Social project: bulk buying online HELP

missnesbit17

Hi there,

I am currently planning a non for profit action project which involves bulk buying cups off the internet. Can anybody shed some light on bulk buying from ASIA and delivery to Ireland. Will I be hit with fees? What other complications am I not thinking of? Im looking at 3000 units currently

ironclaw

You'd be better off buying here as ifs its for a non-profit a company here might be interesting in assist either out of generosity or they may be able to write the expense off as charitable work.

Your lead time and the hoops you may need to jump through to get them doesn't make it worth while to order from Asia.

Walter2016

Plenty of wholesalers here and UK that are bringing in container loads and will have economies of scale that you could never hope to match.

3000 mugs from a Chinese manufacturer is a miniscule order that will cost far more in shipping and import fees than you'd pay in a discount shop here.

Get a local supplier who can supply you as you need the product and concentrate on what you are doing with that product instead of trying to save a few cent and all the hassle that goes with it. I work with a company that does about €5m turnover and they still will use UK / Irish suppliers for almost everything because cashflow and managing stock levels is an extremely important part of business.

Yes they can save a headline 30% - 40%, but then they need storage space which costs money, cash is tied up for weeks or months as you pay before shipping and it can take 6 weeks to be delivered and if a product does not sell as well as expected, stock has to be cleared at a loss. Hence they and most compnaies use local distributors.

antoinolachtnai

I agree with that, there will be local people who would love to talk to you about this and if you can lay out your charity credentials, they will do their best to give you a great price. They will be best positioned to help you with issues like packaging and logistics too.