Need to learn about shipping from China.

[GottaDiesel]

I find myself in a position at work where I have to deal with buying goods from China. Is there a book or web-site (I've searched and searched) that you may know of that can help. I specifically need to know about freight, and payment. One of the key things I'm concerned about is let's say you order $10K worth of goods, and they are damaged or not deleivered as promised. Well then? You're in the US and they are in China, what the heck can you do now?

Any random thoughts or experience would be of great help!

Thanks,
Pete

[rickg]

Just go to Wal-Mart. 80% of their stuff comes from there, and it's easy to get your money back.

[drbrandini]

Originally Posted by GottaDiesel

I find myself in a position at work where I have to deal with buying goods from China. Is there a book or web-site (I've searched and searched) that you may know of that can help. I specifically need to know about freight, and payment. One of the key things I'm concerned about is let's say you order $10K worth of goods, and they are damaged or not deleivered as promised. Well then? You're in the US and they are in China, what the heck can you do now?

Any random thoughts or experience would be of great help!

Thanks,
Pete

I'm sure there will be a 3rd party (shipper) involved. In this case.. take it up with Yang Ming or whoever your carrier is. Importing goods from China can be very tricky. Especially when working with deadlines in the US. Not to mention this time of year (Chinese new year).

There are many Chinese factories that have offices or distributors here in the US.

What kind of goods are you having produced ?

[GottaDiesel]

Deadlines are not too too big of an issue. What is an issue is damage, getting what is contracted. These are very small (1.5"+/- glass cups.) approximately 40,000+ of them (4 sizes, 10,000+ of each size). I've been told that it is always better to fill a whole container, but I don't know if I am going to have enough room in the building for all of it. So I think there are basically two "prongs" to this.

a) make sure the company that makes them makes what is contacted to be made as per specs.

b) getting them from China to me at the lowest cost, possibly NOT having to fill a full container.

Hope that says more. Not sure what port in China they would leave from, for that matter, I'm wondering what makes more sense, to have them come into NY or Newark, or to the west-coast and then tructed over the road.

As you can see, I don't really know the first thing about all this, so that's why I'm trying to learn.

Thanks,

Pete

[drbrandini]

Pete,

You can also ask for a pre production sample to make sure the items are as described. Most of the good factories in China will offer this as a way to get your approval before continuing with the order.

I would call the different shipping / trucking companies and get quotes so you can work out the math as far as which method is more effecient. It may be more cost effective to have them shipped to the west coast and then sent by rail to you.