Despite the growing prices and labor costs, China will remain the most important electronic equipment manufacturing base. There are many electronics producers in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It is thanks to a large, qualified workforce and an efficient supply chain. But what should the importer keep in mind if he is about to start importing? The whole process can be divided into four phases.
From the very beginning, the importer should carefully evaluate his plan and investing capabilities. What does the target customer needs? What can the Chinese factories deliver? First, do not import brand electronics because the prices will likely be similar to Western prices or even higher. Moreover, most of these brand products are deliberately fake, and fake merchandise will most likely be seized by customs.
Another important step is a cost evaluation. The tariffs on laptops, smartphones, and tablets imported from China are 0% in most cases, but they should be checked since it varies from country to country. Value Added Tax is also applied, and the tax rate varies depending on the country. Pay special attention to import duties, especially when the product is new on the market. Sometimes the Chinese supplier will be able to provide you with the HS code of the product, but it may not always be correct.
It can be said that in the most popular categories of electronic device trade, the market is saturated. It may be hard to persuade customers to buy the no-so-good generic cellphone or mediocre tablet because they already overflow the market. If you are aiming for big success, think of something new and creative like GoPro.
There are two main e-commerce marketplaces you can search for suppliers, Alibaba and Made-in-China. Those B2B platforms serve major transactions. It is always the best option to establish a close relationship with your supplier. Even if you buy only 100-200 pieces, you should buy them directly from the supplier. Choosing a trading company means higher costs and greater risks.
What kind of risks should be considered? For example, the customer should pay special attention to the device specs. For instance, a surprisingly cheap cellphone has a 12MP front camera and 8GB of internal memory. On paper only. Remember that you cannot get something extra for the price of something ordinary.
Of course, a trading company is still a better choice in some instances, especially when the producer is not willing to fulfill a large order. In this case, we can order them from the trading company.
No matter how many units you source, verify the supplier independently.
How to choose the best method of shipping? There are several logistics solutions suitable for the transport of electronic equipment.
The delivery time and shipping fee depend on the destination country, and the differences may be quite huge. The distance doesn’t matter: sometimes it is more expensive to ship your goods to neighboring Mongolia than to remote New Zealand.
As far as small amounts of goods are concerned, organizing the whole shipping process is a piece of cake, things get hectic when your delivery quantity is larger. Soon enough, you will realize that you cannot earn much on a small order, but getting a bigger order is far more risky and complicated. So, after all, which option is better? The decision is up to you.
In case something goes wrong, you still have some chance to solve your problem. Remember that Made-in-China and Alibaba are not online shops; they serve as a platform to enable communication between buyers and suppliers, so they cannot be held responsible for the product’s shortcomings. Some suppliers offer the option of unconditional returns, so even if the product is working properly, you can still send it back. If you are not satisfied with the solutions suggested by the supplier, you can always complain to the b2b platform, but as far as we know, this rarely works. People in charge of those web pages deal with thousands of complaints daily and are not interested in strictly enforcing their own rules (it may have tremendous consequences for their business because suppliers may be discouraged from using their services).
Chinese brands such as Huawei gained the reputation of reliable, international brands, as it already happened with Lenovo (not always associated with China because it is based on IBM know-how and patents).
But apart from those big companies, thousands of smaller ones are operating, and the products they offer are not necessarily inferior in terms of quality. The rule is simple: you get what you pay for. If you successfully import some electronic equipment from China, find wholesalers in your country, and provide functioning after-sale service for your clients, you can achieve major success.
Do you know what safety certifications you need to pass to ship your products to other countries? What do all these certification marks mean?
The CE marking is a safety certification mark, which is regarded as a passport for manufacturers to open and enter the European market.
RoHS is the Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the "RoHS Directive"). Restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment) English abbreviation for Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment. RoHS lists a total of six hazardous substances, including lead Pb, cadmium Cd, mercury Hg. Cr6+, PBDE, PBB, and PBDE are prohibited from entering the EU market. Electronic products, including white appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, water heaters, etc., black appliances, such as audio, video products, DVD, CD, TV receivers, IT products, digital products, communication products; power tools, electric electronic toys, medical electrical equipment.
REACH is the EU regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals. REACH is the abbreviation of the chemical regulatory system established by the European Union, which came into force on June 1, 2007. The REACH directive requires that all chemicals imported and produced in Europe must pass a comprehensive set of procedures such as registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction, in order to better and simpler identify the chemical substances. The ingredients of chemicals to achieve the purpose of ensuring environmental and human safety. The directive has several main elements such as registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction. Any goods must have a registration file listing the chemical ingredients, a description of how they are used by the manufacturer and a toxicity assessment report. All the information will be entered into a database under construction, which will be managed by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), a new EU agency based in Helsinki, Finland.
The International Organization for Standardization is the world's largest non-governmental specialized agency for standardization, and it plays a leading role in international standardization.ISO develops international standards. standardization work within the scope, organizing the exchange of information among member countries and technical committees, as well as cooperating with other international organizations on issues related to standardization.
