Look at almost any product you may have in the home.  By federal law, the origin of manufacturer must be on the product in some way.

You will likely find the products is made in China.

China leads the world on exporting products to various locations, including small businesses like the ones we at Sourcing Nova specialize in helping source products.  We have previously talked about a good number of high profit and easy to import products from China.  Sourcing Nova is switching gears now and will talk about the best categories of products to import.  There are several, so get comfortable for a pleasant read.

Why import products from China

There are three solid reasons why importing products from China with Sourcing Nova make sense:

· Very low cost, even with Sourcing Nova’s fees, for a substantial profit margin

· A large number of manufacturers making many different products

· You can start a business with minimal investment and overhead

You can always use this article on how to find products on Amazon to help drive your decisions.

 

Trade Performance

China continues to lead the U.S. in product imports.  Even in the face of the Trump tariff changes, there is a steady rise of products arriving from China daily.  The second leading importer, Vietnam, is a fraction of China’s share.

Last year, Vietnam imported approximately 300,000 products.  China, by comparison, imported over 2 million products – and that number continues to grow.

 

What product categories are most commonly imported from China

There are a few import categories that dominate.  Sourcing Nova is going to take a look at about ten categories – starting with the major ones.

Electrical and machinery

Sourcing Nova will discuss machinery towards the end of this article for specific reasons.  Meanwhile, the electronics and electrical products imported from China make up a significant portion of products used in the U.S.

This is a fairly broad category as well.  It can mean kitchen products, more on that later, and gadgets.

By gadgets, Sourcing Nova is referring to small products that people use on a regular basis.  Things like smart watches, phones, computers and computer components and the like.

What is important to remember about the best electronics to import from China is three-fold:

· They should be small and do not take up much shipping space.

· There should a significant profit to be made.

· Electronic products are not going anywhere any time soon.

The U.S. has a large market for people always looking for the best in electronics and electronic products.  They are willing to shop for and spend well for the best of the best in this category.  If you do your due diligence and research into this category, the opportunity for excellent profits is stellar.

Textiles

Textiles are a necessity.  Textiles include things like bedsheets, rugs, curtains and clothing (we will cover that next).  Approximately 10 percent of imports from China are textiles.

Textile manufacturing starts with the raw materials – leather, cotton, silk and other materials.  China’s labor wages for harvesting of raw materials is low.  These savings are passed on to the buyer who in turn can earn a higher profit.

Finding good textiles for import is one of the easier things to import and sell.  There is also an opportunity to refine your textiles based on the feedback of other buyers.  Research what they like – increase it.  Research what they do not like – improve it.

Keep in mind: This research will be a constant revisiting to keep your products at the highest possible level for your customer base – old and new.  Do this, and you will earn excellent money as textiles rank as one of the most profitable products from China.

Clothing

Prepare not to be surprised: Everyone needs clothes.

China has excellent raw materials and manufacturers for clothing.  Best of all, it can be cheap, affordable and offers a huge profit margin.

Much like textiles, clothing is another one of the most profitable products available for import from China.

Clothing ranges from simple things like socks and underwear to high end, name brands like The North Face and Under Armour – both are manufacturerd in China.

The best clothing to import – the simple t-shirt

The t-shirt is about as basic as you can get for clothing.  It is probably the most commonly worn piece of clothing in the world.  If you are not looking for specifics in your t-shirts, you can often find plenty of overruns and overstock from certain markets.  Alibaba, for example, will have plenty of t-shirt manufacturers, and more importantly, manufacturers who will meet the three major criteria.

Wholesale t-shirts are available from a variety of Chinese manufacturers for as low as $1.50 a shirt.  These will not be very high quality and only good for a few wears and washes.  The better t-shirts will cost around $3.00 on average and will have much higher quality raw materials like cotton.

Logos on shirts will cost anywhere between $0.20 to $0.50 a shirt on average.  Depending on your order quantity

If you want to get your logo printed on the t-shirt, it will cost an extra $0.2-$0.5 per piece. In case you are only purchasing 50-100 t-shirts with a custom logo, the suppliers usually don’t charge a customs fee but will receive a printed minimum charge of $50-$100. The costs may vary according to the suppliers.

Plastic products

There is not one country that does not use plastic and plastic products.  It is cheap, easy to make and has a considerable profit margin to boot.

Plastic is used in everything from computers to dining to packaging.  China is a leader in the plastic industry and technology.  Many plastics factories in China have substantial research and development departments who are constantly revisiting and redefining the plastic used.

There will always be a demand for plastics across the world.  Sourcing Nova can help you find appropriate plastic products for import.

 

Crafts

Crafts and crafting continues to be a huge market for these hobbiests of all ages.  If you doubt this, do a quick search on Amazon or visit a bookstore for the variety of magazines specializing in crafts and crafting.

Interestingly, most people who enjoy crafts and crafting do not have local access to the specific materials and products they need or want.  Their solution?  Going on the Internet and Amazon, finding the appropriate items they want and ordering.

