Need advice on importing clothing from China.

[Ceaton]

Hello, I want to start buying clothing from China and selling it with my own designs on. I'm not sure how to go about doing it though.
Could someone maybe give me a step by step guide and what to do?
Will I have to legally register myself as a sole trader?
Do I need some sort of licence?

Advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[MOIC]

Hi Ceaton

If you are planning on selling as a business with your own designs and buying from China, I would suggest to do the following:

1. Register as self employed.

2. Secure a domain name.

3. Get your own website (simple, but functional ) & research platforms to sell directly on. (Etsy, NOTHS will be good for your products).

4. Research the market for potential competitors and pricing.

5. Register your designs.

6. Design and have your logo ready.

7. Understand the fabrics you will be using.

8. Get 10 quotes for your clothing with your required branding from several companies in the UK, as well as other countries. It's important to note that most suppliers will have minimum order requirements.

9. Request samples from a shortlist of 3. (Don't provide your original designs at this stage)

10. Compare prices, quality, printing and communication with the 3 suppliers and choose the one that ticks most/all of your requirements.

11. Understand the order processes involved, whether you decide to buy from a UK or overseas supplier.

12. Request a sample and negotiate a price, to include everything (product, packaging & labelling).

13. Tell the suppliers that your designs are registered (easily done) and get them to sign an agreement that they will not show, print, or supply your designs to a 3rd party.

14. Confirm the sample to the standards you require. note any amendments that are needed.

15. When you are happy with the sample, proceed to an order, after agreeing all the details, including payment terms.

16. Ensure you inspect the products before you make any final payment.

17. If you decide to buy from outside of the EU, then you will need to register for an EORI number (easily done) when your shipment has been booked for delivery.

18. Don't order more than you will need, the smaller the quantity your supplier will agree to, the better.

19. Select the size breakdown that best meets your target audience for your first order.

20. Don't overestimate your sales during the first year and ensure you have sufficient funds for all the above, including marketing and your working/living expenses.

I wouldn't advise buying from China during this early stage of your business.

When you feel you can start to order 300pcs (minimum) per colour/design, then at that point consider China.

If you need any further advice or assistance, feel free to contact me via the website below.

I'd be happy to help you get your business off the ground.

Best of luck with your project.

Ron

 

[Ceaton]

Hi Ron.

I'm so grateful for your helpful step by step guide. I will follow this plan now and make my business.

With step number 1. Register as self employed, what tax should i go with?

• Corporation Tax
• Self Assessment (including Class 2 National Insurance contributions)
• PAYE for Employers
• VAT
  
  
  

 

[MOIC]

Hi Ceaton

Leave registering as self employed for the moment, (Although I listed it as point 1, it was just to answer your specific question in your opening post).

There's a lot of groundwork you need to do, before deciding that this is going to be a viable business for you. At that point you can register as self employed when you start selling. Keep all receipts for anything bought for the business.

When you decide to register, get advice from an accountant (plenty on here for free basic advice).

Good luck.

 

[Ceaton]

Okay Ron, I am about to purchase a domain, should I leave this till later also?

What do you mean by groundwork, and how would I go about it?

It all seems very complicated to start up a business maybe I was underestimating it.

What is the first move I should take, so far I have got a logo and a name ready, I also have a domain in the checkout cart on GoDaddy.

Thank you.

 

[MOIC]

Domain is fine to purchase (should be cheap and make sure you have the .co.uk and also .com). Think carefully on your chosen domain to ensure it will reflect on any future products you decide to sell. Shop for the cheapest price and don't get any add ons at this point.

Groundwork: All the other points I mentioned in my first post, start with products, prices, competition, platforms to sell on and research competitors.

 

[The Byre]

There are other countries on Planet Earth that also manufacture clothing. I suggest you attend a few trade fairs and look at all the possibilities, before leaping headfirst into the pool!

 

[Ceaton]

Okay Ron you're very helpful thank you!

 

[Ceaton]

There are other countries on Planet Earth that also manufacture clothing. I suggest you attend a few trade fairs and look at all the possibilities, before leaping headfirst into the pool!

Thanks for your input i appreciate it! Do you suggest any in particular, and is there any coming up soon?
Thanks

 

[The Byre]

http://tofairs.com/fairs.php?fld=&rg=1&cnt=&cty=&sct=110

You could spend the rest of your life, just going from trade fair to trade fair for clothing, with no rest days in between!

But the one that is geared to Asian imports is Asia Apparel Expo in Berlin (Feb 22 - 24)

https://www.asiaapparelexpo.com/en-info-information.php

Plenty of cheap flights available to Berlin and public transport is cheap and good and getting a hotel is fairly cheap and easy. Berlin is a funky, crazy city, well worth a few days visit!

