Transcription
In today's video, I'm going to show you everything you need to know about buying from a supplier on Alibaba, as well as the process you should follow to get the right supplier and product. One of my income streams is an e-commerce business, which I started by buying products in bulk from a supplier in China on Alibaba. I branded the products and packaging with my brand's name, and I started selling it here in South Africa on my own online store, as well as on Takealot.
Hi, my name is Stefan, and welcome to my YouTube channel, a place where I give away a lot of value completely free. Please like this video and don't forget to subscribe. Without further ado, let's get into the video. I'm going to provide you with a lot of knowledge about Alibaba, so get yourself a coffee, and I hope you're taking notes. Stick around to the end of the video, as I'm going to show you exactly how duties and taxes are calculated on imported goods from China to South Africa.
The first step to finding the right supplier and product on Alibaba is to do your own product research. You have to get some sort of idea of what product you want to sell. This can be clothing, makeup, skincare, or sports equipment. Alibaba literally has suppliers for anything you can think of. A pro tip, and what I usually do, is look at already successful brands to see if I can do it better or if these brands are not really selling in South Africa; I can follow that gap. You can also browse the Alibaba website for trending products and ideas. Go to alibaba.com or download the app.
Step 2: After establishing what product you're interested in selling, you need to now search for that product on the Alibaba website or app. When searching, I'd suggest filtering your search by ticking "verified supplier" as well as "trade assurance." A verified supplier means that someone from Alibaba went to the supplier to confirm that they are legit, and trade assurance is a policy that protects your order in case something were to go wrong.
When going through your search results, you're not only looking at the product; you're also looking at the supplier. The two most important things when looking at the product on the search result page are the price and the MOQ. MOQ stands for minimum order quantity, and this is the minimum amount you can order of that specific product. However, I should note that this does not apply when ordering samples. When looking at the supplier's or manufacturer's details on the search result page, you need to look at things like how long the supplier has been trading on Alibaba and how many total reviews the supplier has. These things are important to see if the supplier is reliable.
Step 3: If the product and supply information looks good, you can now click on the product and go into the product page. Here, you can see the reviews the specific product has received, as well as the minimum quantity to customize the product or add your logo. Sometimes, you can even see how many people have bought this product, and you can get more details on this, like where the people and the companies were from that bought the product, how many pieces they bought, and you can check this by scrolling down and clicking on the transactions tab. What I like about this feature is that if I see someone has bought 300 pieces of the product, this tells me the product has to be somewhat good, and they probably had to already go through the sampling process. However, I do still urge you to get your own sample before buying in bulk. I mean, imagine buying 300 units just to receive it and not being happy with the product quality.
Favorite all the products you are interested in to keep track of them.
Step 4: You'll have to now message the supplier. What's funny about these Chinese suppliers is that they will always call you "my dear," but most of the time, their English is good enough to understand you. Ask them all the questions you might have. Ask them for photos of the actual product they've sent to customers, as sometimes the product shots on Alibaba can be a little bit misleading. Ask them how much it will cost to get a sample, as well as how much shipping would cost to get the sample here to South Africa. Make sure they are making use of a shipping company like DHL, UPS, or FedEx for this quote. The sample and the shipping can sometimes be expensive, but this is a step that you can't skip. Also, get a quote for the possible bulk order. Keep the minimum order quantity in mind and ask them for an air freight and sea freight quote to South Africa. This is a step you'll have to do to see if this business you are looking to start can even be feasible. Do this with a few suppliers, and after evaluating all the different quotes, choose one based on affordability and quality, and order your first sample or two.
You don't need a registered company to import these goods, as you can just give your ID number to the supplier and tell them to give it to the shipping company, as you will just be importing the goods in your own name. Also, tell them to clearly state on the commercial invoice that will be traveling with your sample that you have ordered a sample, as duties and taxes on samples can be less. Once it gets to South Africa, the shipping company will send you an invoice with the relevant duty and taxes you need to pay, and then once you've paid, it will get delivered to your door.
When you receive your sample, it's time to test the product quality. If, for example, it's a piece of clothing, you need to take it through a wash test. If the product is made to be durable, you need to take it through its paces and see if it holds up. If you added your customizations or your logo to the product or packaging, you can already take some product shots for your website and social media pages. Really take your time with this step, as it's one of the most important steps. You want to make sure that you are going to be selling a high-quality product and that your South African customer base will be happy with the quality.
After testing the sample properly, you can start Step 6, which is talking to the supplier about the bulk order. In this step, you'll need to get a few shipping quotes to compare with the one given to you by your supplier. Google for shipping agents in South Africa or use airpool.co.za. You'll need the commercial invoice, as well as the dimensions and weights of the box or boxes you are importing, to be able to get a proper quote from a shipping agent or from Airpool. Go with the shipping company that provided you with the best quote. Pay your supplier and wait for your products to get delivered. Remember, if the supplier's minimum quantity is 50, start with just 50 products. If it's 100, start with just 100. Start out small and watch your business grow.
Once your products arrive, you'll have to market like crazy. You'll have to be posting on all social media platforms: TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, as you can drive sales organically, or you can start running Facebook ads, which can also drive high-quality traffic.
Now, I'm going to show you exactly how duties and taxes are calculated on goods imported into South Africa from China. You'll have to consult the customs tariff book, which I linked in the description. Search for keywords to find the exact product that you are importing for the applicable duty percentage. You'll have to look under "General," as China is not in any trading union with South Africa.
Let's say I'm importing men's t-shirts. I'll search for the keyword "t-shirt," and here you can see that I'll be paying 45% duty on the t-shirts I'm importing. But here's the exact formula on how it's calculated: for the duty, it will be 45% of the commercial value, which is most likely just the transaction amount. For that, it will be the commercial value plus 10% plus the duty times 15%. If you have a company and it's VAT registered, you can also claim back that tax, but the total amount you'll be paying the government is the duty and the VAT once your goods have arrived here in South Africa.
I hope you found this video useful, and if you have any more questions on Alibaba or the importing process, please leave them below, and I'll try my best to get back to you. Once again, please like this video and don't forget to subscribe, and I'll see you in the next one.