Imorting From Pakistan

[JAMJTX]

I found a vendor in Pakistan who I want to buy wholesale from for resale on my web site.
I believe I will need some sort of import license to bring the products into the U.S.
I want to focus on the retail side of my business and not get bogged down with customs, etc. Are there companies in the U.S. that can act as my agent and recieve my merchandise and charge me a reasonable fee to not cut too much into my profits?

[Yankee]

Re: Imorting From Pakistan

@JAMJTX

I found a vendor in Pakistan who I want to buy wholesale from for resale on my web site.
I believe I will need some sort of import license to bring the products into the U.S.
I want to focus on the retail side of my business and not get bogged down with customs, etc. Are there companies in the U.S. that can act as my agent and recieve my merchandise and charge me a reasonable fee to not cut too much into my profits?

If you are selling it on your website one would assume that you will ship it to the buyer after the deal is closed. If that is the case then why would you even want to bring the merchandise in to US[cost], pay for import duty [adding to the cost], will occupy some real state to store [more added cost] and then ship it again to the purchaser?

Dont you think smarter biz model would be to

• have the vendor ship it directly for you after the order is placed - same money on all the above things.
• if you want to keep your clients info hidden from the vendor - hire your cousin/brother/relative/friend (provided you have one there) and have him take care of the shipping business. It will cost you less in the long run and still much less than doing all those things here.

But if you are hell bent over bringing it here then depending on the item/weight/volume/location you will get different rates from different agents. Word to the wise dont try to hire a non entity desi uncle/aunty doing this for you because one day you will find that they were bringing all that in suitcases and were caught at the airport evading duties..

Good luck.

[JAMJTX]

Re: Importing From Pakistan

I did not say I was trying to hide anything or get around paying duty. Just looking for an agency that can handle that side of the business for me at a reasonable fee.

Perhaps there is someone already importing from Pakistan who is willing to work with me.

[Captain1]

Re: Imorting From Pakistan

@Yankee

Dont you think smarter biz model would be to
**- have the vendor ship it directly for you after the order is placed - same money on all the above things. **

• if you want to keep your clients info hidden from the vendor - hire your cousin/brother/relative/friend (provided you have one there) and have him take care of the shipping business. It will cost you less in the long run and still much less than doing all those things here.

Personally I’d strongly recommend against this one unless the ‘vendor’ is a big company with some standard corporation process in place. You never know what happens and your shipment gets blocked or delayed resulting in unhappy customer.

[sooraj-mukhi]

Re: Imorting From Pakistan

Customs duties and their rates depend on what you are importing. Certain items are contraband so do check into those before you start the venture. My khala sent me a DHL gift box of about 10lbs with 4 joras a shawl and a sweater from pakistan. Even though it was a gift and she had declared the total value at $90 i got slammed with $45 in fees for the shawl and sweater cause they had wool in them and apparently there are very strict regulations on that :(