. For instance, when I last chatted with the British Embassey's trade dept, they gave me the website which lists all the British companies who desire exporting because they have something like 100,000 of them on their list. And they aren't going to do my research work for me. And even if they did, can I honestly expect them to maybe fax or email me info. on say 100 companies?

Such a book would be forever long. And that would be for each country.

> Regarding importing, what you say here is
> exactly what I had in mind. ie. pre-sell
> *before* importing...I definitely would not
> go down the path of importing product unless
> I had a committed buyer who has paid cash
> up-front.

If you're going to only import after you have someone who has paid cash upfront, you will be a long time before importing anything.

Think about what you would be asking them to do... pay you money NOW and then wait three months plus product manufacturing time before they get what they paid for.

Get a filled out order with a small downpayment, sure. But total upfront payment isn't going to happen.

In this regard, take a lesson from the builders of the new apartment building. The ones who pre-sell off the plan. Often, the pre-selling is a condition of the financing - we will only lend you the money to build after you have pre-sold X% of the units. It might not be what the builder wants... but the availability of the money is the important thing. SO he builds, pays interest, and then settles nearly all the units on the same day - or within a short period of time depending on how many he pre-sold.

> Any more info on the sort of products this
> guy in Melbourne was importing?

A variety of products. All related to electronic stores - the kinds of stuff you might find in a Jaycar store.

You might ask.... why don't these people import the stuff themselves? Because they are retailers. They don't have time to source a product and muck around with importing.

Personally, though. I would opt for exporting. Less headache. Less running around finding out the legalities of the product - such as CAS Numbers, and other maybe prohibited items - and so on. Not to mention the cash you will be outlaying. Yes you will get it back if you follow the advice Jim gave in the report he linked to. But you still need it to do a deal. And our weak dollar should make our products more attractive to overseas buyers.

And along the lines of what Jim wrote... a company I helped create operations manuals for used knives in their warehouse imported from England!

Also, speak with the customs department too. They do have a wealth of knowledge and can pretty well tell you what kinds of duty and tax you will pay on certain items.

With regards to Jim's course... if money is an issue... and lets face it, our dollar is pretty well down the crapper when compared to the rest of the world and US and UK stuff is like twice as much, and Jim's course could cost one third of the average Aussie weekly pay packet... then put away $50 a month until you have $150A. Then get it. You would have to wait three months for any shipment to arrive anyway.

Yes we want to jump in and do a big deal yesterday. It's exciting thinking about the possibilities. But it is also fantasy land.

What if I approach 100 stores and they all buy so much stuff I make $10k from each? I'll make $1,000,000 (one million dollars) and be set for life. What if they buy that much stuff every month? I'll make a million bucks a month! Woo Hoo! What if they do better than that? Oh my... my calculator doesn't go that high.

A dose of reality is... what if no one buys or all the people who said they would buy change their mind - even forgoing their goodwill deposit of a few hundred bucks? How will I get rid of the product I have just brought into the country. How will I survive? Even for the three or four months it will take to arrive by ship (because ship is cheaper than air by a mile), while my money is tied up?

There is lots to consider and go through. And fantasy in your head is not one of them.

There's a related story on this board - a search should find it - of Cossman selling (exporting) railyway bits to South America. Yet, the company he worked for did not make any railway bits at all - they just knew a good source.

Hope this helps as well.

Michael Ross


Other people do grunt work you get money
  #7  
Old May 23, 2003, 08:09 PM
Garry Boyd
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Some more...

Probably the best resources to lay your hands on will be a copy of the customs tarrif, and some export directories which you can obtain from the commercial attache at the embassies.
It is unlikely the customs dept. will offer much help, they will refer you to a customs agent, which is who they prefer to deal with.
Freight forwarders will vary depending on what part of the world they deal with, ie you may need a different forwarder for Germany than the US, to get the best rate.
Unless the bulk is very high, seafreight may not be an effective choice. Beware of extra fees you may not predict, feul surcharges, MAF fees for agricultural products etc. I have been hit for these on items that I never thought of: seashells and animal skin, both components of items I imported.
If you are dealing with Asia, make sure you are dealing with the actual sorce, not an intermediary. However, in some places such as Japan, you will need a local agent who knows the correct protocol. If you handle freight yourself, make sure the ex factory price is the actual price on the suppliers dock, no packing/ handling/loading etc.
Make sure you have a handle on exchange rates, and be prepared to make educated guesses on movements.
Any mistakes you make come straight off your profit. If you are wholesaling you need fast moving products at a good price, so your gross margin will be fairly low.

Theres lots more, it is a pretty tough business, with a steep learning curve.