Many do not realize it, but crafts is actually a huge category with a variety of different products available.  Some of the categories include:

· Scissors – Scissors that cut different shapes like triangles, crescents and more

· Cake decorating equipment – Bags, tips and stands are necessary for the best cakes possible

· Knitting and crocheting – These crafters need yarn, needles and hooks

· Wood working tools – Chisels, burning tools and possibly paints

· Leather working – Needles, punches, threads and the like

· And so much more.

The only limit when it comes to crafts and crafting is finding an appropriate niche to break into for the best business opportunity and profit margin.  Many times, experienced crafters will have their personal and preferred choices on products they want and need.  However, there are always people picking up new hobbies and considering turning that hobby into a small business.

Sourcing Nova can help you with both samples and orders on craft products.

 

Toys

There are more toys than many imagine.  Most people see toys as an incredibly lucrative business, and it can be.  After all, every country has children, and children love their toys.  Sourcing Nova can certainly help you find the best toy options for your small business.

It is very important that as you begin researching your choices on what toys to import and sell to remember a few important facts:

· Major toy giants – Mattel, Fisher Price and Hasbro corner the market on certain toys like Barbies, movie action figues like the Avengers and more.

· Use caution with your selections – Counterfeit and licensed toy products have strong copyrights and legal departments backing them.

· Think outside the box – If you are considering toys of some sort, think about the toys that no one considers.  Spend time doing your research.

A word about battery powered toys

There are plenty of toys available from China that do not require batteries.  Sourcing Nova does not recommend importing toys or electronics that come with pre-installed batteries.  Sourcing Nova can find quality products with these type batteries, but they are exceptionally expensive and have very poor profit margins.

Stationery

Stationery are items that people use everyday at work, home and school.  Pens, paper, highlighters, staplers and staples, folders, notebooks – we can go on from here.

 

Back to school items

Kids are very fickle about their school products.  There are certain looks and styles that they simply must have – peer pressure and all.

The summer season, particularly in late July moving into August, is when the stationery business skyrockets because of back to school.  Parents are going to be looking for the best options available.

However, you are looking at an incredibly small window of opportunity here when it comes to school shopping.  It is a highly lucrative industry for a week at the most.  This means you may order a huge amount of product but may end up warehousing excess and paying taxes on it to boot.

If you are going to consider stationery as a product category, research and research well.  Most who need stationery products will buy in substantially large bulk.

 

Kitchen products

This is another huge category because there is so much that goes into a kitchen from large appliances like refrigerators, stoves and diswashers to small items like dining utensils, cutlery and cooking utensils.

This means there is a substantial number of potential products that is available to you.  It is wise to choose one or two smaller categories of products and develop them based on the customer feedback on each available on Amazon reviews.

 

Outdoors

Once again, the outdoors is a huge market with a huge number of categories.  Gardening, lawn care, barbeques, and so much more make up this category.

It is another category that you stand to make excellent profit with a bit of research and development.  Remember: Sourcing Nova can help you with finding the best manufacturer based on your specific desires and standards of your products.

 

Consider

When Sourcing Nova is talking about outdoor equipment, we are not referring to large pieces like lawnmowers, tilling equipment and other power equipment.  As a rule, these are products that are much more expensive to import, ship to a location, warehouse and get to the customer.

 

Fitness equipment

Like we just said above, Sourcing Nova is not interested in large pieces or heavy pieces for that matter.  Leave things like weights, weight lifting equipment and workout machinery be.

Sourcing Nova will help you with fitness equipment such as yoga mats, resistance bands, small wrist and ankle weights.  These are small products, require simple to source raw materials, do not take much space when it comes to shipping and has a great profit margin for you because of these factors.

 

Products Sourcing Nova will not import or cannot import

There are strict regulations on some products that people can import from China.  The U.S. for example has a significant number of products that are absolutely banned.  If you tried to import these, they would be seized at customs.  You, as the importer, could also face stiff fines and penalties in addition to the losses on these products.

You cannot import any of the following:

· Chemicals

· Weapons, particularly firearms

· CBD oils

· Fireworks

· Food items – including perishables

· Alcohol

· Automobiles

· And many other products.

Sourcing Nova recommends checking the customs agency of your country.  The website will have a full list of banned or restricted products.

 

A word about heavy machinery

China is a hub for a good bit of heavy machinery and products used in various industries and applications.  Sourcing Nova does not import these for a few reasons.  Here is a partial list:

· The profit margins are slim unless several units are purchased

· Shipping is exorbitantly expensive

· The number of units imported annually is low except for dealers

 

Final thoughts

Some Asian countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore have more products imported into the U.S. and other countries within recent years, but all of these countries combined are still lower than the number of imports from China.

There is no doubt China will continue leading product export across the world in every category feasible.  Sourcing Nova is ready to help you with your products and can help you every step of the way.  Contact us below, and let’s get started on your small business.