Among all goods imported from China, a large part is taken up by the import of seasonal products manufactured on the occasion of holidays or various types of events. Despite the great interest, many people do not acknowledge the large number of risks resulting from importing such items. Before starting the import, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the possible dangers and knowing how to protect your business.
Import of seasonal products from China
When talking about the import of seasonal goods from China, we mean importing products like e.g. items for Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, or on the occasion of various sports events, such as the World Cup.
The first of the threats that you can prevent is an unreliable supplier from China. The products you are interested in should meet all the relevant requirements in the territory into which they are imported and distributed. For example, in the European Union, some of them may require CE marking. If crucial documents (such as a CE certificate) are missing, it’s impossible to pass customs clearance and thus release goods for free circulation. In the worst cases, it results in the disposal of the goods and the loss of money on the importer’s part.
In order not to make this mistake, when the products require the CE marking, you should ask the Chinese side to send the above-mentioned certificate with a test report confirming it. You should also verify these documents. Additionally, before concluding any transaction, we suggest verifying your Chinese partner each time. If the products have a logo of a well-known brand anywhere, it is essential to ask for a license to use it.
Shipping seasonal items from China
Seasonal products are very popular, usually in the short term during the year. It is a good practice to order such goods several months in advance.
This allows us to reduce transport costs due to less interest. The decreased traffic also results in faster formalities in ports and customs clearance. Thanks to this solution, you can save both time and money. Also, you don’t risk that your goods won’t arrive on time and that you won’t be able to sell them later. Besides, we encourage you always to insure your goods. This will protect you from losing products during transport, e.g. during a storm or flooding the container’s contents with seawater.
The risk of import of seasonal products from China
Unfortunately, there are also very unique and unpredictable situations, such as this year’s coronavirus pandemic. Due to this reason, many of the huge events (like Euro 2020 and the Summer Olympics) have been postponed to a much later date. This means that such goods will not find buyers shortly. What’s even worse, it’s possible that they will be useless because of e.g. changing the date or event name. There is no possibility of protection against such a situation, and the importer has to deal with the losses.
As it is not hard to notice, the import of seasonal products from China in proper advance and after thorough verification of the supplier may be a huge success and bring great profits. Unfortunately, in case of unpredicted situations, such as the one we are currently in, it can turn out that the imported goods will be useless or you will not be able to sell them until much later.