After Placing the Order

After payment goes through, there seems to be a long wait before the manufacturer starts working on your order. They usually already have other orders in their production line and have to schedule your order when they can. This depends on the size of the factory.

I have an agent who organises this - China Shine. In some ways, it is good having an agent as they will make sure you get the order and seem to be able to move the order between factories. When I was selecting manufacturers, I decided to have an agent and someone who worked at the factory!! My agent only charges 3% which is very small but to me well worth it.

Because I have organised all of this online, I asked for photos to show them making my underwear!! That was quite interesting and gave me a real feel of what was happening! I am very curious and loved seeing this!

I will go and visit the factories that make my underwear! But this will be in the future!!

Paying for Orders

After all of the initial work negotiating the products, it comes time to pay. This depends on the manufacturer. The ones I deal with, prefer 50% on order and then 50% on completion. Some people have suggested that I do not pay until the goods are checked and are the quality they should be.

I am happy to pay for these goods before they are put on ship. However, I have been "caught" twice doing this method and it has cost me a lot both financially and in business.

However, this is part of my learning and my journey. I wouldn't change what has happened one bit!

Customs Broker and Importing

Very early in my business, I decided I had to find out about importing and what I needed to know. There is lots of information from the Customs website but it still takes a bit of digging and checking. Checking is really important. I would probably talk to a customs broker before I had ordered from the Chinese supplier.

I found that any clothing has a 17.5% import duty. GST is 10% but this is refundable on BAS statement. Labels are really important on clothing. The company name, size and country of origin needs to be included on the label as well as washing instructions on clothing.

I live 4 hours from Brisbane so I decided to check out a few customs brokers when I was there on a trip. I found 3 names and rang them first to make an appointment. To me, a phone call tells a lot about the company. All 3 seemed good.

Then I organised to visit them. Some were a long way from the docks so that influenced my decision to an extent. Prices were similar although one company was twice the price of the others!!

I only had one question and that was what do I need to do to import my products. One company seemed disorganised and the other expensive. Customs and Forwarding Services really impresses me. They were very professional and I left with information about their business. They answered the questions easily and I went away feeling like I had found the company that I needed.

This company - CFS - has been fantastic. Everything goes without a hitch. They organise my shipment to get to a transport company and delivered to Bundaberg. They are totally in control of each shipment and I never have to worry about anything! I have full confidence in them and couldn't recommend them highly enough!

I cannot emphaisis enough how important a good customs broker is. They do this each and every day - I assume - so know exactly what to do. They give great advice and this makes the process easier. It is worth doing some homework on this though. Get a good one and stick with them.

Getting samples

Buying something from overseas can be a bit scary. Samples are crucial to the process. Usually, they cost a lot. I pay about $150 for a few sets of underwear!!! But the supplier sends them to your door by courier, such as DHL.

With my business, I get the samples in my size. This allows me to check how well the bras fit. (Prior to this, I have provided the supplier with all of the measurements.)This gives me a good idea about what I am getting, the sizing, quality, etc. I ask everyone to comment on them. Usually, the samples are white because dyeing procedures can be quite complex.

Samples need to be perfect. I check them very carefully for any small imperfections. I still got caught and had to reorder some things because they were not good enough to sell to the general public. The shipment cannot be returned because of shipping costs, customs, etc.

I then discuss any changes I need to be made with the supplier. This takes me a few hours but well worth the trouble. I have suppliers who are very particular and make sure they understand everything. That is great for me even though I get impatient at times because we seem to go over things several times. (This is the same for all 3 suppliers I have dealt with!!) The language difference also plays a part in this, so we need to get everything right.

Next post will be about paying deposits.

Using Alibaba

Alibaba is an amazing site. You can buy anything you want there!!

I really love Trade Manager. You can chat with the suppliers to get what you want! It also serves to "check them out". I really try to build a realationship with the suppliers and this helps to get them to understand what you what! I have heard of people getting ripped off by some suppliers, so if you are thinking about going this way, do your homework!

