Importing - From china

[Steve Smyth]

I am going to be importing from china. I have sorted out a freight company but the supplier in China is going to be asking for Dollars to clear the balance for the goods. I have been looking at all costs and Barclays have advised me it will cost £25 to send dollars over and the exchange rate isn't great. Does any one know how I can reduce the costs.

 

[SabreEnergy]

Use a diffferent bank. Alliance & Leicester only charge me £17.50. If I were to spend more than about £10k per year then the charges could be less.

 

[3pic]

Set up an online account with a Forex specialist such as HiFX or Caxton and they will allow you to transfer money (assuming it is more than £300) anywhere in the world for free at rates much better than the high street banks.

You can usually set it up toi either pay directly to someone else's bank account or into your own foreign account - whichever is preferred.

 

[Mister B]

Depends on the frequency of your payments really. If you do a fair few a year then it's worth setting up an account. If it's only one a year then stick with your own bank.

I agree to a certain extent about the cost of transferring the money, but conversely, most transactions sent to Asia are for large amounts and as a percentage, the costs are very low.

Really, you should be factoring these banking costs into the landed price of the product so that your retail price reflects a truly landed margin. If the high banking costs mean that the margins are too tight, then you need to either put your prices up, renegotiate your terms or find another business model

Mister B

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

You will find that it will cost £25 to send any currency abroad with Barclays, but I believe that is an expres service - a standard service is either £15 or £20.

You then need to bare in mind currency and the rate you will get. High street banks dont always offer the best rates.

Ultimately, a lot depends on how big the transfer is, how ofter you do them and how busy you are - hunting around for several hours for a one off deal on a few thousand dollars - pay the cost and move on if it irregular and small amounts!

 

[Flexicose]

Hi

I highly recommend Alliance and Leicester International Payments. They charge a flat fee of £5 per transaction and give you a great exchange rate that gets better, the more you send.

The site is internationalpayments .co .uk

You have to set up a direct debit and it is done online. We did this because Natwest was charging £25, giving a bad FX rate and forms had to be filled in with ID every time! A&L support is very good as well.

 

[willhitch]

Would go for rationalfx, anything over 5k is free and dollar payments are same day provided you have tranferred funds to them by a certain time in the afternoon. I have found the rates they offer the most competitive on the market.

 

[Mister B]

Would go for rationalfx, anything over 5k is free and dollar payments are same day provided you have tranferred funds to them by a certain time in the afternoon. I have found the rates they offer the most competitive on the market.

You don't work for them by any chance do you?

Mister B

 

[willhitch]

You don't work for them by any chance do you?

Mister B

No I work with them in the way that they handle my foreign payments! I thought the idea of this sort of site was to answer queries that others post? I look after the sourcing for the company I work for and so I look after foreign payments, that is where my knowledge lies... but thanks for asking...

 

[eam]

Can any one explain and help as what I am to do and my option and how to handle this as i cant affort to lose money.
I have paid the custom duty and VAT. I imported 1x container load goods from China container load.
The good have been examined by Custom , my clearing agent received the following message quote: . " please be advised that the goods have ben examined and detained pending enquries with the righ holder" unquote.

I am told verbally by a friend that it may mean that the some of the goods could be well known branded, (of which I not aware of) and that i am not allowed to import.
Thanks for any help and practical solution
Ray

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Ray,

I suggest you start another thread, as you will hijack this one!