Importing from China

O

oscarlets

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Hie everyone
Do any of you have experiences on importing electronics from china? How to ensure supplier is legit and have guarantee not to be scammed? Which freight companies did you use? I requested a quote from supplier in china about a certain electronic and on of his requirements "Payment: 30% deposit, 70% balance before shipping by T/T

What do you think? looks familiar? please advice.
 
I suggest looking on ebay for any electronics. You'll be covered by PayPal when shopping through there and you can easily screen the merchants by looking at their feedback. That's how I got my "dell" stuff imported.
 
AcidRaZor said:
I suggest looking on ebay for any electronics. You'll be covered by PayPal when shopping through there and you can easily screen the merchants by looking at their feedback. That's how I got my "dell" stuff imported.
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PayPal will require you ship the item back using an online traceable method when filing "Item not as described" claim. If item is lost, it's OK, but if they send you a dud or a fake item, you have to ship it back by DHL or something that's trackable by PayPal before they refund you the initial shipping and item cost. They will not refund the return shipping fee. I don't know if EMS is acceptable for PayPal.

Shipping from SA is usually 50-100% more expensive than shipping from anywhere else to us.
 
oscarlets said:
Hie everyone
Do any of you have experiences on importing electronics from china? How to ensure supplier is legit and have guarantee not to be scammed? Which freight companies did you use? I requested a quote from supplier in china about a certain electronic and on of his requirements "Payment: 30% deposit, 70% balance before shipping by T/T

What do you think? looks familiar? please advice.
Click to expand...

People have used DealExtreme here. I've also used Miniinthebox and they ship free by TNT Express orders over $50. My order for $70 odd if I can remember correctly the cost, was shipped by TNT Express for free.
 
Space_Chief said:
People have used DealExtreme here. I've also used Miniinthebox and they ship free by TNT Express orders over $50. My order for $70 odd if I can remember correctly the cost, was shipped by TNT Express for free.
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You might also get nailed by customs when it comes into the country, although on $70 probably wont be a lot. However you might also be lucky. Depends on how often you bring stuff in!
 
jeinnor30 said:
You might also get nailed by customs when it comes into the country, although on $70 probably wont be a lot. However you might also be lucky. Depends on how often you bring stuff in!
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I didn't get nailed that time. But free TNT shipping is $25 value at least.
 
And what exactly is it?

http://www.dutycalculator.com/

Make sure they put the invoice on the outside of the package, otherwise it will be detained by Customs pending proof of payment. This is the main problem with Dealextreme.
 
An alternative to ebay is Aliexpress, for Chinese goods. They take CC payments, but it's held in escrow until you confirm receipt. They have a dispute resolution mechanism, and a rating/review process, and an array of shipping options.

I've used it for ~ 2 years now. Just check the descriptions - they can be a bit vague at times. If you're unsure, rather look for a seller with a excellent rating.
Ian
 
But what about tax and those kinda things?sorry for bombing in.

Electronics would be way cheape there than here..but wouldnt SA ask import tax ect
 
Maybe if the OP can narrow his definition of "electronics" a bit better. Kinda broad spectrum. What items are we talking about specifically?
 
djbrendan said:
But what about tax and those kinda things?sorry for bombing in.

Electronics would be way cheape there than here..but wouldnt SA ask import tax ect
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You pay duty plus VAT on 110% of value and inspection fee (R35). For FedEx/TNT/DHL that fee can be as high as R150odd. In SA customs charge you for violating your privacy and charging you VAT for goods bought overseas where SA actually does not deserve the VAT (as infrastructure of SA was not used in making of said product.) I don't think anyone else charges inspection fees and other countries in our league have far higher thresholds for tax/duty than SA.

Books, CD, DVD, BD, computer parts are DUTY FREE, AFAIK. Clothing and foods attract a higher duty.
Consumer electronics also attracts a duty, not sure how much though.

Point is that even with DUTY and TAX and SHIPPING, the item works out cheaper, usually, than bought locally. And sometimes your item will slip past customs or they may make a mistake in your favour. If they don't make a mistake in your favour, like when they added an extra 0 to the value of a recent parcel I received, I asked them to reassess.
 
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kayvee said:
Maybe if the OP can narrow his definition of "electronics" a bit better. Kinda broad spectrum. What items are we talking about specifically?
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When people say electronics, they usually mean consumer electronics. However he may mean computer parts or integrated circuits, cpus, capacitors, etc. too.
 
Space_Chief said:
You pay duty plus VAT on 110% of value and inspection fee (R35). For FedEx/TNT/DHL that fee can be as high as R150odd. In SA customs charge you for violating your privacy and charging you VAT for goods bought overseas where SA actually does not deserve the VAT (as infrastructure of SA was not used in making of said product.) I don't think anyone else charges inspection fees and other countries in our league have far higher thresholds for tax/duty than SA.

Books, CD, DVD, BD, computer parts are DUTY FREE, AFAIK. Clothing and foods attract a higher duty.
Consumer electronics also attracts a duty, not sure how much though.

Point is that even with DUTY and TAX and SHIPPING, the item works out cheaper, usually, than bought locally. And sometimes your item will slip past customs or they may make a mistake in your favour. If they don't make a mistake in your favour, like when they added an extra 0 to the value of a recent parcel I received, I asked them to reassess.
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oky i see :)

But still confused on pricing?Lets say the product is going to cost me R1000 ordering it in China..what are the next cost?(the R1000 is just what they want buying the product from their shelve )
 
djbrendan said:
oky i see :)

But still confused on pricing?Lets say the product is going to cost me R1000 ordering it in China..what are the next cost?(the R1000 is just what they want buying the product from their shelve )
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R1000 + VAT of 14% of R1100 + shipping + R35 + duty (no duty for computer parts e.g. hard drives).

Not sure how much duty for consumer electronics is, someone else will have to chime in. Could be as high as 25%.
 
Get yourself a good clearing agent.
They'll tell you how to bring it in at the lowest cost possible and they'll handle all sars paperwork

With duty and exchange rate you looking at 60% on top of the invoiced amount.
 
MexicanStandoff said:
Get yourself a good clearing agent.
They'll tell you how to bring it in at the lowest cost possible and they'll handle all sars paperwork
Click to expand...

They also cost money. One can get all this info on the sars.gov.za site.

SAPO does clearance. One just has to provide a correct description. YMMV.
 
I order quite a bit off eforchina... delivery within 3 days if you get it sent via DHL and I have yet to pay customs.

Their fake beats by dre sound better than the real things... google eforchina beats.
 
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