Buying things from Alibaba

[Cody]

Has anyone ever done a major transaction with a chinese supplier through Alibaba.com? I'm looking at having a shipping container of stuff shipped over, and I have a quote from the supplier for the product ($25k), and a quote for the freight on the container to SLC ($5k).

Any advice on dealing with this? Once the container is here, I'm assuming I need to hire someone to deliver it to wherever I need it delivered. It's a pretty big site and I'm sure there are measures in place to protect buyers and sellers from scams. Are there any hidden costs I need to worry about with customs or import taxes etc?

Cody

 

[Greg]

Nothing major like a container full of stuff, but I bought a replacement lens for my GoPro thru Alibaba and the deal was smooth and shipping was rather quick, considering it came from China. Obviously your container is coming by boat & then probably rail once it hits the US.

I wouldn't think getting the container from where it arrives in SLC to your needed drop-off would not be a difficult task. Are you talking a 40' container, or smaller? There are plenty of trucking companies that could haul it. Some time ago I even met a guy with a Dodge Ram and a custom-built trailer... he could load & unload containers in a matter of minutes with his setup. He said it was much more cost-effective vs. a tractor-trailer.

 

[Cody]

Just a 20 foot container. Do I get to keep the container, or does it go back from some sort of core charge afterwards?

 

[Greg]

Just a 20 foot container. Do I get to keep the container, or does it go back from some sort of core charge afterwards?

20 foot should make it easier. I would bet there are several container-specific transport companies in SLC that can do the job.

**EDIT** - Matter of fact... - http://www.yellowpages.com/salt-lake-city-ut/container-freight-service

Not sure about the container, does the shipping cost include the cost of the container? I would assume, but don't know. The way things are now, the cost to build the container is cheaper than the cost to ship back an empty container so there is a huge surplus of them in the US. Usually containers get used twice and then they stay in the States. If you're buying it, you can sell it to someone else that wants it for storage. Last I checked a 20' container was worth (depending on the shape) $2-3k.

 

[Greg]

This guy may be able to help with getting the container to you.... rates look good, too. - http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=26003335&cat=&lpid=&search=shipping container transport&ad_cid=3

 

[Cody]

I'm sure I could make use of the container at some point. I need to look into taxes and such.

 

[Deleted member 12904]

One thing you need to check into is storage fees while your container waits to clear customs. They can hold you upto 3 months with no explanation and you will get charged storage fees by the freight company holding the container. I had a 300# order get held for 10 days once waiting for customs and was charged $150 storage plus $75 more in tax then I usally do. A friend of mine brought in a shipping container of quads a few years back and paid $600 in storage fees waiting for it to clear customs. Most of the time it goes smooth but about 20% of the time it doesn't in my experience with bringing stuff in from overseas.

Also quality control can be such a big issue with large orders plan on 10%-15% of the product not being worthy of resale.

 

[thefirstzukman]

Risky buisness, my friend owns a very large air soft distribution company and he ships from china all the time. He has bought from alibaba before and had problems getting stuff into the country. Depending on the product the government will also tax you for everything you bring in and it can be very expensive. I know my friend has had $50000 shipments that have ended up costing him almost double by the time he gets them and it has taken him up to a year to get stuff sometimes. He does very well financially and It makes it worth it, but he says you are always taking a chance.

 

[bryson]

If you end up ordering, I would be interested in the container if you decide not to keep it.

 

[Deleted member 12904]

I dont know what type of product you plan on bringing in but make sure to get a demo unit before you invest that much into a a shipment. A couple examples of why.

I was looking into importing plasma cutters I worked with a company on what I would need and went over the details several times. Well when my demo unit came it was not set up for American power even though I sent plug specs, pictures and descriptions several times. It ended up costing $35 to convert the unit plus the labor and that was to much profit gone to make it worth it at that point.

Another one was Aviation headsets used in off road intercoms I tried 3 times to get a compatible unit made with no luck. wrong mic, wrong plug, wrong pinout on the correct plug.

I have never used Alibaba but I do know that site is geared more twords selling smaller quantity of products to people and generally you are dealing with a whole seller or a distributor not the factory directly. This is fine if you are buying for personal use but for resale it limits the control you have over your product and also limits the amount of pull you have with things like quality control and or warranty stuff. And generally you can get a better price working with the factory directly by eliminating the middle man. A lot of people think that if they are buying from overseas they are buing from a factory this is generally not the case just like the usa they have several layers of sales but if your talking $25k in product make sure your getting the best pricing.

 

[Cody]

I'm buying a container full of used soda kegs, so undoubtedly some will have problems, but unless they have a hole in them, they are pretty easy to fix with parts I have available. Even after shipping costs, they are 25% cheaper than I can buy them for now.....on the rare occasions I'm able to actually find some to buy. They've been gobbled up by everyone. If I could snag 1000 of these things from China, I'd be sitting pretty for a couple years.

Does anyone know who I would need to talk with about taxes? Just the state tax commission? I guess that's as good of a place to start as any.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Customs... different products have different import tariffs and taxes, customs brokerage, etc. Generally you work with a 3rd party shipping company that handles all of that from the pickup at the seller to delivery to your door. Obviously you pay more than the individual sum of the shipping but they handle all of the paperwork, customs, bond, etc.

 

[Cody]

Hmm, I wonder if customs and such are included in the $5k it costs to ship. I'm sorry for all of the open ended questions, the rep from the company is on the opposite side of the world so it's usually 12 hours before I get a response....and there is a language barrier

 

[Kiel]

make sure the kegs didn't have pesticides in them. I almost bought a couple that did

 

[Cody]

They are from Pepsi Cola. Hopefully no pesticides.