Wednesday, November 12, 2008

How to Import Products From China to Sell on EBay - Part I

You've been dying to learn how to import products from China in order to resell them for profit on eBay.

If the preceding statement is true about you then you've come to the right place. This brief article will supply you with the most important do's and don't's concerning how to import products from China.

Three HUGE Caveats for Importing Chinese Products
Do NOT under any circumstances commit the following mistakes as you figure out how to import products from China:

Never Buy Branded Electronics from China
Branded Electronics shipped directly from China are almost always fake. The wholesaler will try to convince you that since most electronics are made in China anyway you will be able to save by buying directly from Chinese factories. This logic is faulty for the simple reason that the actual distribution of these products is always handled by companies outside of China. If you fall for this, you are only going to end up with worthless fakes.

Never Buy Designer Clothing from China
The same thing goes for designer clothes. Hot brand names like Gucci and Nike are NEVER sold directly from Chinese factories. Designer fakes, which are often sold for a fraction of the price of the genuine artifact, are worthless and may get you into deep trouble if you try to pawn them off as originals.

Never Buy DVD Box Sets from China
DVD Box sets are also generally fakes. There is really no way to get around this. If a box set of DVDs is being sold from China for next to nothing, it is almost always consists entirely of pirated DVDs.

Five Big Tips for Finding Out How to Import Products from China
Now that you are aware of the three most important things to stay away from when buying products from China, it's time to give you five important criteria by which you can objectively evaluate Chinese wholesale websites.

1. Pay attention to their products.
If the Chinese wholesale website that you are looking at carries any of the fraudulent items listed above, stay far away. However, if the company you are evaluating sells quality unmarked/unbranded merchandise that will be easy to resell, you might want to consider starting a business relationship.

2. Check out their rankings on Alexa.com and the Google page rank.
Both of these websites provide ratings regarding the popularity of a given website. More popular wholesale websites are more likely to be legit. Therefore, you should steer towards sites that have good rankings on both Alexa and Google.

3. Evaluate their domain name.
If the website's domain name contains a branded product name (e.g. iPhonefun09.com) then the website is almost certainly not legitimate. Steer clear.

4. Is their contact information readily available?
While ready contact information is no guarantee of reliability, a lack of contact information almost certainly points to a deficit of credibility. Do not do business with websites without a listed physical address and phone number.

5. Be careful how you pay!
Credit cards and PayPal are usually the safest way to conduct transactions online. However, most Chinese wholesalers do not accept these methods on a regular basis. A common form of payment is wire transfer. While this type of payment is never completely safe, you can save yourself some of the associated risk by always making sure that your payment is being sent to a COMPANY account and not a PERSONAL account. In addition, be aware that if a company accepts WU or Money Gram that it is probably a scam.

Andrew Minalto is founder and CEO of MLT Publishing. Andrew runs successful information publishing business as well as an eBay store and an online retail store.

At the age of just 23 he has achieved a phenomenal success in selling both physical and information products online. Hard work and belief in his dreams enabled him to leave a dusty Dublin warehouse in winter 2006 to go full-time online.

The recently launched EasyAuctionBusiness.com website is dedicated for all people trying to achieve financial freedom or just to make some extra money by selling on eBay.co.uk

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