Mini importation business is very easy and cheap to start; it is as easy as ABC. I started mini importation 2014 without any body’s guidance. However, I ventured into it after reading about the business online. And was so surprised to see the products I ordered from China at my doorstep few days after ordering them. My joy knew no bound.
Mini importation is importing small products from other countries into Nigeria and this can be done with any amount from #5,000 and above.
Before you start look around your locality for things you know sells fast. Generally, clothes or fashionable items move fast. Watches have been known to assume increase buying since mini importation began.
Any body can do this business; students, employed, unemployed, retiree, sit at home moms etc. You don’t necessarily need an office space to start you can do it at the comfort of your home. Mini importation is one of the best online businesses to venture into.
IN THIS POST YOU WILL READ
- Criteria or things needed to start mini importation business
- Where to buy cheap items online
- Items that sales fast
- How to import goods from China to Nigeria
- My experience in mini importation business
- How to identify a real merchant
- How to make payment/pricing
- How to identify quality
CRITERIA FOR STARTING MINI IMPORTATION
- You need a laptop with data inside and some cash to start the importation with.
- Note this, you don’t need paypal, payoneer or any other special credit card for transaction but with your GTB Naira card, Master card from any bank or any ATM card you can pay for the products easily.
- Address is important but not P.O.Box, it should be an address that is traceable if you don’t have any then use your work place, friends or relatives own. Include your phone number because most courier companies will call you when your package arrives.
 PLACES TO IMPORT FROM AND THINGS TO BUY
As much as you can make a research to know the products that are highly demanded in your area and go for those ones.
Items that sells faster are;
- watches,
- Bags
- Shoes
- clothes,
- make-up things,
- slimming products,
- phones,
- phone accessories,
- jewelries etc. Also go for things that are not easy to come by or are in short supply in your location.
Buy things that are not heavy because heavy items are costly to transport. Feathered items (items that are very light) example necklace, bands, ear rings etc are the ones you should consider. Â Avoid items like books they are heavy but if you have market for them and can still make profit out of them, then go for them.
If you can create market for fairly used laptops you can sell them to students, teachers and starters in different endeavours, you will make a good sell because the products are very cheap especially the non branded laptops. Ipmart is a market place solely for laptops.
Another thing the sales this way is buying of fairly used phones and reselling them to students, workers or any interested persons.
You can import from London, UK, Singapore or China. As it stands China has the biggest market store for personal effect, industrial, manufacturing items etc. That is why they are always mentioned whenever importation is involved.
PORTALS THAT SELLS CHEAP
There are many market places you can import things from to sell but some are cheaper than the others.
Market stores that sells their items cheap are;
- volumerate.com,
- ioffer.com,
- 1688,
- aliexpress.com,
- dealextreme.com,
- inpart.com,
- sourcingmap.com, amongst these ones some still sell cheaper than others example is 1688 but the only use china language for their transaction because the market is meant for only Chinese.
Howbeit Google can interpret the language for you to carry out transaction on the site. When you open Google click on interpret option and it will interpret the language for you.
Alibaba is the mother of all of the portals; this is where you find all the manufacturers of products that other portals are selling. But you have to buy container worth of goods or from 100 pieces of items and above depending on the seller. Unlike other market place where you can purchase one item and they still send it to you.
- Go to the site you want to purchase for example aliexpress.com and register with the site. Type in the site name you want to open on Google, when the site opens you will see join free to create an account, click on it and fill in the needed pre-requisites, then click on create my account.
- You will receive a congratulatory message and would be told to check your mail box for confirmation. Open your email and click on the verification link sent to you.
- After that you will see another congratulatory message that your mail has been successfully verified. After this you can browse the market for the things you want to buy.
COMPARING PRICE AND QUALITY IN MINI IMPORTATION BUSINESS
- There are many sellers who are selling the same products but at different prices. Some renders free shipping while others will reduce the transportation fee for you after negotiations. Look for a merchant that has high rating up to 97% or the one that has 5 stars.
- When you see a product of interest click on it and scroll down to see reviews that people gave, buyers always come back to comment about the product they bought if there are many complains you can check another merchant.
