Importing goods from China

[Leight0n]

I have found a supplier in China who will ship over items I need for my business.

I have never done anything like this before and was wondering if any of you can shed any light on how I go about collecting the items from the docks. Will I have to pay any sort of tax / holing fee? What paperwork will I need?

There will not be a vast amount of the items (enough to take back home in my car)

Any sort of help on matter would be appreciated!

TIA

[Cakeboy]

At a brief guess, you'll have to pay import duty on them. If you're buying them to sell on at a profit, then any income you make from them is taxable.

You'd need to speak to Customs and Revenue about your tax liability and any duties due.

And Chinese suppliers are notorious for ripping off people and delivering nothing - was it someone you found in eBay - if so then proceed with caution

[beso]

You will need a customs agent to manage the import.

I had some electronic stuff made in China. The samples were well made and used good quality components.

The items in the actual shipment were shoddily made, a large percentage were broken due to poor packing and rough handling. Some parts were not made to the proper specs resulting in some finished products not working.

The only way manufacturing in China will work is if somebody trustworthy is overseeing the production.

[Marg0]

Aren't there banking arrangements you can make as a form of insurance against the first answer....The money is released only when the goods reach you and meet inspection requirements?

[stoofur]

The thing that Marg0 is talking about is called a "Letter of Credit" and is usually handled by the UK and Chinese banks