Need Opinion on Importing

[Yinger]

Hey everyone. My gf and I were thinking about importing plumbing parts for aquariums and was wondering do you guys think its a good idea. We decided to do this after seeing bulkheads being sold for 15 dollars. We were thinking of either doing bulkheads, Ball valves or something like loc lines. Hopefully we can find something cheaper and good quality to hopefully lower the prices at local fish stores. Do you guys think there is a high enough demand for these things?

 

[818]

Almost every LFS buys their stuff from SPEARS. Every other company buys their stuff from SPEARS and renames it, put new tags and sell it. Very few other companies make/manufacture their own parts. There are 9 SPEARS in the USA, one happens to be 10 minute from my house. I know a guy that works at a LFS and buys them there and makes hella profit off of them.

Bulkheads are 7 bux at vividaquariums, any size threaded or socket.

15.00 is a rip off though.

You probably wont make much since youll be paying for shipping and maybe only make .50 to a dollar if you really want to hook people up. Youll need to order BULK to even make a little bit of profit.

You might even loose some money if you really want to make up for the differencial.

Dont waste your time and money, there is too much competition. Kind of like those people that sell oranges by the freeway/exits<--You wont make a difference in the market, plus you just might end up making LFS save money buy buying the parts so cheap of off you and selling them for the same price they sell name brand stuff.

Thats why I say...If you are So Cal RC members. Let me know what you need Ill get whatever you need for free trade of a frag

 

[Yinger]

hmmm... we were thinking more of importing from China. I think if the quality is there we might be able to do better than pricing from spears. I know we'll have to order in bulk, however, it would be a business venture anyways. I guess i was mainly wondering where the demand is or how much demand there is for these parts.

 

[818]

Good Luck trying to beat SPEARS wholesale prices.

Just because a 3/4 check valve is priced at 29.99 doesnt mean it was even close to that. They go for cents in BULK order

 

[sps_addict]

I can see the demand, but there are other things you should think about. Not sure about being profitable though.

It could be profitable I guess, but it depends on how much you can purchase them for off shores.

Before you do any importing, just know that there are lots of fees, not just shipping (importation, CIF, CFR, etc) as well as minimum orders (usually 10,000; but for something like that it may be more; so lots of up front cost). Also something to know when you are importing; are the various terms. Read up on some of the Incoterm preambles. If you are looking to make a profit, this may not be the way to go IMO, but would help out a lot in the reef community if we could get it cheaper. I am also sure you can sell them to plumbing companies and such. JMO

Good luck.

 

[Yinger]

i don't think we were planning on selling to plumbing companies... maybe hit up the LFS or such. I have a general idea of how much they get their plumbing parts for. Only thing is finding a better deal while not loosing money. We'll see... just an idea tossed around. Thanks for the inputs.

 

[818]

No problem.

Anyway Yinger if you need any plumbing parts for the tank your etting up let me I hook all So Cal reefers up for a frag

Sam

 

[omeg]

Yinger, if you gonna do an import business, go for something with better markups and cheaper to ship - china's got lots of mines with great semi-precious stuff.

They also got lots of organs too, but if you find a way to import those, you'll be a rich man in no time.

 

[Yinger]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7510144#post7510144 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by My F1sh R D34D!
No problem.

Anyway Yinger if you need any plumbing parts for the tank your etting up let me I hook all So Cal reefers up for a frag

Sam

haha, thanks sam. No frags at the moment as we're still in the process of setting up our tank. Otherwise I'd take you up on that offer in a heartbeat haha. We got most of our plumbing and our tank comes in on thur! can't wait!

 

[sps_addict]

Lol, so true.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7510145#post7510145 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by omeg
Yinger, if you gonna do an import business, go for something with better markups and cheaper to ship - china's got lots of mines with great semi-precious stuff.

They also got lots of organs too, but if you find a way to import those, you'll be a rich man in no time.

 

[Yinger]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7510145#post7510145 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by omeg
Yinger, if you gonna do an import business, go for something with better markups and cheaper to ship - china's got lots of mines with great semi-precious stuff.

They also got lots of organs too, but if you find a way to import those, you'll be a rich man in no time.

haha, i'll probably throw up if i do organs. I can't stand that stuff haha. I guess the idea of import came up because we both love reefs and everything is marked up so high but we have no choice but to pay it...