Is It Safe To Source Your Goods Overseas?

Sales

Over the last couple of years we have seen some major progress in the art of sourcing goods from overseas markets. While this art has been assisted greatly by the power of the internet, many people are still falling into the trap of taking everything at face value, and often not checking the record or reputation of their suppliers. Are there any risks involved?

There are still many risks involved in buying goods from overseas, and they include some of the following :-

Fraud

Just because somebody tells you that they will supply you does not mean that they are trustworthy. You should always check on the internet for companies, user names and anything else you can identify your supplier by simply typing the details into Google and seeing if there have been any comments.

Even if there have not been any comments you still need to check that they are an official company by checking the relevant company’s house records of the country or regulatory submissions. No matter where your new contact is based there will be some record some where about the company/ person.

Reliability

You need to make sure that the goods which are being supplied to you are the same as those advertised and they are top quality. You also need to be aware of the cost and time taken to deliver the goods to you – do the suppliers always deliver on time, are they reliable?

Price

This is one area which some importers seem to ignore, instead assuming that the price quoted by the supplier is the final cost to them. However, you need to consider other costs such as TAX on the goods entering the country, the exchange rate, minimum order levels and postal charges. If you do not take these into account you may find that your profit margin has disappeared or at best been severely impaired!

In summary there is great potential in selling goods from overseas in your domestic market, but it is not quite as easy as some would have you believe. As well as importing the correct goods you need to know who you are dealing with to ensure that you do not get tricked or conned – something which has increased substantially since the internet arrived. It is now very simple to open up a professional looking website which may be the front for a scam. Be careful, very careful......