China has proven itself as a highly capable supplier of the world's most wanted and needed products. Importing from China is now part of many business models both online and offline. Selling products made in China has become a profitable venture that can be started with little investment using eCommerce. Thanks to the meteoric rise of eCommerce, many people around the world have begun enjoying a six-figure income a month.

If you want a business model that is relatively easy to start and does not require significant capital and overhead, take a look at what eCommerce can offer.

How I Got Started

One of the first profitable ventures I had was the importation of hot products made in China, then marketing them through Amazon and Shopify. E-commerce made it possible for me to start my businesses, grow them, and earn a great income every month.

When I first got started, these were the questions I had in mind:

-What should I do to get started?

- Which products are profitable?

- How do I find high-quality products?

- How do I identify reliable suppliers of these products?

- How do I avoid scams?

- What is the best way to negotiate with my preferred supplier?

Making Big Bucks With China Imports

When first making your venture into business that you are building from scratch, it is easy to get lost in the millions of ideas that pop out in your head. Without a plan, you will have a difficult time finding the right way. This is why I created this guide for importing products and starting an e-commerce business from square one. If I were to start a business from scratch today, the step-by-step approach I detailed here would be the route I will take.

In this guide, I will explain every step in the process to ensure that you have excellent understanding of what you are supposed to do and why. I will also share the most important insights I learned that I still apply to my successful importation strategy.

It is important that you follow the steps in this guide to avoid unnecessary mistakes. Selling imported products from China for a profit can be a financially-rewarding venture. Making a mistake because of a wrong step or turn will make it difficult to obtain the result you want.

Are you ready to start your own business by importing products from China? Let's begin!

Basic Overview

As with every business, this type of business also has certain risks. If you have no proper understanding about what goes on and why, you will suffer the consequences in wasting precious resources, importing products that do not sell and utilizing strategies that will not work.

Fortunately, with enough time and effort on your part, along with using the right approach, you can build a lucrative business.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

Identify the Right Quality Product

This is the part of the business where you will need to take time to brainstorm ideas, research about best-selling products, find high-demand products, and sell them for profit. Many newbie product importers find this very challenging. However, I have the right approach and the best tools to help you go through this step successfully.

Identify the Right Supplier

The right supplier is reliable like clockwork. After you have decided which products to sell, you need to find a good supplier. This is the next step in this guide where you need to focus on identifying the right source/s, which means you need to do in-depth research. Good background research about your supplier will also help you avoid scams and ensure that your supplier will have your back.

Test Out Samples

Most suppliers will gladly send you a small batch of their products as samples for you to test before you commit. Do not skip this step. It is important that you know what you are getting before the supplier sends you a whole batch.

Scale Up

After testing out the samples and confirming that they pass your quality test, you can confirm the type, number, size, color, and other particulars of the product. At this point, of course you can order a higher number of the products you want in terms of quantity. You can also negotiate certain changes in the products you want to have better variety.

Top Pitfalls to Avoid

Ask for samples first before buying large quantities of any products, and only when you are satisfied with the items.

No supplier will tell you that they cannot provide small samples. If the supplier says this, find another.

Protect your money. Use Paypal or Trade Assurance when paying for transactions for products from your supplier. Use either or both services for the first 3 months of doing business.

Transact only with businesses that accept Paypal or Trade Assurance payments.

Never purchase low-quality and fake products. You want to do legitimate business and selling low-quality and fake products is just not the way to do it.

Do not provide suppliers with your contact number, especially your primary e-mail address. Unscrupulous suppliers will spam these addresses with other offers they may have.

Keep these pitfalls in mind and keep them in mind when you look for products you want to import.

Three Steps to Buying from China and Making Money

One: Find a product that has a high demand.

A high-demand product is not that easy to find or when you do, you see so many different choices that it is easy for you to feel overwhelmed. Thankfully, there are tools you can use to help you zero in on the perfect product to import.

Let me tell you how I found out about this method.

As a newbie business person, I targeted the products that were 'traditionally' popular. These included shoes, bags, purses, and wallets, many of which were not exactly good quality.

This affected my business. I knew that customers will not likely do business with me for long if I kept selling them, so I stopped. I wanted to build a business that offered value to my customers and this was just not it.

This is why I strongly recommend that you stay far away from products that do not have quality, regardless of the price. 

What to Do Instead: 

I was already doing well with some products I was selling online. However, I still could not find the perfect products to promote. There were disappointments that I had to go through before things started falling into place.

I, for one, had my share of terrible products, such as:

Fragile products - I bought quite a few of these and no buyer wanted them. After all, nobody wanted something that could easily break.

What I learned: Do not sell fragile products that are likely to break during shipment.

Tight-fitting shoes and clothes - I bought 20 pieces of clothing for my customer. They sent back 5. Although the clothes were beautiful, they were best suited for women of a certain body type. For the clothes to work, they had to be tried on prior to purchase. As a result, I lost my profits on this batch.

What I learned: Do not purchase products designed only for specific body types.

My Breakthrough

I spent hundreds of hours looking for the perfect product. It got so bad that I even wanted to just quit. It was that hard. Finding the right product, the kind that has value and will sell well, seemed impossible. Not only that, I was also losing money.