> Can the info. be tailored to the Aussie
> market?

> Yes.

> Go over to the link Jim posted and have a
> read. That's it in a nutshell in Australia
> too. Oh sure the departments might go by a
> different name, but it's pretty much the
> same.

> You can find Freight Forwarders online and
> in the Yellow pages. They can handle a lot
> of the stuff for you. Think of them like the
> post office. What would you do to send a
> parcel from your place to mine? That's what
> the frieght forwarders to. Bless their
> hearts.

> I imported some stuff from India. The
> documents that came with it were quite
> similar to what Jim has in his export course
> (I was importing they were exporting). So it
> is even applicable in India... and they
> don't speak English like we do.

> Specifics? Like, for this product go here,
> for that product go there, kinda specifics?

> That's unrealistic. For instance, when I
> last chatted with the British Embassey's
> trade dept, they gave me the website which
> lists all the British companies who desire
> exporting because they have something like
> 100,000 of them on their list. And they
> aren't going to do my research work for me.
> And even if they did, can I honestly expect
> them to maybe fax or email me info. on say
> 100 companies?

> Such a book would be forever long. And that
> would be for each country.

> If you're going to only import after you
> have someone who has paid cash upfront, you
> will be a long time before importing
> anything.

> Think about what you would be asking them to
> do... pay you money NOW and then wait three
> months plus product manufacturing time
> before they get what they paid for.

> Get a filled out order with a small
> downpayment, sure. But total upfront payment
> isn't going to happen.

> In this regard, take a lesson from the
> builders of the new apartment building. The
> ones who pre-sell off the plan. Often, the
> pre-selling is a condition of the financing
> - we will only lend you the money to build
> after you have pre-sold X% of the units. It
> might not be what the builder wants... but
> the availability of the money is the
> important thing. SO he builds, pays
> interest, and then settles nearly all the
> units on the same day - or within a short
> period of time depending on how many he
> pre-sold.

> A variety of products. All related to
> electronic stores - the kinds of stuff you
> might find in a Jaycar store.

> You might ask.... why don't these people
> import the stuff themselves? Because they
> are retailers. They don't have time to
> source a product and muck around with
> importing.

> Personally, though. I would opt for
> exporting. Less headache. Less running
> around finding out the legalities of the
> product - such as CAS Numbers, and other
> maybe prohibited items - and so on. Not to
> mention the cash you will be outlaying. Yes
> you will get it back if you follow the
> advice Jim gave in the report he linked to.
> But you still need it to do a deal. And our
> weak dollar should make our products more
> attractive to overseas buyers.

> And along the lines of what Jim wrote... a
> company I helped create operations manuals
> for used knives in their warehouse imported
> from England!

> Also, speak with the customs department too.
> They do have a wealth of knowledge and can
> pretty well tell you what kinds of duty and
> tax you will pay on certain items.

> With regards to Jim's course... if money is
> an issue... and lets face it, our dollar is
> pretty well down the crapper when compared
> to the rest of the world and US and UK stuff
> is like twice as much, and Jim's course
> could cost one third of the average Aussie
> weekly pay packet... then put away $50 a
> month until you have $150A. Then get it. You
> would have to wait three months for any
> shipment to arrive anyway.

> Yes we want to jump in and do a big deal
> yesterday. It's exciting thinking about the
> possibilities. But it is also fantasy land.

> What if I approach 100 stores and they all
> buy so much stuff I make $10k from each?
> I'll make $1,000,000 (one million dollars)
> and be set for life. What if they buy that
> much stuff every month? I'll make a million
> bucks a month! Woo Hoo! What if they do
> better than that? Oh my... my calculator
> doesn't go that high.

> A dose of reality is... what if no one buys
> or all the people who said they would buy
> change their mind - even forgoing their
> goodwill deposit of a few hundred bucks? How
> will I get rid of the product I have just
> brought into the country. How will I
> survive? Even for the three or four months
> it will take to arrive by ship (because ship
> is cheaper than air by a mile), while my
> money is tied up?

> There is lots to consider and go through.
> And fantasy in your head is not one of them.

> There's a related story on this board - a
> search should find it - of Cossman selling
> (exporting) railyway bits to South America.
> Yet, the company he worked for did not make
> any railway bits at all - they just knew a
> good source.

> Hope this helps as well.

> Michael Ross
  #8  
Old May 23, 2003, 08:37 PM
Adam Bradley
 
Posts: n/a
Default Thanks Garry (DNO)

  #9  
Old May 23, 2003, 08:36 PM
Adam Bradley
 
Posts: n/a
Default Thanks for your comments Michael...

