Congratulations, you are looking to become an importer of Home Decor and Household Decoration Items. You are about to embark on a journey of discovery.
To import home decor household decoration items, you need first to understand what you will import. Home decor and household items are a huge and vast category of products. Next, you need to fully understand who you will buy the products from through product sourcing.
Then you need to fully understand what your landed cost will be to bring that product into your country and sell it. And finally, you need to know where and how you will sell the product or what type of selling platform you will use.
Below Are Our 5 Basic Steps To Import Home Decor and Household Decoration Items
Step 1 – Know What You Are Going To Import
The first thing you need to do when looking to import home decor and household decoration items is to understand what you are looking to import. Both home decor and household items have a wide range of products.
We suggest that the very first thing you do is research to understand what products you want to start with and why you want to start with those items,
During this stage, you need to do some of the following:
- Competitive Analysis – Research how competitive the products are that you are looking to bring into the marketplace. Do you have a lot of competitors or only a few?
- Prices – In your research discover what price points are competitors bringing in these products and selling them for? If someone is selling a product for 1 USD and you are hoping to sell the exact same product for 10 USD, it may be hard for you to get sales.
- Design – Are you offering a unique design or look that can warrant this product being sold in the marketplace?
At this first stage, you need to do all your competitive analysis. By the time you are completed your in-depth research, you should have an idea of what price you need to sell your product, where you will sell, and your differentiation or makes your product unique and different from someone else’s product.
Step 2 – Source Your Home Decor Or Household Item
Next, you need to source your home decor or household items. As you already have an idea of what you are going to import and what price you will need it to be, you need to find someone who can help you manufacture the product.
Finding manufacture is not always easy, especially if you are new to sourcing products for importation. There are, of course, things that you can do to try to find someone to manufacture your product:
- Do An Internet Search – Search on the internet. Today most companies who are manufacturers, and suppliers are on the internet. Try to search a few different keywords and ways to see what comes up each time you search.
- Check Other Sites – Many other sites out there specialize in export or manufacturing as Alibaba, Made in China, to name a few. Many of these sites work with huge manufacturers, and many of those manufacturers may want a substantial quantity.
- Find An Agent – Search online to find an agent or someone who can help you find the products. A good thing about an agent is that they have the contacts, and because of that, they can usually help you get what you need.
Once you have been able to source your products, you are part way there to import your products.
Step 3 – Costing Your Home Decor Or Household Item
The next thing you need to do is understand how much it will cost you to buy the product and how much it will cost you to import it. This again is a difficult thing to figure out because it requires a lot of knowledge and understanding.
- Understand Your Cost – You need first to understand the cost and terms that the supplier has quoted you. Did they quote you X works, FOB, or CIF? These different terms make a difference in what is included and what you need to pay. In my experience, most suppliers quote a FOB term.
- Freight Rates Are Constantly Change – Freight rates are constantly changing. This has been especially true the last few months with container shortages, overloaded ports, and increasing gas prices. Find yourself a very good shipping forwarder or agent who can help you get an estimated price for the shipping and other costs.
- Figure Out The Duties And Taxes – Along with the freight, you aneed to understand any duties or taxes. If the supplier has quoted you X works, you need to figure this out on their side and how much it will cost you to bring it into your country. These things can change from Product to Product and Country to Country. We recommend that you get yourself a good forwarder who knows and understand all these things and can help you figure out the landed costs
- Warehouse And Shipping To Customer – Want to know how much the import will cost the next? You need to be able to understand your other cost. Are you going to bring it in-store yourself and ship it out yourself question or will you use a company that will bring it in store for you and helps you ship it out? All of these make a difference in the final cost to the consumer.
Today, many products, especially home decor and household items, still come from China; in the United States, many Chinese goods have a 25% or a more significant duty tax. You need to check this as duties, tariffs carefully, and other things with important rules are also constantly changing.
Because shipping can be complicated, we feel it is best if you can find an agent to help you navigate this in your own country. Find yourself a forwarder who can help you with the shipping and the importation, duties, and other things you will need to know and understand.
Listen To Our Podcast 5 Tips To Source And Import Products To Sell below or by clicking here.
Step 4 – Get A Sample Of Your Home Decor Or Household Item
Once you know what you’re going to buy and what price you are going to buy it and how much it’s going to cost you to bring it in and get it to your customer, the next thing you should do is get a sample of the product you are looking to purchase.
If the factory makes the product to your specifications, mold and other charges could be incurred to produce a sample for you. Even if product development cost is expensive, we feel this is worth it as it will help save you a lot of headaches down the road.
If you are going to buy something, you should get a sample and see it in person to know exactly what you are buying. Seeing an actual sample will allow you to look and check for things such as packaging, branding, and other things that are important for your ability to sell your product.
Some people try to skip the step and want to place an order without seeing the product firsthand. In all my years of manufacturing home decor at home furnishing products, I have found that it can be a disaster if someone doesn’t see the product ahead of time.
I highly recommend that you see the product, feel it, touch it, and understand exactly what you are buying before you purchase the product.
Step 5 – Understand Where And How You Will Sell It
You also need to understand how you’re going to sell this product. Are you going to sell it online, and if so, what platforms will you use?
I have found that getting noticed online and getting people to find your product online is not as easy as most people think it is. It takes time and effort to get seen on Etsy or Amazon. It takes a lot of work to get to the top of their search results.
Most companies that are successful with importing and selling products online are also companies that have been doing it for a long time. They have built a base, and they have a track record. If you are starting completely new, you need to understand that this step can take extra time and effort.
There were many steps involved in being able to import a home decor or household item. It requires that you fully understand your cost, what price you can sell it for, and where you will be selling it.
At Mondoro, we would love to talk to you to see how we can help you. Find out more about how Mondoro can help you create, develop, and manufacture excellent home decor and home furniture products – don’t hesitate to contact me, Anita. Check out my email by clicking here or become a part of our community and join our newsletter by clicking here.
Mondoro gives out a FREE Lookbook to anyone interested. You can receive a copy of our latest Lookbook by clicking here.
Listen to our Podcast called Global Trade Gal. You can find it on all major podcast platforms. Try out to listen to one of our podcasts by clicking here.
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