Finally, I decided to give it another shot. I had a feeling that this type of business was perfect for me. It was just that I haven't found the perfect piece of the puzzle yet. What I did was change my strategy.

At that point, my business relied on selling hot products in the same way that other entrepreneurs did. This means that I was actually promoting cheap products that I sold at a low selling price and which were not at all working for my business.

I discovered that sourcing products isn't the most challenging issue. What is challenging is identifying and finding products that could be sold consistently online. When I fully understood this part of the process, I redirected my focus on products that actually sell. Instead of looking for products that had low price points, I began looking for products that had a high demand. You could probably guess how that turned out for me.

The first item that worked successfully for me was a product that was not only popular but also useful - the Hoodie. It was not only affordable but was also easy to sell because it could come in different designs and colors. That was the start. From there, I began selling Bluetooth speakers which was followed by Teeth Whitening kits. Before long, I was making a killing.

Finding Your Own Hot Product

If you do not have any experience selling before, it is likely you will find yourself selling random products at first. Eventually, however, you will find the perfect products for your business - the kind that will change your business and your life entirely. 

It will take just one product to make you one of the most influential entrepreneurs around. Once you have reached that stage, you can begin expanding your brand.

In my experience, the first product that I could say really "killed" it is one that promoted health and fitness. I just stumbled on this product, sold a few, and discovered that it was quite popular. When my stocks ran out, I simply tripled my order.

I immediately stopped underperforming products and focused on the killer ones. As a result, I began selling more. These products simply sold fast! There were many days when I sold as many as 20 units, so I was earning more.

My business was growing and so was my relationship with my trusted supplier. Thankfully, this supplier made things easier for me because I was being given better discounts. I was on top of my game and I was leaving my competitors behind.

Not only that, my supplier very generously managed shipping and returns.

Since you now have a good idea about the benefits and pitfalls of importing products from China, let's take a look at the most crucial aspect.

Finding the Most Profitable Products to Sell

To find the best hot-selling products that you can sell, consider these 3 easy steps:

Brainstorming 

The first step is to find the best supplier for any and all products you want to sell. Avoid worrying about finding customers and handling shipping just yet. The best supplier is one that will not only provide you with good products at good prices but also ensure that they are delivered on time and in good condition. 

How and Where to Find Your Suppliers

By far the best platform to use to find suppliers from China or anywhere else in the world is Alibaba. Many of the sellers here are reliable and have years of experience. You can also find a variety of product options, along with information on how to import these products.

Alibaba allows you to filter results according to reliability, customer reviews, service guarantee, and certifications that reflect the status of the company.

From the list you come up with, you can begin choosing the suppliers you want to talk to and have product samples delivered right away. The filter function on the Alibaba platform is a very useful tool, so do not skip it.

You also need to know that there are sites where you are more likely to be scammed. These sites, Doba and Volusion to name a few, promise to help you find reliable suppliers but do not deliver. When I was just starting, I used these sites myself, hoping to find trustworthy suppliers. I lost hundreds of dollars in exchange for information that was entirely useless. Take my word for it and just stay away from sites like these.

Alibaba, on the other hand, allows you to find suppliers who are Gold members. Non-gold members can offer you as many certifications and as high as discount as you want but you are better off not patronising them. Go for gold, as I always say. That way, you can avoid unreliable suppliers and scammers. 

Instead, zero in on suppliers that:

- offer samples at reasonable prices

- accept Paypal payments

- offer quick responses to inquiries

Sign up for Alibaba today. I guarantee you will be using it everyday to research about products that will give you the best profit margins.

Where to Find Your Products and How

Some of the best products to sell are in China. To find the perfect items for your online store, consider these carefully:

Size and Weight. For the product to be imported from China at a lower cost, it has to be light and small. That means, furniture, kitchen items, and other bulky items are out of the question. An item has to be the right portable size to be cost-effective when it comes to shipping. If you are not carefully, the cost of shipping can very easily take a chunk out of your profits.

Simplicity and Uniqueness. What I really want you to consider is a product that can be manufactured with a low error margin. Keep in mind that not every factory that manufacture these products have the most modern equipment or tools. By going for products that have a low margin of error, you will still end up with items that customers will want to buy.

Simplicity Covers Price. At first, keep your inventory within the $8 to $150 range. Selling products at a price range higher than this can be quite difficult. First of all, they are usually difficult to ship. They are also much more difficult to sell and they require high-end quality control. Reasonably-priced products are easier to sell at bulk, especially if they are high-demand items. You could easily make as much as 800% profit on these items.

Go for High-in-Demand Products. Focus on products that will allow you to build regular customers. Of course, there is always good money to make selling Christmas products and winter clothes but these are seasonal. If you don't sell them all, you could end up with a dead inventory.

To give you a good idea what you can find, here are some excellent sites you should definitely check out:

Alibaba - easily the favorite for myself and for many sellers as well. Check the site for advertised items or check out the type of products you are interested in. You can then compare prices, quantity, colors, sizes, etc. with other sites such as Aliexpress. 

