import from china

dromarka

Hi all
just looking for a bit of advice
im going to Ningbo in november to view and hopefully purchase 4 samples of medical equipment to trial in ireland
if the products are up to scratch then im wondering which is the best way to ship them back each item wieghs 55kg and crated they would each be 650mm wide 750mm deep and 550mm high
basically looking for a secure cost effective way to carry out this initial transaction
regards

rainbowdash

dromarka wrote: »

Hi all
just looking for a bit of advice
im going to Ningbo in november to view and hopefully purchase 4 samples of medical equipment to trial in ireland
if the products are up to scratch then im wondering which is the best way to ship them back each item wieghs 55kg and crated they would each be 650mm wide 750mm deep and 550mm high
basically looking for a secure cost effective way to carry out this initial transaction
regards

probably looking at groupage on pallets (ie shared container with others)

theres a guy called Rudy that posts here, he knows all about the freight side of things.

mibatt

dromarka wrote: »

Hi all
just looking for a bit of advice
im going to Ningbo in november to view and hopefully purchase 4 samples of medical equipment to trial in ireland
if the products are up to scratch then im wondering which is the best way to ship them back each item wieghs 55kg and crated they would each be 650mm wide 750mm deep and 550mm high
basically looking for a secure cost effective way to carry out this initial transaction
regards

For this medical equipment, I suggest you may ship it via DHL by the local DHL agent. For goods over 30kg, it would have a large discount. I don't know how much in Ningbo, but it is about $7/kg from Shenzhen to Western Europe, door to door.

If you ship by sea, the shipping cost, loading fee and handling fee and document fee,etc, and many trouble with the custom clearance, the total cost would almost the same by DHL (need to confirm the discount first,not go to DHL directly).

manta mad

few things to look out for ..........

make sure all equipment confirms to European conformity !!!!!!!!!

and that it will run on our power output !!!!!

and medically make sure your items are passed by the medical standards council

also that you have plenty of back up from the company you buy from .

i know people that got caught out badly & are left with containers full of stuff , that cant be sold !

also a company that i worked for ,( and my own company ) i had loads of experience with stuff from Asia & it was all bad !!!!!!!!!
( hopefully you wont )

i much prefer to buy & source goods with in Germany or Italy . in my experience , goods are more reliable & service friendly ,,,,

a bit dearer to buy , but worth it in reliability

well in my line of business it was !
and electronicis can be costly if they go wrong !!!!

mibatt

I don't agree with that stuff from Asia was all bad . Ipod/Iphone/Ipad are all made in China. I belive if you can pay half the price of the same product that you got from Germany or Italy, you can get better quality than you have from Germany/Italy's. However, most of the importers only want to pay one ten of the price that they pay for Germany or US's products. Japan is in Asia as well, I don't think their products are bad as well.

For medical device, CE certificate is a must and many medical company in China do apply it, otherwise, they won't export to Europe. I worked for a small company of portable ultrasound scanner before, only 10 staff but they have CE as well.

The aftersale serivice is indeed a problem. They don't have enough engineers that can have knowledge of the device and good English. So the most important you know the products well and can do some maintenance jobs. This is also a advantage for you to get the distributorship and favorable conditions from a China medical company. You may be upset if you want service from a China company before you become their big customer with big orders.

RUDOLF289

dromarka wrote: »

Hi all
just looking for a bit of advice
im going to Ningbo in november to view and hopefully purchase 4 samples of medical equipment to trial in ireland
if the products are up to scratch then im wondering which is the best way to ship them back each item wieghs 55kg and crated they would each be 650mm wide 750mm deep and 550mm high
basically looking for a secure cost effective way to carry out this initial transaction
regards

Hello Dromarka,

apart from the technical advise, here is some of the things you need to be aware of when importing (or exporting). See attached document for an overview.

In addition, strongly recommend you negotiate FOB Ningbo terms with your supplier and make the shipping arrangements through an Irish based freight forwarder. There have been quite a number of posts on boards.ie where the Irish importer bought on a C&F basis from China only to be landed with a massive bill for charges (Including the infamous China Import Service Fee).

Based on the details you advised, the shipment would be 220 kgs / 1.073 cbm. The cost for seafreight would be, ex FOB Ningbo to arrival Dublin ;

Oceanfreight Us$ 134.13
Handling / THC € 60.00
Agency fee € 60.00
Customs Clearance € 60.00
Delivery cost depends on location but should be a maximum of € 75.00 throughout the 26 counties (given you worst case).
Transit time would be 35 days with weekly departures.

Alternatively, if you require airfreight costs, let me know. Current rate ex Ningbo would be aprox Us$ 5.50 per kg including all surcharges plus Handling € 35.00, Agency € 25.00 and Customs Clearance / Delivery (as above). Please note this is today's rate, with X-Mas looming rates are likely to increase, sometimes in weekly increments ...........

I would recommend to research the cost of duty. I would be happy to assist or alternatively can suggest to contact the Customs Classification section in Nenagh (see document for contact details).

Let me know if you need anything else. Have a safe trip

Best regards,
Rudolf289

dromarka

Thank you all very much your advice is duly noted
rudolf the classification is zero rated for duty so just vat will be applied
if you can assist in organising airfrieght you could pm me
mibatt im inclined to agree re quality of goods and believe the discount on comparable goods (approx 50%) is worth the effort of travelling over to check the quality first hand as opposed to ordering over the www and hoping
the biggest problem i am coming up against is the escrow service the manufacturer in china has agreed to escrow but i am finding it very difficult to identify a secure company who will provide this service
any input would be greatly appreciated