Importing mini-pc units from China

[gabriel867]

Hi all,

What I am trying to do is buy mini-pc's from China and re-sell in UK/Europe. My technical requirements are specific, and there are only a few suppliers (on Alibaba) that have these units.

I've ordered a sample test unit from Alibaba, and I am happy with that (quality and price) - but the seller only has CCC (China) certification. Also I suspect they are not the manufacturer of the unit.

Not sure how to approach this further;

- Will getting the unit certified for the UK / Europe be worth money-wise, given that I am just starting and my next batch will not be that big ? As I understand getting a CE Declaration of Conformity and a RoHS certificate report can be quite an expensive and involved process.

- Should I look for other suppliers that have certifications available? I've noticed there are sellers that are advertising that their units are RoHS, CE certified. If that's the case, how would I go about making sure that their certifications are valid (RoHS, CE) ? So far I have not seen a single supplier offering UKCA, anyway.

Would anyone have any experience to share?

 

[Shipping Guru]

Hi all,

What I am trying to do is buy mini-pc's from China and re-sell in UK/Europe. My technical requirements are specific, and there are only a few suppliers (on Alibaba) that have these units.

I've ordered a sample test unit from Alibaba, and I am happy with that (quality and price) - but the seller only has CCC (China) certification. Also I suspect they are not the manufacturer of the unit.

Not sure how to approach this further;

- Will getting the unit certified for the UK / Europe be worth money-wise, given that I am just starting and my next batch will not be that big ? As I understand getting a CE Declaration of Conformity and a RoHS certificate report can be quite an expensive and involved process.

- Should I look for other suppliers that have certifications available? I've noticed there are sellers that are advertising that their units are RoHS, CE certified. If that's the case, how would I go about making sure that their certifications are valid (RoHS, CE) ? So far I have not seen a single supplier offering UKCA, anyway.

Would anyone have any experience to share?

Hello Gabriel. I am sure others on here will be able to give you better advice than I can but in my limited knowledge, having these certs in place prior to them arriving into the UK would be advantageous. I know you are trying to keep costs down but without this, it will cost you more in the long run.

However, please note that in terms of the importing, there are ways to keep costs down through affordable shipping, warehousing, pick and pack and so on. I can help with all sorts of options that could support you on that front.

Regards,
Carl

 

[AmazonGeek]

Be careful...

Many 'factories' are actually traders passing themselves off as manufacturers. They hold an export license (which a lot of factories don't have) but they don't actually make anything. Not always a bad thing but in some cases, you can suddenly find your product changing so best to know one way or another so you know who you are dealing with.

Also, some Chinese factories just lie about certificates. I've seen photoshopped inspection reports, fake ISO certification, etc so always check with the issuing body to make sure it is legitimate.

If they quote you a price including VAT to get the products to the UK, make sure the shipment is not being under-declared. A client of mine got a great shipping rate for a £15k order but when we it arrived, the manufacturer had lied about the value so there was almost no VAT paid. It got through customs but if it had been inspected he could have been in very hot water. Ironically he is VAT registered so he went to HMRC on hands on knees, admitted what had happened, paid the missing VAT and then claimed it back, so he was no worse off!

Some factories specialise in the Western market but many make stuff for their domestic market where the standards are much lower so make sure you check their export history.

I used to navigate this minefield but I now use a sourcing company to do the dirty work. They will go and find the factories, get the quotes, make sure everything is legit, do the factory inspection, pre-shipment QC inspection, etc. They take a small commission but they have bigger buying power so you still get a better rate than you could negotiate yourself.

Let me know if you want an intro

 

[fisicx]

Don’t trust anything you get from Alibaba. The sample you got would have been tested. With a bulk order you have no idea what you will get.

You will need certification to sell in the UK. You will need testing in the UK (the Chinese won’t issue a certificate).

And has already been said, you are dealing with an agent not the factory.

Don’t trust anything they say. Get yourself a proper agent. Talk to @MOIC

 

[gabriel867]

Don’t trust anything you get from Alibaba. The sample you got would have been tested. With a bulk order you have no idea what you will get.

You will need certification to sell in the UK. You will need testing in the UK (the Chinese won’t issue a certificate).

And has already been said, you are dealing with an agent not the factory.

Don’t trust anything they say. Get yourself a proper agent. Talk to @MOIC

Thanks fisicx, after my Alibaba experience, this sounds just about right. I'll ping MOIC

 

[AmazonGeek]

To be fair, Alibaba is ok if you know what you are looking for. Pretty much every factory in China is on there but the trick is navigating through the dodgy stuff. Easier to use a sourcing agent who will do that for you and get you a better price than you can get on your own anyway.

 

[Rai and Co.]

Hi Gabriel,

From experience dealing with China daily for many years, to be sure of anything, you need to have a trusted independent party in China who can verify any concerns/documentation issues and/or source the same product for you from a UK/EU-compliant supplier.

I also agree with other users on the forum; nearly every Chinese supplier is on Alibaba but that still doesn’t make it the most reliable source. I’ve had first hand experience with importers who think they’ve got themselves a great deal, only for all freight charges to be outstanding, duties and taxes a lot more than what they budgeted for, and the product not quite being what they expected.

