Three paragraphs an expert make.......?
IMAO:
Check out what kind of products you are interested in. Animal products (ie. leather) and food have tons of restrictions, copyrights and trademarks should be real, even if real there can be problems, most clothing has a lot of restrictions. Customs is picky about how they like their paperwork, a broker is almost a necessity, most likely one in each country. An alternative is UPS and Fedex who will handle the paperwork as part of their (higher) fee except for clothing and other more complicated entries. They also deliver to your door and take better care of your boxes. Air cargo only gets your shipment to an international airport, be sure that airport is the one you want or you may find your goods are on the other side of the country.
Customs duties vary greatly depending on the type of item and the country it is from. A large group of hand made goods (not clothing) from third world countries is free of duty, although the paperwork is still required. Ask questions of the customs office - the people who are not in uniform are almost always helpful, those with uniforms are frequently helpful, but remember that the rules are many and conflicting and the interpetation varies greatly. Still, with most items you should be OK. Shipments of items in a small number of categories are prefered.
My three paragraphs:
First. If you are serious about importing go to the country, stay awhile and research throughly. If you are not that serious, forget it. There are tons of people trying the same thing who do visit the country and who will undercut you.
Second. While in the country visit as many factories and wholesalers as you can. Get to know the country and customs. Business is done at a much slower pace in some countries, learn their ways. Personal visits and conversation, often about things unrelated to business, is part of how businessmen in other countries evaluate potential clients. After you get to know a number of businesses buy lots of samples - there is no substitute for the actual item, both for ascertaining quality and potential market.
Third. When still in-country make small wholesale purchases of the most promising items you have found. Supervise the packing yourself, there are no shippers who care as much for your goods as you do. Later you may want to bring packing supplies from home: light-weight strong containers and nylon-filament (strong) tape may not be available in country.
Take your samples and small wholesale purchases to market in your country and judge the reaction. Use that information on your second trip to the source country. Once you have a relationship with sellers in the country where they know you will return again and offer them a reliable long-terrm relationship the better vendors will take good care of you, both when you are there and when you order by email.
This should go without saying if you see my signature - but choose a country that you would like to spend some time in.
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