We checked up Alibaba!
the shipping cost to joburg is more than the product itself!
i used to physically go to the Embassies of Countries and get Trade information and Trade Fair brochures and books from them. That's what they are there for, to promote trade and tourism, aside from issuing visas and offering asylum. Not everyone is on the Internet, but since it's become the be all and end all, i wasn't sure if Embassies still did this....
http://za2.mofcom.gov.cn/
...so of course i'm reassured that they still do.
Sellers on Alibaba are usually the manufacturers agent, or the wholesaler and sometimes the manufacturer sells there themselves. They often ask ridiculous minimum quantities, but you can ask for a sample and then bargain, especially when they have a wide range of prices. Tell them you are not from the US and that we have 1/6 th the population at 1/10th of the GDP of the US and that if they want to do business, they need to get real. Ask for L/C FOB on sight pricing to be quoted in Yuan. Find a good shipping agent if your order is not going to be a once off. It will give you more leverage for better prices in the future and you will look more professional. Ask for their CIF prices as well, just in case they have shippers that are cheaper than ours. If you are not sure when you will be making payment, the Rand is very volatile, so it may be a good idea to take out forward cover when you arrange finance at your bank. The weakening of the exchange rate is owing to strike unrest and is likely to favour exports rather than imports whatever the case, thought there are no grounds for it's worth being about a quarter of what it should be in my book, so if you are buying on Credit, (and i don't mean Credit card, i mean dipping into an overdraft facility) then you're pretty much obligated to taking out forward cover. You need to keep your finger on the pulse of the Financial markets and i'll never understand all the BS that goes into that, so it's not my forte'. A thing about shipping is; if the seller ships, then delivery is their baby. Insurance is not compulsory either way, but if you use a shipping agent then the risk is all yours, so it's a sensible thing to insure the goods. This all adds up, but it's nice when you find that the bottom line is still much better than using a Courier.
This one looks sooooo gooooood...
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/330490709/china_air_freight_to_SOUTH_AFRICA.html
Lovely Rita meter maid nothing can come between us....
You might want to register as an importer, but it doesn't really matter, they will peg you when the time comes anyway. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, doesn't mean you have to run out with a silver platter and offer it to him on bended knees. He must send out his legions to come and get it. The "new" IVS section 113, will allow you to get just 6 items by post in any calendar year before you're automatically flagged as an importer and flagged by SARS as an entrepreneur and the legions are sent marching off after your a$$. Of course, the elite and the idle rich who can afford to fly around the globe doing shopping, such as all the Presidents wives and his kids, can each bring in R5000 plus worth of goods, tax and duty free, every 30 days, but that is not all. They also get R20000 to bring in goods at a 20% flat rate on which VAT is not charged. So the thing to do is to find the right commodity, a strong suitcase and become a jet setter. i've heard of people doing this with silk ties.
If you have two kids overseas and they send you a little gift on mothers/fathers day, your birthday and Xmas, you not only pay tax, duties and clearance on that, but you are now a fully fledged importer and entrepreneur. Used to be that a citizen got a R300 duty free allowance once a year on parcels, but ever since they started taxing even the air we breath, that seems to have fallen by the wayside. Next it will be our shadow that they tax, but i see there's already shadow tax and if that's not enough there is always....
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Shadow+Tax.-a078355014
AliExpress is Alibaba's baby brother for the retailer and it's usually the little guy/gal with a bigger mark-up for smaller quantities. It's all sold on the equivalent of a CIF basis and mostly shipped by Couriers appointed by Ali. You have to look hard to find a vendor who will ship, or sell by another means. You can contact them too though. It may take 10 "No!"s to make one "Yes!", but that's the worst that can happen. Lots of scammers lurk on AliExpress, so be careful there. Read their reviews and search their Forums.
In South Africa everyone always used to quote, "Terms strictly 30 days, (Including, or Excluding VAT) ex-stock, subject to prior sale, otherwise delivery is 4 to 6 weeks, subject to the exchange rate."
4 to 6 weeks is the time that shipping by seafreight, (surface mail - or China/Hong Kong/SA post - "snail mail") is expected to take, except when there is a SAPO strike, as there was in June of this year. It seems they're still reeling from that and they're still not happy and there may be a "go slow" and still a big cock up in the software from the posts going up now, but who wouldn't be pi $$ed off at this?
http://www.citypress.co.za/Business/News/Post-Office-bungles-R107m-project-20110813
http://multimedia.timeslive.co.za/v...ght-decision-to-expose-sapo-lease-corruption/
Mostly, a good shipping agent will halve the 4 to 6 weeks surface mail times and you'll find that their rates by volume may only be around, or slightly more, or less, than those of SAPO's. Of course the stuff i was importing couldn't make the 10Kg limit that SAPO had, if i wanted to bring in a carton containing more than 4 items, so i pretty much had little option, but to find a shipping agent.
Couriers are for blood transfusions and romance, not for trade shipping. However, you can't beat their pricing unless you are prepared to do a little work for yourself and you may even find a little romance in that.
i used to go as far as SAA Cargo at ORT to send and collect and got the agents i distributed to around the major areas of the Country to do the same, even for small parcels and single items. i'd only use a shipping agent for imports and exports, but i did the delivery and pick-ups from them myself to save a bit too, because i always had places to go and somewhere to get a nice cup of coffee and use their phone. SAA Cargo was about the same trouble as posting at SAPO and they gave you nice big stickers and coloured tape and stuff and a phone call when things arrived which was usually on the same, or very next day. Of course i wasn't dealing with trinkets and these were expensive items and petrol wasn't R12 a litre either, so today i would have to plan my day a bit better and get up a bit earlier and see more people in the area and work a bit later, (or smarter) to offset that, but i'm sure it's still possible to find a better and cheaper ways to ship than with any Courier. Except for when there's a hold-up at Gillooly's, it's worth any trouble, but that's the chance you take.
Some little know-it-all insinuating to be my alter ego asked me here once, if i would be prepared to sell to the Congo, or Nigeria? i didn't want to tear them limb from limb, or follow their ridiculous loaded agenda and so i didn't answer that, but i would sell to Timbuktu, (and i hope they didn't damage the Library that South Africa paid big bucks for there) or Ice to Eskimos and i'd do so without any hesitation whatsoever, if the terms were L/C FOB on sight. So of course i've sold to the Congo and Nigeria before and i'd sell to Uganda again, even if Idi Amien was still in power there. L/C FOB on sight is hardly any risk to the seller. Money is money, even though some people think it grows on trees and that everyone is Happiness Stan and we're all just flush with it and that everyone is just there for the, "give, give, give, of the foodage". If you want to know where the other half of the moon and dangly is, you have to make sure that it doesn't take you 7 whole days to find out, on the back of a fly.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/uk-mali-timbuktu-manuscripts-idUSLNE83A00U20120411
