Need help/advice on importing products from Taiwan

[Gnoy]

I want to import products from Taiwan to sell it on eBay or on forums.
What kind of preparations do I need to do?
Do I need a special bank account to deal with money transfers outside Canada? Perhaps a business account?
What should I watch out for to avoid fraud?
What about shipping? Which courier is the best for little cost?
I'm just a student with some money to invest, and I have no experience in trading bulk orders overseas.
Any help or advice will be very appreciated. :)

[B40]

I'd rather get something from the US...

Taxes will be the same, just that I'd be more weary of companies in Taiwan, Indonesia, China etc.

[Gnoy]

I forgot to mention that I'm dealing directly with manufacturers in asia, so I'm bypassing any middleman or store.

Here's the inquiry I received via email from the manufacturer:

M.O.Q.: 200pcs
Terms: F.O.B. Taiwan
Payment: By irrevocable at sight L/C or T/T in advance.
Leadtime: Within 4-5 weeks after we received your P/O.
We hope use freight collect to avoid any disputes with freight cost.
Could you kindly please inform your shipping method and express A/C?

Can someone kind enough to explain what above terms and acronyms mean? Please help out a clueless science student...

[bylo]

Can someone kind enough to explain what above terms and acronyms mean? Please help out a clueless science student...
I'll try but I'm hardly an authority on this:

M.O.Q.: 200pcs
Minimum quantity

Terms: F.O.B. Taiwan
FOB is Free on Board. Means that you're responsible for shipping from Taiwan.

Payment: By irrevocable at sight L/C or T/T in advance.
L/C is letter of credit. That sort of like a certified cheque that's guaranteed by your bank. That's to protect them. Dunno about T/T but it's probably something similar.

Leadtime: Within 4-5 weeks after we received your P/O.
P/O is purchase order. You don't need a fancy form. A faxed letter will do.

We hope use freight collect to avoid any disputes with freight cost.
See FOB. Basically you're on the hook for shipping, brokerage, taxes. Better hope they don't use UPS :) Better still ask them who they use, call that shipper and get an estimate.

Could you kindly please inform your shipping method and express A/C?
Alternatively (and the vendor's preference) you find a shipper in Taiwan and advise the vendor to use them. Express A/C, dunno. presumably

[neospite]

if you have money to buy bulk orders of 200 or more you might as well put it in stocks, specially in Nortel they are actually in the + sections in the incoming quarter, or fuel cell stocks..... i mean how much can you actually earn from selling crap on ebay?

[Gnoy]

I guess stock is a nice way to invest, only if you know what you're doing.
But I will probably hate to worry about my stock going up or down, especially when I'm gambling with my OSAP money :)
Selling crap on eBay on the other hand, is guaranteed to return my investment, perhaps at 2X, 3X profit if I'm lucky, as long as there's demand for the item. If it doesn't sell, I can just go to local stores and sell it at cost.
If I had enough cash, and I mean serious amount, I would rather invest in condos. I think it's a safe investment, seeing a million of immigrants Toronto is getting every year, and may be more to come if all hell breaks lose in Iraq.

BTW, thank you very much, bylo, for your thorough explanations. I give you my utmost gratitude for your help :)
Now, could "express A/C" mean an account with a courier?

[neospite]

OSAP what a great thing.... never got accepted for it haha , the cheap bastards

[Gnoy]

Hehe, no kidding.
Some guys get married just to get more OSAP funding. :o

[wintech]

You won't earn anything good with quantities of ~200. Need to go 1000+ for the big profits heh. :P

[neospite]

You won't earn anything good with quantities of ~200.  Need to go 1000+ for the big profits heh.   :P LOL, yeah seriously even at 2x the profits its not worth it, no risk no reward stocks are the way to go.

[ranjeet2000]

OSAP what a great thing.... never got accepted for it haha , the cheap bastards
aren't you the one with the wealthy parents who buys you a car? OSAP ain't for people with that financial background.

[neospite]

OSAP what a great thing.... never got accepted for it haha , the cheap bastards
aren't you the one with the wealthy parents who buys you a car? OSAP ain't for people with that financial background.

i know.... i feel so discrminated, BASTARDS

[towingwidow]

OSAP what a great thing.... never got accepted for it haha , the cheap bastards
aren't you the one with the wealthy parents who buys you a car? OSAP ain't for people with that financial background.

i know.... i feel so discrminated, BASTARDS

Having money is just SUCH a disability, eh, Neo?? :wink:

[Bunch]

Just wanted to add to what Bylo said.

T/T in advance: Telegraphic Transfer (aka Wire Transfer). This is like a Western Union money transfer except that it's done at a bank. Just to give you an idea of the fees, the last TT I did was for $10,000 and the Bank of Montreal charged me $35. Note, once you send this money to the company you can't get it back, unlike an L/C, there is not much protection for you.

I suggest you do a lot of reading about this and speak to a local freight forwarding company about all the costs. You can find these in your local Yellow Pages. I use U-Freight and am happy with them.

By the way, it's not really worth the time and risk to import wholesale goods from Asia with a value less than C$5,000.

Good luck!

[Kuurgen]

Just a word of warning:

I happened to catch an episode of Venture, where the person requested samples of a product.

The samples were of superior quality, from a manufacturer in China.

So based on the strength of the samples he placed a rather large order. When he received the merchandise, it was falling apart and of shoddy quality.

Now I'm not saying all companies do this, but it does happen.

[Gnoy]

Thanks a bunch, Bunch :)
I am reconsidering the order...too much trouble for someone who has too little to invest.
May be I should just fly to Taiwan and smuggle it back through the ship :P

[sumfunny]

You will have to fill out duties, and the gov't might be suspicious with large orders if you don't have a company if you do have a company you will need to register gst/pst and importer license, if you haven't seen the manufacturing facilities I would be cautious

[Kai Viti]

Now, could "express A/C" mean an account with a courier?

That's exactly what that means. Express=freight courier.

Since the company is quoting you FOB, Taipei or wherever in Taiwan, you have to provide them a freight courier account, so they can ship to you. Common international carrier is DHL.

To import in large quantities, you need an Import#, which has to be quoted on documentation. I'll see if I can track down govt. site for you later.

You've got me all curious as to what you're bringing in that has a minimum order of only 200! PM me if you want to divulge. Usually Asian orders have min of 1000 - 5000 depending on value.

I know one guy who brought back 100 watches from PRC and just declared it on Customs form as you're allowed $800? now.