Importing from China to Nigeria is not as hard as you imagined. However, there is so much to consider before venturing into this business, including the season and pricing. Sit back, relax and grab a cup of coffee as I demystify the secrets of importing from China to Nigeria.
Importation from China to Nigeria is a numbers game
If you really want to be successful in the importation business, you must be very good with numbers. Remember you are buying in Dollars and selling in Naira. Don’t go importing expensive power banks just because they are fancy, whereas there are other cheaper alternatives already selling in Nigeria. Nobody buys power banks because they are fancy. Before you price your goods, it will pay you to consider the importation price, the selling price and the profit margin after sales.
Let’s assume you bought 20 power banks from china at the rate of $20 per one. At $1 to ₦320, this amounts $400 equivalent -- ₦128,000. Then divide ₦128,000 by 20. That should give you ₦6,400. You haven’t even factored out the importation cost. Then go online and search for power banks already being sold. The most expensive power bank you would see is around ₦5000. You see, you will be probably be running at a huge loss. The goal is to find a product with a huge profit margin.
Importation from China to Nigeria is seasonal
Do you still remember the Ebola outbreak? When sanitizers were the hottest product in the market and people made millions out of the opportunity?
Importing from China to Nigeria is like the entertainment industry. What might be making waves right now might be irrelevant in the near future. Common sense should tell you that importing things like launch box, school bags, sandals will sell well when schools are about to resume. Importing from china has nothing to do with your passion. Don’t go stocking products people wouldn’t buy all in the name of passion. Think like an Igbo man, you don’t want to tie up your investment capital. The idea here is to buy on a cheap rates and sell off as fast as possible. Unless you are ready to create demand of your product, feel free to follow your passion.
Import unique goods
Here in Nigeria, we are much of a copycats. Once we see that one product is moving really fast, every other person is importing the same thing. It’s just freaking annoying when I see another importer, importing power banks. What happened to cut resistant gloves, solar laptop chargers and alarm key finders? These are just 3 of many creative products you can import from China to Nigeira and make so much income.
Branding yourself
For Pete's sake brand yourself, don't be an "Igbo man". You need to build a brand around yourself and the goods you import. Come up with a name for your brand and build your online brand. This is the name people will recognize your business with. Find out how you can create a compelling online brand here.
Sell
Depending on how you wish to go about this, you don’t need to have a big office. It pays to start small. You can leverage the plethora of available online marketplaces to sell your products. If you're new to the game, you can aslo find out how to start selling online.
Now that you know the basics, you need to be aware of the best websites for importing from China to Nigeria without having to travel anywhere. READ PART 2.
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