So there I am, no work and mouths to feed. I had been selling children’s tables and chairs on Ebay for a while and it was going very well. By the way, very good market here, the most powerful demographic online today (hint, foot stomp, wink) But, the problem was, I could not make them fast enough in my basement to sell enough to live on. Somewhere along the way I needed a router table to make a better top and chair sides, so I built one. I eyeballed that thing and thought I might be able to sell it better. So I made a bunch and sales pick up.
I really needed some inserts for the table and was not able to find any. I found a great website called “Global Sources” and found a company in India that did the Acrylic work I was looking for. I stumbled onto this and wonder how I made it happen. I ordered the parts, and had them shipped to my nearest port of entry. I will now give you highlights of all the dumb mistakes I made so the story keeps moving.
- Acted as my own freight forwarder, knew nothing about customs
- Screwed up customs form
- Had to drive to port three different times
- My goods had to be warehoused while I figured out how to get them out, I paid huge warehousing fees
- Went to load my goods into my pickup and warehouse strictly forbids loading your own goods
- Finally got items into truck and drove away not realizing that customs does not put things back the way they found them, lid to crate blew off half way home on the highway somewhere in Maryland. (if you were behind me, uh, sorry)
Despite my stupid mistakes I decide to bring more in a year later. Do you think I used a freight forwarder this time? Nope, I wanted to save some money.
- I did a slightly better job with customs
- I still had to pay some warehouse fees to some guy name Lou
- The port in Philadelphia is very scary, bring large friends
- I ended up paying the same price to bring something in, as I could have for retail
- Don’t try to skimp and save money, bring in a lot of goods and do it right, lesson learned
Ok now I am up to bat about 2 years later. I have a website and want to expand my product line, so I contact another Chinese company and make arrangements. This time I hire a freight forwarder. You basically give them the order details and tell them to notify you when it gets here. (yeah, pretty easy)
- I ordered 10 pallets worth (called LCL, which is less than container load)
- I have to wait till truck comes which takes longer
- When truck driver comes, truck driver does not want to wait while you unload your stuff. Truck driver gives you evil eye if you don’t have forklift and muscle. (pallet jack too)
- LCL loads are prone to damage since more hands touch your stuff, I had many destroyed boxes by careless forklift drivers.
- I am learning, so this is better but I paid too much to the freight forwarder.
Now I am acting like the executive I think I would like to be. I consider ordering a full container since I want to have less damage and get more product for my money. I still work with same company but I have to hammer on them for quality control, lots of mistakes coming out of Chinese factory. I order the container, but get little response from my manufacture overseas. Why you ask? Well it’s Chinese New Year, and basically everyone takes the month off, good luck. Eventually I get going and give my order to the freight forwarder.
- Order comes, but the container is sealed with some kind of bolt not even Hercules can break (bring a hacksaw or grinder, just in case)
- I hire college kids with stronger backs and less sense than me. (they need money)
- I rent a forklift and pallet jack and even a friend who can drive a forklift
- We unload in less than 2 hours to my happiness.
- Everyone goes home and I am happy.
- Then the freight forwarding bill comes with surprises, a rate increase and fees not mentioned. Yep, time to find a new company.
The next order is a container from my same manufacturer and 10 pallets from a new company for two separate shipments. This time I do more research,(I am big on research now) and hire a sourcing specialist. I tell him my woes of poor quality, long delays and high prices. He connects me with the right people who know what they are doing. My sourcing agent actually goes to China, and goes straight to my manufacturer and hammers out new agreements. He saves me money, time and grief. I spend less money, but he takes a small fee and so it’s like spending the same money without grief. I now have our goods shipped to a fulfillment center, after the container hits port.
- I don’t worry
- I don’t lift boxes
- I don’t think about customs
- I don’t have to give money to a guy named Lou
Yes it is funny when I think about it now, but it is a life lesson. The bottom line, don’t step over a dollar to pick up a dime. Sourcing products from overseas can really bite you and cost you some serious dollars if you are not careful. Learn about Chinese culture and how to build up relationships with factories overseas, this will help you in the long run, but that is another article.
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