Anyone have experience bulk importing from China to US?

[DraganM]

Hi,

Our store recently got approved for a Shopify fulfillment center in US and we are working hard to get couple of our best selling products from China to US fulfilment center to reduce shipping times and improve customer experience. We have a supplier sourced as well as a customs broker to help with the import. This is first time we are trying to bulk import from China and it will be relatively substantial investment so I'm looking for anyone with similar experience willing to share any tips or tricks we should look out for when it comes to dealing with suppliers or otherwise. 

Things such as recommended payment methods, contract details or fine print, how to minimize risk of complications, etc. 

Thanks!

[dropship_helps]

Hi @DraganM 

Bulk import means how many units?  I recommend buying 10 units first and then proceed to bulk. 

[DraganM]

Thanks @dropship_helps 

We have tested 3 units and our bulk order is 1000 units

[Wesupply]

@DraganM 

Hi， what products are you selling? If they are not too heave and big sizes, for a small carton, for example, less than 20 kgs, you can send the whole carton by express like DHL to you. 

For bigger volumes like more than 3-4 cubic meters, you may ship by air or sea. Shipping by sea is cheap but it takes a long time. You may need to orders one month before you sales. 

[DraganM]

Thanks @Wesupply 

Product is a bit bulky and pillow like, for 1000 items we're looking at 15CBM/1000kg so i imagine air transport cost would be significantly more than sea but that is ok as we can wait for it. 

[Fulfillman]

We are a dropshipping company in China that sources all kinds of niches and also we have bulk shipping services to US. We can help you out with your problem please visit our site or contact us directly to know more.

[JeremyAdam]

I used to do this with my company, bulk importing jackets and coats.

I think we used DHL for most imports and they did a great job of getting the product to us in a very efficient and timely manner, even during Holiday months. Good customer service too.

We would do wire transfers to our vendor through our bank to buy the product as it is the most secure way to make big purchases overseas. It's a hassle the first time, but after that it's pretty straightforward.

For smaller orders (anything less than $5,000) we would just pay our vendor with PayPal.

Vendors in China usually have a really good handle on how to write the Customs forms to get large imports into the U.S. with no issues so I wouldn't worry about that too much. Always follow your vendor's instructions in the process, even if it doesn't make sense at the time, they know what they're doing.

Hope this helps!

[TIKSUPER-APP]

It is more convenient for the goods to be placed in the US warehouse to fulfill the order. Do you need to ship it yourself or ship it on behalf of you after bulk purchase