importing goods from china

It depends on how he want do the import job. If he want open a company,get licences etc., then he can find some good suppliers in china, and try to find the most cheap way to ship the goodies. If he want do just small importation, to sell "privately" to the people he knows directly, then you must find someone that can help you in china. Chinese products can have a good quality, but can also have not. And sometimes is hard to find wich one is a good one, expecially if you must chose the products from pics only ;). The shipping fees can be another problem. Usually send things abroad from mainland china can be expensive, if you're shipping few things and want a fast delivery. Shipping containers via sea is really cheaper a lot, but need big quantities and long shipping time. If I can help you, I'm living in china. So feel free to pm me if you need some information. Have a nice time and best wishes for your business.

Naturally i assume he already owns a company and trading license etc. With all the official stuff done to start with you can look at all of the individual components required for a successful business. Finding suppliers, arranging transport/collection/delivery of goods, deciding on the type of goods to import. This could be based on known demand or competitive pricing. Decide how much working capital you are going to invest in the business and how much stockholding you plan to have at any one time. Based on your costs you would need to decide on a profitable (but competitive) price to charge and an outlet through which to distribute them. All of these things need to happen in advance. I'm aware of many people who have randomly imported stock for which there is no demand or not factored in the full costs of importing and distributing. There are also thousands of people in the UK (and most countries i imagine) every year who are prosecuted for financial irregularities and incorrect licensing etc The base moral here, is plan every single step, then if unsure get someone to check through for anything that could leave you open to losses or legal problems. Good Luck