Import/Exporting

[freakzi11a]

I am a recent university graduate looking to gain some experience in the import/exporting business. Any of you guys have any ideas on where I should start looking to obtain employment within that field? Thanks.

 

[Mr.X]

you want to work for an import / export company?

 

[freakzi11a]

you want to work for an import / export company?

Yeah I want to work for an import / export company. Basically, I want to learn the business of importing / exporting so that eventually I could run either my own import or export business. (i.e. I want to know how to purchase products in foreign countries like China and sell them to retailers in the U.S.)

 

[Mr.X]

Yeah I want to work for an import / export company. Basically, I want to learn the business of importing / exporting so that eventually I could run either my own import or export business. (i.e. I want to know how to purchase products in foreign countries like China and sell them to retailers in the U.S.)

Easier said then done, most import companies don’t reveal to you the sources – and the people that deal with the sources are VERY well paid and are IN the country of product origin, so you are NOT very likely to see or speak or have contact with any of them. Also, for my company, if you branch off in the U.S.A, you have to sign a 20 year non-compete agreement for any salary over $70K USD; otherwise, I have about 400 new MBAs lined up to take the job.

P.S. to give you an example, if you want to deal with sources from mainland China you better be fluent in Mandarin.

Mr.X

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Bor

Go to a business consulting firm like IBM, Accenture etc.

Here is why: resources in the far east are tightly controlled by very few people with a lot of power. You can't even talk to a Chinese manufacturer unless you do it through a Hong Kong trading co. You're just not going to get anywhere near the points of origin. It is no biggie, no one does, without serious clout. Why do you think AIG spends so much money in China?

The markup starts there in Hong Kong.

So you have a few options: Work for an ocean shipper: Maersk, APL, Hanjin, whoever. The issues here is that most of these are not US based so you'll quickly hit a ceiling. Secondly, these businesses are not really very modern - they are sort of an old guard that is hard to displace. (Feel like leasing a few thousand - foot ships? me neither). You won't learn how the biz works.

Your other option is marine insurance. Underwriters for marine insurers make a ton of money if they are good, but the majority of that market is UK or Japanese. Insurance is a great place to be to learn about a biz because you have to assess it to death to price risk.

The problem is marine insurance is also tightly controlled by players like Marsh, WK Webster, and a few others. And because some of themhave such a history, their relationships have ossified - it is hard to break in.

That leaves consultants.

These marine insurance guys are technical dinosaurs. They have their historical relationships, there are few open standards, and this whole area of supply chain management is nonexistent. This is where insurers get ass-rammed. They (insurers) have to price risk without knowing what the fuck they are insuring. Marine insurers get crushed all the time.

Well, the insurers are bringing in consultants, who are finding out what the fuck is wrong. As is usual, consultants have fund the problem and are building a non-solution to it.

Eventually, someone is going to get it right and will keep a piece of billions in annual revenue. It could be you.

As far as selling asian products to retailers - any retailer who buys in high volumes has their own sourcing department that has Asian contacts already.

So there you go. Learn about risk.

 

[MasterBates]

I have a friend who's ex girlfriend worked for costco, she was in charge of buying products or something similar. Well he was on a business meeting somewhere in china and ended up at some show where small companies advertised their products. To make the whole thing short, costco liked the product and he got a nice cut for just pretty much finding it.

I dont know how the exact process works but in this case it didnt sound too complicated.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

I have a friend who's ex girlfriend worked for costco, she was in charge of buying products or something similar. Well he was on a business meeting somewhere in china and ended up at some show where small companies advertised their products. To make the whole thing short, costco liked the product and he got a nice cut for just pretty much finding it.

I dont know how the exact process works but in this case it didnt sound too complicated.

Your friend was a buyer. Their job is to do exactly what you described - go to a show and buy stuff.


When they succeed, they get a bonus, maybe $10K or so, maybe more, but no ongoing revenue stream.

Being a buyer is a fun job for a lot of people.

 

[MasterBates]

well in a sence yes, but he actually works for microsoft marketing division or something similar. This just happened by accident and since he had connection with someone from costco he got hooked up right away.

 

[hammercurls]

i call bullshit on the costco story, oh wait bill gates sent him personally..ok now i see

 

[MasterBates]

i call bullshit on the costco story, oh wait bill gates sent him personally..ok now i see

why?