Continuing on the import/export topic. Thought I discussed warranty. Not so long a go, there was a comany here importing electrical goods, from DVD player, TV to air cond units. It was a big company distributing nationwide through chains like Harvey Norman.
It was going well for a few years, the products were cheap and sold like hot cakes. Then the products started to break down and warranty claims skyrocketed. Pretty much every unit broke down. Even I was unfortunate enough to buy one of their DVD players, broke down within a month.
The warranty claims sapped the company's cash and it bankrupted. Moral of the story, be careful, be very careful wwhen it comes to products that requires warranty.
When you import a product, you bears all responsibilty of warranty claims. Product testing at the manufacturing plan is essential and quality control must be top notch. Suppliers know if you take your eye off the game and will substitute with cheaper components. They might save $5 but will cost you hundred in warranty claims. So, make sur you build enough fat into your margins to cover for claims.
Bear in mind that a factory warranty does not really mean much to you as a foreign buyer.
If products you import from overseas need repairs under warranty then you will have to ship them back to the supplier at your own cost, and then the supplier will ship them back to you at their cost or your cost depending upon what was agreed.
Now how well will that work if you have a number of units of the product that need repairs?????
Most importers will just trash faulty product and give customers replacement product as getting warranty repairs done is too costly and time consuming.
So as an importer you need to realize that you are pretty much on your own once the product leaves China. If you know your product and have the ability to get repairs done locally then you may be able to come to an agreement with your supplier to cover the costs of these repairs up to an agreed upon amount. But you need to get this in writing with your supplier, and in most cases they will not send you the cash but will just discount this amount off future orders.
- Always deal with products that you understand and not just products that you can sell at a profit.
- Always have someone who knows the product well to inspect it before it ships.
- Always plan on having a certain number of faulty units and claims.
Yongle International (Jewellery) Co., Ltd.
Tel: +0086 579 85123646 / 85093312
Fax: +0086 579 85093312
E-mail: info@stylesupplier.com
Site: www.stylesupplier.com
ADD: No. 3, Building 9, Fuxinghouchen, Beiyuan District
Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, China
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