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Lehman & Lee (Lehmanlaw.com) is an international law firm with seven offices throughout China and one liaison office in Chicago. The staff includes 250 lawyers providing a full range of legal services.
Seeking out legal advice is essential if you are unfamiliar with purchasing from companies abroad. Before getting involved in any overseas business transaction, consulting a law firm like Lehman & Lee regarding the rules of the importing road is a crucial.
Once you have performed your due diligence and carefully researched the company that you want to import from, what method of payment should you use? The most common form of payment favored by some overseas manufacturers is the wire transfer. This involves transferring a cash payment from your bank account to the suppliers account.
This is a practice that you should not engage in especially if you have never dealt the wholesaler or manufacturer before. Wiring money to an unknown business account is the equivalent to handing your money over to a stranger without ever knowing if he is an honest broker. Once the money is transferred to the suppliers account, it is gone forever.
The only way to get the money back is to have the money transferred back into your account. You need to employ a method of protection that safeguards your investment, while at the same time, assures your foreign supplier that the money will be available to him once the product is delivered. The method of choice for aspiring importers is the letter of credit. A letter of credit is a detailed document in which I could dedicate a whole article to.
For the sake of brevity, I would suggest that you go to Wikipedia.org and search for "Letter Of Credit" for a much more detailed explanation. Before you solicit any bank official about forming a letter of credit, I would consult with a competent attorney to discuss the type of LC that will serve your importing purposes.
Online services like SecureLC.com (Securelc.com) can provide an escrow account on behalf of the buyer and issues the seller with a secure Letter Of Credit , which is paid once the goods have been shipped. This could be an alternative to the lengthy and somewhat costly process of drafting a letter of credit.
An escrow service that is much better known to the general buying and selling community is Escrow.com. While they are used extensively on the domestic front, I am not sure how worldwide their services are. No matter which escrow service you plan to employee, I would not use SecureLC.com or Escrow.com without strong legal advice, and a general background check on the service itself.
You can also consult companies that are dedicated to detecting fraud such as the Association Of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE.com) to do a vendor profile on the company of your choice. You might also consider getting your product inspected prior to leaving the manufacturers facility by hiring an auditing and inspection company.
KRT Inspection, (Krtinspect.com) conducts factory audit, pre-shipment services, and provides outbound pre-shipment inspection services from China. Other Chinese inspections companies include, Eastinspection.com, Hong Kong QC Center (HKQCC.com), and SGS Corporation (US. SGS.com).
You will also need a customs broker to deal with all the paperwork that comes with importing as well. One company that can help you with a smooth shipping experience is the International Federation Of Customs Brokers (IFCBA.org). You do not want to import any product without the aid of a competent Customs broker.
The last thing you want is to get your shipment to get delayed in a foreign port, or stuck in a United States customs yard because you did not have your paperwork in order.
Whether you buy wholesale wedding favors stateside, or want to import from a wholesale supplier or manufacturer that you have found in the Pacific Rim, make sure that you do all of the necessary research and legal background checks before you approach this, or any business venture.
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