Importing from china and selling to business

Looseygoosey1

Hi folks.
New to the game of importing and just need a small bit of advice. I have an innovative product which I am looking at importing from china.
I have a full time job in a completely different field and this is a part time venture with the view of becoming full time in the future. I do t have any company or anything set up to do this.
The product I have won't be suited to sell on eBay etc as it's something new that not too many would be searching specifically for IMO.
My question is , what do I have to do to be able to sell this product to retailers here? Do I have to set up a company/register for vat etc?
Any advice welcome. As I say I'm new to this and learning as I go. Thanks in advance

jimmii

Yeh register for a company whether or not to register for VAT will depend on whether or not you think you'll be hitting the thresholds. What area is this product going to be in? If its something new that you think is going to be in demand it is probably worth looking at patenting to give you some protection over it being copied.

Peterdalkey

I have a couple of issues with your project that may be worthy of some consideration.
Innovative product and China are normally not found in the same sentence, unless the design/brand is owned by some first world based company. Are you sure that you do not infringe anyone else's patents or design copyright?
What protection do you have in place to stop your customers doing an end around on you and sourcing directly, thus cutting you out?

These questions are fundamental to whether you have a realistic business model, your other ones, as posed, are simply answered with a yes. There are other issues you would need to address on topics such as duties, shipping, warehousing, marketing, distribution, financing etc but the prime task is to establish a solid valid business model.

nipper banks

You do not necessarily need to set up a company. There are many sole traders selling happily to retailers. A limited company is essentially a way of limiting your liability if something goes wrong, which can be a good idea. The main question if establishing your credibility as a supplier, which can be helped by having a company.
The threashold for registering for VAt is €75,000. I presume you are aware that you will have to pay VAT on the import of the goods. A customs agent can arrange this and the other customs formalities for you for a fee.
The other questions raised by previous replies re patents etc. are valid, but do not necessarily apply to all products from China. I prosume your Chinese supplier can confirm if the product is free to be sold on the Irish markets? These days China produces many innovative products some of which are not very well marketed in Ireland.

asiaway

I am living in China for a large number of years and have help people find suppliers for products. Very few of them work out because the customer has almost no homework done.
Often a person will get an idea for a product for a particular market. Then spend a lot of time setting up a company, designing a logo, making a website, etc.. etc. Often they will go a far finding a Chinese supplier. It is only when they try selling the product many months later do they realise they did not know how much the retail margin was on existing products. They were also not aware the credit terms the customer they were trying to sell to, got from their existing suppliers. They were unaware that single pallet of product would flood the small Irish market for 6 months. I could go on and on... I have lost a lot a time dealing with customers requests in the past.

Forget about VAT, company setup, website etc. until you have a solid business plan.

If you in currently in the field already, that a leg up.

Regarding quality from Chinese suppliers! I have to clear this up. You can get any quality you need from China, if you know what you are doing. China makes the best of stuff. It also make the worst of stuff. Sometimes both from the same production lines. Quality is dependant on the product. Its the customer who specifies the product.

Regards..

Peterdalkey

asiaway wrote: »

I am living in China for a large number of years and have help people find suppliers for products. Very few of them work out because the customer has almost no homework done.
Often a person will get an idea for a product for a particular market. Then spend a lot of time setting up a company, designing a logo, making a website, etc.. etc. Often they will go a far finding a Chinese supplier. It is only when they try selling the product many months later do they realise they did not know how much the retail margin was on existing products. They were also not aware the credit terms the customer they were trying to sell to, got from their existing suppliers. They were unaware that single pallet of product would flood the small Irish market for 6 months. I could go on and on... I have lost a lot a time dealing with customers requests in the past.

Forget about VAT, company setup, website etc. until you have a solid business plan.

If you in currently in the field already, that a leg up.

Regarding quality from Chinese suppliers! I have to clear this up. You can get any quality you need from China, if you know what you are doing. China makes the best of stuff. It also make the worst of stuff. Sometimes both from the same production lines. Quality is dependant on the product. Its the customer who specifies the product.

Regards..

Excellent post, the voice of experience is always great.