It is also worth reading some of the forums on the site to find out what people are thinking!

I believe the 2 biggest things that we need to emphasise is quality and price. Reliability is important too!

But it takes me about 3-4 months to do the negotiating for what I want! By the time we sort out sizing, labelling, styles, changes to samples, and receive order, 4 months has passed. The factory also has a schedule and production of your product needs to fit into their schedule! When I realized the time it took, I decided I needed to plan what I wanted for the next 12 months so I always had stock!

Once the initial order is sorted, the time reduces but it still takes time to get the order to us. I allow 3 months!

I pay for samples! Some people disagree with that but I believe that the supplier knows you are serious if you are prepared to pay! This cost is taken off the price of the order, I believe!

There are other sites that you can get products from but I prefer Alibaba. It just seems more user friendly than the others I have looked at!

Next post... getting samples.

Finding an underwear supplier

Last post I had no supplier and didn't know where to find one!!

I searched all of the websites for suppliers but no-one was making 100% cotton underwear.

So, I decided that the only way was to put an add on Alibaba - the site I felt was most user friendly!! I put my ad up for 100% cotton underwear!!

I had about 60 responses in 4 days!! Then another 60 in the next 3 weeks! How do I choose a supplier? Next big question!! I then deleted all of the ones that I felt could not make cotton underwear!! Guess what? I had none left! No-one was making 100% cotton underwear!!

However... I had a few people contact me through Trade Manager on Alibaba. They assured me that they could supply what I wanted. They asked the questions and I got what I wanted.

I met 2 great people. One was China Shine and he was an agent. He would find a manufacturer to make the underwear I wanted. He has been fantastic to me. He speaks to me everyday. If I am online he always says hello. Just as if we were walking down the street, he would not pass without saying hello!! He has a wicked sense of humour and teases me about evrything! Mind you, I give as good as I get!! We have become good friends online and I am looking forward to going to Guangzhou to meet him. Maybe next year for the Canton Fair.

I also met Cathy. Also a great girl who works for CHK Clothing. She worked so hard for me and then really extended herself at a later date to help me. I will be forever grateful to her and I love the friendship I have with her as well. Someone else I want to meet! So my trip to China will include Shenzhen as well.

I have also met people who supply Target, Best and Less and Rivers. I am always surprised at how helpful the Chinese people are. When I have any problems , there are several that I can ask for help. They are always so willing to help. I believe it is why their country is doing the trade they are doing.

So I began negotiations with 2 manufacturers. I thought that this time I would have 2 so I wouldn't be left without a manufacturer again. I now have contacts with several manufacturers, so I will always have a supplier.

The negotiations begin....

Where can I get cotton underwear?

I have interrupted my story with a news flash for the last 2 days. I am not sure how you can get these products from me yet but will include it in a later post!! (More homework for me!!)

My biggest quest was to find cotton underwear to sell. My searches in Australia all came to deadends. So I was forced to look out of Australia. Most clothing manufacturers get their products from Asia, so this became a logical place for me to start.

At the time, I was getting a list of websites from a weekly newsletter (for teaching). Then one of these mentioned a company in Asia that could be an agent to find products in China. I put in a query and found a lovely Chinese girl called Vanessa who could help me. I spent about 3 months negotiating with her about getting underwear I wanted.

Then....I found that the goods would not be coming...the manufacturer could not make the samples for me. At the same time Vanessa left the company, so now I had no contact in China!!!

This at the time was pretty bad!! My dream was going down the tube!!

But, it was a great place to be!! This gave me the opportunity to stand back and check what was happening!!! It became my life changing moment!!

I had 2 choices!! Will I continue to follow my dream or will I abandon it???

It was an easy decision for me!! I decided I really wanted to start a business selling cotton underwear.

I had to follow my dream!! Or regret it forever!!

This really was my chance to do what I had always wanted. I had taken a step back but it did allow me to form a very special relationship.

More about that tomorrow!!