 

[Hermann Potter]

I may be able to help you with the problem and you can always find me if you need anything. I run a UK company. At the same time, we have close ties with China's supply chain.

 

[CHUKTC]

There are two issues you have to consider here:
1. Who are you dealing with? Are they an agent or a factory - either can work but its really important you know for sure, and if an agent you need to take extra steps to make sure they will continue to supply the same model from the same factory as the sample came from - not easy but entirely possible.
2. The certification there are two further issues here: i) if you find a new supplier with certification, as you have raised is it fake or real? - that is fairly straightforward to determine if you know what you are looking for and is certainly one option going forward - if you dont know how to check the certification pay someone to check it for you. ii) get the item certified yourself - contrary to advice elswhere in this feed this can be done in China (we do it all the time) and is far cheaper than getting it done in the UK. The above caveats about making sure the orders come from the same factory each time apply and also it must be the same model - any changes (eg a different battery - which is very common) equals a new certificate - but done properly this is a perfect reasonable way to go. Costs for this will typically vary from £500 - £2,000 depending on who you get to do it and complexity of the computer.

 

[gabriel867]

Looking into this further, it seems that getting certifications for consumer electronics (like mini-pc in my case), could be a "jar of pickles". Most of the sellers in China will offer a CE Certificate of Conformity (CoC).

Even if this is not necessarily a fake certificate, it is a "voluntary" certificate that does not hold much value. What is mandatory and required by law, is a Declaration of Conformity (DoC). As edgecomply.com put it simply (I am not affiliated with them):

Declaration of Conformity (DoC)

- Who Issues It: The product’s manufacturer or importer.
- Mandatory? Yes, for products requiring CE marking.
- Key Role: Confirms that the product complies with all applicable EU directives and standards.
- Legal Responsibility: The entity issuing the DoC is legally accountable for accuracy and compliance.

CE Certificate of Conformity (CoC)

- Who Issues It: An independent third party, often a lab or certification firm.
- Mandatory? Typically no—unless a specific directive explicitly requires a similar certificate (e.g., EC-Type Examination Certificate).
- Key Role: Provides an extra layer of assurance, suggesting that someone other than the manufacturer/importer has reviewed the compliance documentation or conducted tests.
- Legal Responsibility: The issuing company states that, based on their assessment or testing, the product complies. However, final responsibility still falls on the manufacturer or importer.

Given the state of things this becomes a delicate balance between paying for certification and being able to maintain sourcing for the exact model you have just spent thousands to certify, as @CHUKTC has mentioned as well above.

An alternative would be to find a manufacturer that can issue a DoC, but so far I have seen none. Big boys like Huawei, Lenovo, etc - will have that ready.

 

[DontAsk]

You issue the declaration yourself, based on testing and certification that you generate, or trust the supplier to provide.

 

[Shipping Guru]

need transport and customs help. we can do that.

 

[jimbof]

Don’t trust anything you get from Alibaba. The sample you got would have been tested. With a bulk order you have no idea what you will get.

You will need certification to sell in the UK. You will need testing in the UK (the Chinese won’t issue a certificate).

And has already been said, you are dealing with an agent not the factory.

Don’t trust anything they say. Get yourself a proper agent. Talk to @MOIC

Testing in the UK is not a requirement; there are plenty of authorised testing and certification facilities around the East who can issue you with verifiable test reports.

In fact, depending on exactly what you are trying to certify, you may have no option. Some standards commonly seen on computers only have ATCs in Taiwan and China (NDA, so no details).

Those reports can be used as part of the technical file you rely on for the generation of a UKCA / CE declaration. The latter does need to be signed by a legal entity in UK/EU respectively, so unless they already have a UK agent the OP will have to do this themselves.

Be careful what and how you ask for it, and how you verify, though, as many suppliers will gladly just stick the logo on it...

 

[HFE Signs]

Be very careful, as others have said you will need UK certification and our standards are much higher, don't spend a lot of money until you have clarity of certification. Also, supply consistency from China can be a big problem.

 

[jimbof]

Be very careful, as others have said you will need UK certification and our standards are much higher.

This isn't really true. Chinese CCC uses much the same internationally agreed standards as its basis as other international schemes; if you wanted to certify a product for China market you would use much the same "CB scheme" report as a foundation as you could use for other territories. In fact, CCC marked products have to have been near an official lab, whereas CE / UKCA marked products do not. CCC also involves factory inspections like the UL type approvals needed in the US, whereas CE / UKCA also do not involve factory inspections (Source: I have obtained UL/CCC certification for products I have been involved with).

Differences are more likely to be around the willingness of the supplier to mis-apply marks they haven't tested for...

The standards themselves, if they have been applied correctly, are robust and should result in safe product.

 

[fisicx]

However, @gabriel867 was going to buy from a supplier on Alibaba. The chances of compliance would be virtually zero.

 

[jimbof]

Sure, but the point is it's a problem of trust in the supplier and the supply chain, not the standards themselves. It's verging on casual racism to suggest that the Chinese standards are lower when it is in fact not true.

 

[AmazonGeek]

I agree - most problems come from using the wrong supplier, not from sourcing them in China. You need to know how to navigate this as it can be very tricky but millions of great products are manufactured in China each year.