Importing Poker Chips

domestice letter of credit for you and your supplier letter of credit

then one for you and the buyer

have you done business with either before? is the supplier willing to give you credit?

If either is worth there salt they will know how to do one - do a search on letters of credit and also
your bank might help you with that

I ususally ask my buyer to send me what they want for LC terms and requirements, if it's agreeable for us then I move forward.

The supplier requires 30% deposit in advance and then remainder on fax of bill of lading. As for my buyer I have done business with before and have no problem on that end. What I really need advice or help on is receiving the chips and getting them to him. Ive never imported before but would love to start. Ive been reading about customs brokers and freight forwarders. If someone could point me too some sites to read up on this kind of stuff that would be helpful. Thanks.

i usually let someone else worry about freight forwarders and customs - but I think CDK here has a little experience on that but cannot remember for sure.

Below are from my experience when I was doing purchasing and logistics in China for a German/US company.

L/C is only for payment, essentially it is the business based on paper work. It could not solve the problem if the shipment turns out to be something you didn't expect. e.g lower quality, shortage, design or printing defects.

If the business has 80000 profit, why not going to China, and meet the vendor there, it won't cost you too much and the good thing is you can find out exactly who they are and if the production running fast, you can stay there for some time and do the inspection before shipment. Besides, relationship (connection) is very important in China and Chinese like to talk face to face and they feel more close if they can see you, it is good for future business, maybe get a better price, or payment terms.

Alibaba is no a web site, but you know, sometimes, there may be a few bad eggs. Find a few more factories and visit them when you go to China.