...which have been most helpful.

regards,
Adam

> Can the info. be tailored to the Aussie
> market?

> Yes.

> Go over to the link Jim posted and have a
> read. That's it in a nutshell in Australia
> too. Oh sure the departments might go by a
> different name, but it's pretty much the
> same.

> You can find Freight Forwarders online and
> in the Yellow pages. They can handle a lot
> of the stuff for you. Think of them like the
> post office. What would you do to send a
> parcel from your place to mine? That's what
> the frieght forwarders to. Bless their
> hearts.

> I imported some stuff from India. The
> documents that came with it were quite
> similar to what Jim has in his export course
> (I was importing they were exporting). So it
> is even applicable in India... and they
> don't speak English like we do.

> Specifics? Like, for this product go here,
> for that product go there, kinda specifics?

> That's unrealistic. For instance, when I
> last chatted with the British Embassey's
> trade dept, they gave me the website which
> lists all the British companies who desire
> exporting because they have something like
> 100,000 of them on their list. And they
> aren't going to do my research work for me.
> And even if they did, can I honestly expect
> them to maybe fax or email me info. on say
> 100 companies?

> Such a book would be forever long. And that
> would be for each country.

> If you're going to only import after you
> have someone who has paid cash upfront, you
> will be a long time before importing
> anything.

> Think about what you would be asking them to
> do... pay you money NOW and then wait three
> months plus product manufacturing time
> before they get what they paid for.

> Get a filled out order with a small
> downpayment, sure. But total upfront payment
> isn't going to happen.

> In this regard, take a lesson from the
> builders of the new apartment building. The
> ones who pre-sell off the plan. Often, the
> pre-selling is a condition of the financing
> - we will only lend you the money to build
> after you have pre-sold X% of the units. It
> might not be what the builder wants... but
> the availability of the money is the
> important thing. SO he builds, pays
> interest, and then settles nearly all the
> units on the same day - or within a short
> period of time depending on how many he
> pre-sold.

> A variety of products. All related to
> electronic stores - the kinds of stuff you
> might find in a Jaycar store.

> You might ask.... why don't these people
> import the stuff themselves? Because they
> are retailers. They don't have time to
> source a product and muck around with
> importing.

> Personally, though. I would opt for
> exporting. Less headache. Less running
> around finding out the legalities of the
> product - such as CAS Numbers, and other
> maybe prohibited items - and so on. Not to
> mention the cash you will be outlaying. Yes
> you will get it back if you follow the
> advice Jim gave in the report he linked to.
> But you still need it to do a deal. And our
> weak dollar should make our products more
> attractive to overseas buyers.

> And along the lines of what Jim wrote... a
> company I helped create operations manuals
> for used knives in their warehouse imported
> from England!

> Also, speak with the customs department too.
> They do have a wealth of knowledge and can
> pretty well tell you what kinds of duty and
> tax you will pay on certain items.

> With regards to Jim's course... if money is
> an issue... and lets face it, our dollar is
> pretty well down the crapper when compared
> to the rest of the world and US and UK stuff
> is like twice as much, and Jim's course
> could cost one third of the average Aussie
> weekly pay packet... then put away $50 a
> month until you have $150A. Then get it. You
> would have to wait three months for any
> shipment to arrive anyway.

> Yes we want to jump in and do a big deal
> yesterday. It's exciting thinking about the
> possibilities. But it is also fantasy land.

> What if I approach 100 stores and they all
> buy so much stuff I make $10k from each?
> I'll make $1,000,000 (one million dollars)
> and be set for life. What if they buy that
> much stuff every month? I'll make a million
> bucks a month! Woo Hoo! What if they do
> better than that? Oh my... my calculator
> doesn't go that high.

> A dose of reality is... what if no one buys
> or all the people who said they would buy
> change their mind - even forgoing their
> goodwill deposit of a few hundred bucks? How
> will I get rid of the product I have just
> brought into the country. How will I
> survive? Even for the three or four months
> it will take to arrive by ship (because ship
> is cheaper than air by a mile), while my
> money is tied up?

> There is lots to consider and go through.
> And fantasy in your head is not one of them.

> There's a related story on this board - a
> search should find it - of Cossman selling
> (exporting) railyway bits to South America.
> Yet, the company he worked for did not make
> any railway bits at all - they just knew a
> good source.

> Hope this helps as well.

> Michael Ross
  #10  
Old May 24, 2003, 03:10 AM
Michael Ross (Qld, Aust)
 
Posts: n/a
Default You're welcome (DNO)

DNO means Do Not Open because the subject heading contains the entire message


Use OPR
 


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