UL stands for Underwriter Laboratories Inc. and is the most authoritative and largest private organization in the United States engaged in safety testing and certification. It is an independent, not-for-profit, professional organization that conducts testing for public safety. It adopts scientific testing methods to study and determine whether various materials, devices, products, equipment, buildings, etc. have hazards on life and property and the degree of harm; determine, prepare, issue corresponding standards and help reduce and prevent the loss of life and property caused by the information, while carrying out factual research operations. In short, it is mainly engaged in product safety certification and business safety certification, with the ultimate goal of providing the market with goods of a comparable safety level and contributing to the assurance of human health and property safety.In terms of product safety certification as an effective means of eliminating technical barriers to international trade, UL also plays a positive role in promoting the development of international trade.
The GS mark is a safety mark authorized by the German Ministry of Labor and issued by TUV, VDE, etc. The GS mark is accepted by many customers in Europe. GS certified products are usually sold at a higher price per unit and are more popular.
The FCC(Federal Communications Commission) was established in 1934 by COMMUNICATION ACT as an independent agency of the U.S. government, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC coordinates domestic and international communications by controlling radio, television, telecommunications, satellite, and cable. The Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) of the FCC is responsible for the technical support of the Commission, as well as the approval of equipment to ensure the safety of radio and wire communication products related to life and property in more than 50 states, Colombia, and U.S. territories. Many radio applications, communication products, and digital products require FCC approval to enter the U.S. market. The FCC investigates and studies all phases of product safety to find the best way to solve problems, and also includes testing of radio devices, aircraft, and more. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - Regulates the importation and use of radio frequency devices, including computers, fax machines, electronic devices, radio reception and transmission equipment, radio-controlled toys, telephones, personal computers, and other products that can harm people. These products, if intended for export to the United States, must be tested and approved by a government-authorized laboratory in accordance with FCC technical standards. Importers and customs agents are required to declare that each radio frequency device complies with FCC standards, known as an FCC license.
Deutsches Institut fur Normung. DIN is the German standardization authority and participates in international and regional non-governmental standardization bodies as a national standardization body. DIN joined the International Organization for Standardization in 1951. DIN represents Germany in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), a joint association of DIN and the German Association of Electrical Engineers (VDE).
The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the world's oldest national standardization body, which is not controlled by the government but is strongly supported by it. BSI develops and revises British Standards, and promotes their implementation.
With the development of electrical and electronic technology, the increasing popularity of household appliances and electronic products, radio and television, post and telecommunications communications and computer networks are increasingly developed, the electromagnetic environment is becoming increasingly complex and deteriorating, making the electromagnetic compatibility of electrical and electronic products (EMC electromagnetic interference EMI and electromagnetic anti-EMS) issues have also been paid increasing attention to governments and production enterprises. Electromagnetic compatibility of electronic and electrical products (EMC) is a very important quality indicator, it is not only related to the product itself and the reliability of the work safety, but also may affect the normal operation of other equipment and systems, related to the protection of the electromagnetic environment. The European Community government stipulates that since January 1, 1996, all electrical and electronic products must pass EMC certification and be labeled with CE mark before they can be sold in the European Community market. This move has caused widespread impact in the world, governments have taken measures to implement mandatory management of electrical and electronic products RMC performance, such as the EU 89/336/EEC.
This is a certification mark given by the Japan Electrical Safety & Environment (JET) for electrical and electronic products that comply with Japanese safety regulations. According to Japan's DENTORL Law (Electrical Appliance and Material Control Law), 498 types of products must pass safety certification to enter the Japanese market.
It is a certification mark issued by the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) for communication equipment, and the C-tick certification cycle is 1-2 weeks. The C-tick certification cycle: 1-2 weeks. The product is tested to ACAQ technical standards, registered with the ACA for use of the A/C-tick, a Declaration of Conformity Form is completed and kept with the product's compliance record, and the A/C-tick is affixed to the communication product or equipment. Tick logo of the logo (label), sold to consumers A-Tick only applies to telecommunications products, electronic products are mostly applied for C-Tick, however, if the application of electronic products A-Tick, you do not need to apply for another C-Tick. Since November 2001, Australia / New Zealand EMI application merger; if the product is to be sold in these two countries, the following documents must be completed before marketing, in order to prepare for the ACA (Australian Communications Authority) or New Zealand (Ministry of Economic Affairs) to apply for a C-Tick application. (Development) Authorities conduct random checks from time to time. The Australian EMC system divides products into three levels. Before selling Level 2 and 3 products, suppliers must register with the ACA and apply for the C-Tick logo.
It is the certification of the Australian standards body for the Standards Association of Australia, people usually call the Australian certification of SAA. Due to the mutual recognition agreement between Australia and New Zealand, all products with Australian certification will be able to enter the New Zealand market smoothly. All electrical products are required to be Safety Approved (SAA), which has two main marks, one for formal approval and one for standard marking. Formal approval is for samples only, while the standard mark requires a factory audit for each product. At present, there are two ways to apply for SAA certification in China, one is through CB test report, if there is no CB test report, you can also apply directly. Generally, the lead time for IT AV lamps and small appliances to apply for SAA certification in Australia is 3-4 weeks, but this may be extended if the quality of the product is not up to standard. When submitting the report to Australia for audit, you need to provide the SAA certificate of the product plug (mainly for products with plugs), or not given for the product, the important components inside the product SAA certificate, such as lamps and lanterns need to provide the transformer inside the SAA certificate, otherwise, the audit information in Australia will not pass.
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