Import and export is an important area of business. When a person or a company buys groceries, agricultural products, textiles, machine parts or even crude oil from their country and sends them to other countries for sale at a higher price, it is called export. When goods and raw materials are shipped from other countries and sold in their own countries to maintain profit margins, it is called import.
Both types of trade depend on the internal production of a country, whose surpluses are sold in foreign markets. The share of profits from the sale of a country's products will also be transferred to the national treasury. Therefore, import export is important to the economy of a country.
Import data from the international trading system show competition among all importers. So the quality of the product will never be affected. If the quality of the exported goods is poor, it will commit suicide to the economy of the exporting country, because it may lose its market permanently as it damages its reputation in the circuit of international trade. Import and exports show that jute of India is often fiercely competitive with jute which comes from Bengal jute, which is generally superior in quality to the former. Previously, there had been cases of sale of inferior jute in India on the international market. As a result, jute sales in India experienced several years of drought.
When starting an import export business, it is important to collect statistics and buyer supplier data first to help you decide the product and the country you will be dealing with. The first step is to delve into all areas of business and customs shipping data will be of great help. Identifying markets and products is the two most fundamental decisions at the outset. Research and planning with existing customs data confirms the success of business risks at the international or domestic level. So how can get involved in an import and export business? I think that is a distress for many foreign traders. Today I want to share some ideas which from the experience by myself for you.
I. You can start an import export business using your own money
Most people think that get involved buying product overseas with their own money, on their own account. This is the most logical and preferred way for most. Buy a product, pay for it, take titli to the goods, import your purchases into the country you want to sell them in, sell them, and do it all over again.
II. Import export agent - putting buyers and sellers together
If you are familiar with a particular country, especially if you have been there numerous times and may already know what is manufactured and where to find suppliers of those products, you can offer your knowledge to others. For example if you have been to Thailand many times, or you might live there before. And you would know the Thai product, you can approach a retail store buyer in the United State. In this case the Thai product will be sold in USA. You will order the product in Thailand, put the shipment together, pay for the product not with your money but with his money, and ship the good to his store in the United States, with his store's name as the consignee on the shipping documents. For your services the US-base retailer- important will pay you agree upon commission. The amount of the commission is negotiable, not a fixed percentage. The amount may depend on the amount of you cost. The retailer will be the importer, he will pay not only for the goods but for the cost of preparation of the export documents, packing and actual international freight from country of origin, Thailand, to destination, wherever may be his store or warehouse. Your commission may be a percentage of the total invoice value or a negotiated amount between the two of you. Under this scenario you are using other people’s money but for your expertise. You can get started tomorrow. Obviously if you have never been to Thailand you may not want to offer your services as an import and export agent of Thai products.
There are two basic variants of this participation. The one described above, your commission is paid by the importer of your work. Similarly, when you are in Thailand, a Thai manufacturer can give you a sample of his products and introduce them to potential buyers in USA. In this case, you may return your last visit to Thailand as the manufacturer’s representative-perhaps not with an exclusive contract to represent his product in UAS, but with the understanding that if you find his product the buyer may want to place an order with him, the Thai manufacturer will pay you an agreed shipping commission.
From these two examples it is obvious that you can relate to other people’s money instead of just your own, putting the buyer and seller together the commission may be paid to your party or parties, the buyer as well as the seller and the method constituted by the easiest to start an import and export business.
III. Import and export purchasing agent
You can take part in import export business as an independent import and export procurement contractor, which is very similar to the same category as described above, but is more responsible for the entire import and export process. For example, a clothing store in USA will hire you to find a manufacturer in Bali that can produce garments based on product design specifications. With the product drawings that the retailer gives you, you can provide more than one potential manufacturer in Bali to prepare a sample of the product that will eventually be ordered by the retailer. Each manufacturer will prepare samples and quotations, showing quantity discounts and delivery times. The retailer will select one of the suppliers you purchased based on product quality, price, and delivery time, and then ask you to grant the contract to the vendor. Then you must oversee the production, quality control, documentation preparation and payment of the goods with the retailer’s money, and not you with yours, who will become the actual importer and consignee of the shipping documents. As mentioned above, you will get the retailer-importer to pay a commission on the basis of the plus fee, and may be saved in a retainer that can be available at the next time.
IV. Export transportation agent
The last example is once again based on the use of other people’s money to put the buyers and sellers together. In this example, a manufacture in Thailand provides a product for container loading, such as toys. This shipment is ready to be shipped and must be purchased in the current manner, regardless of the quality of each item inside it. The shipment may be various, it may contain some tempting products, but there are looking for buyers. You are a buyer who knows someone may be interested in an agent who is a product of these type of product. You provide seller-exporter samples to buyer’s importers. If the buyer agrees to purchase the container at an agreed price, you can handle the entire sale of any transaction that may be a round - trip letter of credit used by your bank in Denver, or wherever you are located. The buyer in Berlin pays you L/C amount to USD 40,000, once the money clears your bank, your bank reduces the amount of the L/C to the seller bank in Thailand and the difference in your pocket is less bank charge. Containers from Thailand to Berlin, Germany, and not through USA, you never take ownership of the goods. You will only associate the seller with the buyer and act as a trader. Needless to say that export of goods can be facilitated by countless other brokers who will bid for the export of manufacturing exporters in Thailand.
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