 

[MOIC]

Berlin - Do a half day bus sightseeing tour. Great way to see the city and all it's highlights. Sit on the top deck and wrap up WARM! Great funky hotels & reasonable rates.

Turkey, Portugal, Morocco are all good places to buy cotton based clothing from, but the essential ingredient is to work with a company/agent that fully understands your requirements and can deliver the end result.

China, Vietnam, Thailand and new kid on the block, Myanmar are the best of the bunch in Asia.

If the design is your focal point, just buy plain t shirts and use a local printer (Leicester is full of them) to print your work.

Start small, grow organically.

 

[Ceaton]

Okay great I will check them out!

I am looking specifically at sports clothing so the material would have to contain spandex, i have seen many decent looking products on Alibaba but i know i need to sample and find the best option.

 

[MOIC]

We produce gym & sports clothing to your designs, branding, labelling, tags & packaging

The fabric we use is 95% Cotton 5% Spandex.

Minimum quantity must be 300pcs per colour.

Feel free to enquire.

Ron

 

[Ceaton]

We produce gym & sports clothing to your designs, branding, labelling, tags & packaging

The fabric we use is 95% Cotton 5% Spandex.

Minimum quantity must be 300pcs per colour.

Feel free to enquire.

Ron

Really?
Its worth an enquire guess. 300 would probably be too much to begin with though right?

Where can I have a look at your product?

Thanks

 

[MOIC]

Really?

Yes

300 would probably be too much to begin with though right?

That's for you to decide, as I don't know your marketing plan & budget. However, given your opening post, I would say yes, you are not at this stage yet.

Where can I have a look at your product?

We make according to your own specifications. We don't show designs we produce for others.

Confidentiality is important to our customers.

 

[deepvyas]

Hi Ceaton,
If you need any help setting up your online store
I can help you out with the backend as well as frontend
The store you are looking forward are dropshipping website we can import products from Aliwebstore, amazon through Oberlo app.

Please let me know, if you need any help

Thanks
Deep

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Look up dates on the NEC and London Excell for trade shows that are likely to include the type of garments you want to buy most stands will be sellers of garments but also a fair number of manufacturers

Search Google for any magazines that relate to your product like sports clothing magazines, they will have a large number of new garments on display but at the back a list of makers and other suppliers to the industry

Research the product first then make a business plan to see if you can generate a good profit from the plan. Never overestimate how hard it is to get sales and how long it takes to get them especially in the start up two years

 

[sivanapparel]

Hi dear I am Chinese.If you need any helps,just contact me .If I can help you.I am very glad to help you in need.

 

[sivanapparel]

I am the apparel manufacturer as well.If you need to make clothing,youcan contact me.Hope we can make a good cooperation in the furturer.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I had forgotten this post, but maybe the first post should become a sticky as most informative for a question often asked

 

[O. Julian]

DON’TS When Importing From China

(1)Don’t buy in bulk until you have seen the samples and LIKED them

(2)Don’t listen to supplier who try to tell you that they can’t ship samples; they might just be trying to scam you

(3)Don’t pay with your ATM card. Use PayPal at least for the first 6 months until you fully trust your supplier.

(4)Don’t buy counterfeit products.

(5)Don’t buy a lot of items on your first order. You can start off buying 1-5 units at a time until you build up the money to re-invest into your inventory.

 

[antropy]

Hello, I want to start buying clothing from China and selling it with my own designs on. I'm not sure how to go about doing it though.

Your question is so big you should probably search for a good book on Amazon about this.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Moonswamp
So no mention of Quality control either during manufacture or pre shipping, meaning any garbage will be paid for well before the items arrive and you find they are out of spec

 

[Stedurham]

I would avoid china unless you have an agent in china, we had massive problems with containers full of goods no fault with manufacturer, but more shipping side, eventually had to pay an agent in china to make sure we got what we ordered shipped. Then after 7/8 batches quality dropped and we sourced again in uk albeit more expensive but better service and product

 

[Stedurham]

Cant agree more we had to many quality issues with china, wouldn't contemplate childrens items just imagine if that goes wrong, as you wont get into the same factories that the big players use

 

[hongfunclothing]

Hi Ceaton,

We custom clothing for many UK customers, and I suggest place a sample order before bulk production to check the clothing material, design, size, color, and printing quality.
When you confirm everything is good then start to proceed your order. It take times, but you can avoid many mistakes.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Factories used by the big boys are costed down to the extreme low to produce a item , even so the buying power guarantees a low price with high quality, say a ford car not a Rolls Royce

Smaller factories will cost more than the big factories but quality can be much lower

confucius still exists

 

[Furqan721]

For small orders and less budget in starting of your business, I would recommend you to go for Pakistan based suppliers, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are also good options.

