Hello friends
Now I am a new member here, but by far a new member on ebay, for I have been selling via ebay since 2001. Now in this time period I have literally been through dozens of accounts, but it has been good to me nonetheless. About two years ago, I figured I will take a break and come to where I was previously buying computer parts from to do business. Back in America I would buy lots of computers from the states, fix them and repair them. And buy the accessories (bags, usb wifis, mp3 players, etc.) to increase the price of my auctions. While in college I managed to average 4-6k per month and on premium months (Novemember-January, December being the highest) I would get up to 17k in sales, meaning only about 9k profits. Then I had this grand idea, lets increase my market and move to China. So 2 years here in China and my business, yea it pretty much failed. For Chinese do not like used product and they only want expensive product that would be taxed almost 300% if i attempted to import it here. So I pretty much did nothing for the last year and a half. Now hang on Im getting to the good stuff. I thought I was reinventing the wheel by buying lots of branded things here and sending it back to America..and this is what I learned, which most of you are interested in:
1. many times the Chinese seller would give you a tracking number that does not work. This is because the first tracking number they give you is from China to Hong Kong. Most items do not ship directly from China to America. So once it hits Hong Kong there is a new tracking number. So if the supplier says it will take 3-4 days to get a tracking number, this is why.
2. If you are buying anything weighing over 25 kg, expect your package to be lost, seized or taxed to the point where you lost a great deal of profit. (This is based on my personal experience).
3. If you are sending branded things, which I do not really recommend, do not say the box is full of usbs, when really its a lot of Dr. Dre beat earphones. A simple check in the X-ray machine and, Bam its all gone. Just say they are ear phones, don't have to mention they are beats for you have more then a 70% chance making it through customs (again based off of my past experience.)
These are the top three things you should keep in mind when shipping products from China. There is a large source of things over here, I would just recommend doing what I am doing and try to find things thats not branded. Buy things that look like the beats but take off the logo. And be careful how much you can send at one time, for shipping can be costly at times. And finally, if you have a friend who can speak Chinese, I promise you will cut down your cost a third of the price. For have your Chinese friend tell them you demand that they cover your product, for if it does not make it to them, you get an return of all of your money (Less shipping). It took me a while, but after a few packages (that I think were never sent) disappeared, I began arguing with the seller. I will tell them Im in China (Even though I am, if I weren't they couldn't prove it) and tell them I will come to the factory with the local government, and ever since I have not lost a package, or if I did (2 times) I would get all of my money back. I hope I did not talk too much and I hope this did help you out! From your American friend here in China
Shipping from China 