Right now, a supplier offers LED lightbulbs for $2.00 each. This supplier also accepts escrow and allows site inspections from Alibaba. If you go to Amazon for a comparable item, you will find one priced at $12.

eBay - also a favorite of mine. I frequently scour eBay listings to find out about the latest offerings. If you like eBay, read the auction descriptions to help you determine the quality of the product you are interested in.

Amazon - is another site you should consider. Check all categories to find the products you want that are not available as imports. At Amazon, I was able to find items such as e-cigarettes, vaporizers, and skateboard parts. I can then take information about these products and compare them with the items from Alibaba.

Honorable Mentions: Also use tools such as Shopzilla, Kaboodle Hot Picks, and MySimon Top Searches.

Use these tools and the websites I recommended, then compare the items with what Alibaba offers. Of course, this will take time. Eventually, though, you will learn how to use my system to determine what works best for you. Before long, you will not have any trouble finding profitable products to import.

Once this is done, start communicating with your suppliers and arranging for samples to be sent to you. Many of these suppliers use English to communicate with their clients, so you don't have to worry about the language barrier.

Identifying the Best Suppliers

After you have finally identified the best products for your store, you can begin choosing the best suppliers and getting in touch with the ones who have the best potential for a long-term profitable relationship.

How?

Let's say you are looking for e-cigarettes and vaporizers on Alibaba and you are using the right filters. You will have to then tailor your search to include suppliers. First, filter your search to include only Gold Suppliers, then click on Onsite Checked, followed by Escrow. Lastly, click on Assessed Supplier to view the top 30 suppliers. This will help you narrow down your searches only to the best Alibaba suppliers. 

Looking for products - Let's say you have found the one perfect product to sell. Your next step is to get in touch with the supplier so you can learn more about the product and what they can offer. In my case, I ask about things such as:

- Shipping Policy

- Returns

- Minimum Order Quantity

- Price List

- Sample Policy

- Specification

- Variety, etc.

Samples - When you are satisfied with the information you received from the supplier, you can then arrange for a small order of samples to be shipped. As a practice, I obtain samples from a minimum of 3 suppliers. I do not recommend getting samples from just one supplier at all. 

Once you receive the samples, examine them, evaluate their quality, test them if you have to, then consider other factors such as cost, damage, delivery time, etc.

Another great place to look for products is Aliexpress. It is similar to Alibaba, offering millions of products from reliable suppliers. Check this site out as well.

Step 2 - Selling Through E-Commerce Platforms

Now here is the critical part of the process. This involves making a tough decision involving your inventory. I overcame this by spending a small amount of money to purchase some products to sell, mainly to dip my foot in the system. If you are a newbie, I advice against dropshipping using a new supplier. It is far better to have a complete understanding of the system first. You will see that in the next few days you will start selling.

If you are new to the process, try Amazon and eBay first. However, there is one platform that you should also consider and that is Amazon FBA.

What is Amazon FBA?

Amazon is an incredibly great place to grab opportunities, especially if you are looking to earn from eCommerce. In fact, there are people I know personally who are making six-figure incomes monthly just by selling on Amazon. You can even sell without an inventory because Amazon does all the deliveries for you. 

Once you know how to find a product of value and get it shipped to Amazon, you can blow up your sales and ultimately, your process. Just study what top sellers do, then improve on their process.

Once you start receiving orders from buyers, make sure that all products are shipped out immediately. You cannot make a good impression with late shipments.

Test out the system for 30 to 60 days. Once you have mastered it, consider getting into dropshipping. This is a veritable gold mine if you know how to play the game. 

Dropshipping

Dropshipping involves selling products without an inventory. The sale is completed by the supplier/distributor who ships the product to the buyer. The buyer, however, does the purchase through you or your site. The risk associated with this business is quite low because you do not have to worry about fixed capital - you do not buy and store the product, then wait for the buyer to make a purchase.

Dropshipping also does not require minimum product quantity for every order and it has a low initial cost. Plus, you have a choice as to the country of origin. 

If you want to learn more about dropshipping, click on this link for the best training on drophipping using Shopify.

Step 3 - Scaling Up

You will eventually want to scale up as your business grows. At this point, you should consider using promotional materials, branding, and advertising. Done right, these methods can help you enjoy 40 to 50 orders on a daily basis.

To promote your business, here are marketing tips to use:

Facebook Page. Facebook lets you create a page that carries your store's name. Not only is this a free tool but you also get to use management tools and tutorials, and integrate it with Instagram. You can even embed a link to the store on your Facebook page so your customers can easily find you.

Other Sales Platforms. Do not miss out on sales you can make from other sales platforms. Create an eCommerce store that your customers can buy from.

Branding. Branding gives you a unique identity. Eventually, this will create better recognizability and allow your customers to recognize your business anywhere. If you need a good brand name, consider sites such as Naming Force.

Conclusion

Selling products imported from China is a very promising way of starting a profitable business. Not only does it offer plenty of potential and possibilities but it also allows you to expand. Opportunities abound and if you are looking for a way to start a business with low capital and overhead, this might just be the perfect choice:  Kibo Eclipse Free Book by Aidan Booth and Steven Clayton 2022 to learn a unique way to make money with the dropshipping business.