 

[MOIC]

Ron, actually you were very helpful, Add on to my knowledge bucket for future reference. Thanks from my End too

I'm happy to offer advice.

Hope it helps!

 

[postbrexitandbeyond]

Hi Ceaton

If you are planning on selling as a business with your own designs and buying from China, I would suggest to do the following:

1. Register as self employed.

2. Secure a domain name.

3. Get your own website (simple, but functional ) & research platforms to sell directly on. (Etsy, NOTHS will be good for your products).

4. Research the market for potential competitors and pricing.

5. Register your designs.

6. Design and have your logo ready.

7. Understand the fabrics you will be using.

8. Get 10 quotes for your clothing with your required branding from several companies in the UK, as well as other countries. It's important to note that most suppliers will have minimum order requirements.

9. Request samples from a shortlist of 3. (Don't provide your original designs at this stage)

10. Compare prices, quality, printing and communication with the 3 suppliers and choose the one that ticks most/all of your requirements.

11. Understand the order processes involved, whether you decide to buy from a UK or overseas supplier.

12. Request a sample and negotiate a price, to include everything (product, packaging & labelling).

13. Tell the suppliers that your designs are registered (easily done) and get them to sign an agreement that they will not show, print, or supply your designs to a 3rd party.

14. Confirm the sample to the standards you require. note any amendments that are needed.

15. When you are happy with the sample, proceed to an order, after agreeing all the details, including payment terms.

16. Ensure you inspect the products before you make any final payment.

17. If you decide to buy from outside of the EU, then you will need to register for an EORI number (easily done) when your shipment has been booked for delivery.

18. Don't order more than you will need, the smaller the quantity your supplier will agree to, the better.

19. Select the size breakdown that best meets your target audience for your first order.

20. Don't overestimate your sales during the first year and ensure you have sufficient funds for all the above, including marketing and your working/living expenses.

I wouldn't advise buying from China during this early stage of your business.

When you feel you can start to order 300pcs (minimum) per colour/design, then at that point consider China.

If you need any further advice or assistance, feel free to contact me via the website below.

I'd be happy to help you get your business off the ground.

Best of luck with your project.

Ron

I neither would advise you to buy from China during the start of your business, because if you are not going to order in bulk, then it won't make much sense.

 

[BNBusinessProtection]

Using your own designs comes with a multitude of potential trade mark issues. Happy to help if we can.

 

[BNBusinessProtection]

We also know at first hand the issues and lack of regulation in China when it comes to producing trade marked products!

 

[RjMaan]

Well, i appreciate your business plan because it seams very attractive. You will gain good reputation and earn a lot of money once you find out the solutions related to supply chain problems. I think first of all you should think about making your own brand or company in your city. Once you have done with the Company Registration requirements. The next challenge for you is to contact the Chinese manufacturer. You can contact them from their official website. I think you will get all the necessary details on their site that how you can contact them. Once you have proper dealing with them, you will start selling those clothes in your local market.

 

[Scott Smith]

Try to attend trade fairs related to garment industry in China, and I'm sure you would surely get some genuine leads from there.

 

[Devin Murphy]

Yes you need to register your self as a a importer and then you get licence for carrying out business. for importing cloths from chine i would say Alibaba is a great place and you van get thousands of merchants. but before calling the Product please ask him to send sample of his work and after receiving the product you need to bear the custom and pay to the authorities.

 

[GrahamB41]

I must be the only one who has had a great experience with importing made goods from China. Lucked out with a solid factory who are reliable and reasonably priced. It's not all bad for some i suppose.

 

[AMSUSER]

Be aware of scams. Always ask for a sample. Every supplier will have a Paypal Account. If not, it is not a good idea do to business with him. Choose to go with one supplier if you really love the product. Try to negotiate the shipping process. It can be complicated, you can ask your supplier to help you in exchange future orders. Show that your have a solid business development and sales strategy. That he is part of it and that good business together would be profitable.

Don’t use your personal email address and be careful of your personal information.

 

[ssasoft]

firstly you should register yourself for trading then you can import from china and you can attach stickers to product and can sell with your brand name.

 

[Taobao agent]

Actually it is better to find an agent for the first time. They know how to go step by step which save you lots of trouble. And you can also learn a lot from them.

 

[Dario.c]

Could you share the results of this? Was this a successful process?