- Always chat with the seller, check to see which one is online and chat with him or her. Start by dropping a message of having interest on his product then ask him if the product is still available, the quality and when it can be delivered.
- If you are interested in using free shipping then select free shipping to Nigeria option on top of the page when doing the search. The problem of free shipping is that it takes too long to arrive; it can take 2 months.
MARKETING
Import small quantity of the product for a start, show them to your friends, colleagues, neighbours and also display them on social media such as twitter, LinkedIn, Face book, Instagram etc. As people become interested you then increase the quantity of your subsequent buying.
You can also sell them for wholesale, but first find out the amount the retailers buy from other wholesalers and reduce your own price. This way you will sell more and quickly thereby making more money.
Advertise your products in online stores such as Jumia, Konga, Payport etc. This is another amazing avenue for you to sell large quantities in short time as you will be exposed to a greater percentage of the audience who may be interested in your products.
MAKING PAYMENT
- Do not pay the supplier directly; always use escrow method, this way you can’t be scammed. Alibaba, aliexpress etc uses escrow payment system. The system withholds your money until after you have confirmed receiving the products in good condition.
- If the product is not what you requested for or was not in good condition at the point of receiving the goods then you can ask for a refund after proving your claim.
- Also you can use a third-party (agents). They will help in buying the goods for you or help you to confirm the genuineness of a supplier and can also deliver the goods to you for a fee.
HOW TO IMPORT GOODS FROM CHINA TO NIGERIA
When I did my first mini importation I used Chrisvicmall, the supplier took the products to them, they checked and confirmed the quantity and quality of the product for me. The agency also delivered the goods to me although I chose a week’s delivery; the goods came earlier than the one week I paid for, three days precisely.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR GOODS TO ARRIVE DESTINATION
This will depend on the number of days you choose and paid for. If you want to express that is a day’s shipping it is possible but you will pay more. There’s the three days payment, it is a bit lower than the express. Another within a week, and the cheapest is the one that runs into months those are mostly carried through ship.
For free shipping as was said it takes time but there are items that can be transported free from some courier companies, an example is DHL. So to start your mini importation with free transport you have to be patience.
To get free shipping from DHL, go to the category of the products you want to purchase at the top of the page select the free shipping option and choose DHL as the shipping method. A list of so many other products that can go through the company will come out, you then select the ones you want.
MY EXPERIENCE IN MINI IMPORTATION BUSINESS AND HOW TO AVOID MISTAKE
Here is my experience in mini importation business.I spoke to one of the manufacturers of super glue and he did a sample product for me. I didn’t know it was going to be heavier than I envisage so I ended up paying thrice the amount I budgeted for. The transport fare was #105,000 while the product was #122,000 you see that the transport has already swallowed my profit.
I would have still made some gain if not that the product was not accepted in the local market in my locality. I was in an area where the people don’t by anything other than the brand they know even if it is fake.
My own was a new brand as much as I tried to convince them that it was genuine the more the rejected the product, finally I sell them off at an amount the normally buy fake of such product.
The product was more original than the ones they know and sell because the few I kept for my use up till today is still very potent unlike others that dry off quickly. After that they started calling me to supply them but I had already moved on.
This is because it was a sample product so the producer wanted to make a customer out of me, unfortunately, it didn’t work out since I didn’t do my research up to the point of product acceptance. That is why for it is very important for you to carry out a thorough research.
Mini importation is good but you have to put all the necessary keys into it to succeed.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A MANUAL THAT WILL GUIDE YOU INTO A-Z MINI IMPORTATION BUSINESS WITH PICTURES THEN CONTACT US
CONCLUSION
You can start mini importation business during end of the year when activities are high. And you are sure of a good sale. It will encourage you to stay in the business. This is a trending online business you shouldn’t miss.
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Thank you very much for this article… I am a corps member, I’ve been looking for ways to make extra income i will check out the 1688 site you mentioned its becoming popular now…. There are some online class on importing from China but i couldn’t afford them, thanks for this will give it a try God bless….sorry about using agents to verify goods how does it work can you please clarify on it
Thanks@Eniola. As regarding the use of jagents to verify goods, it works. There are so many of them but I used Chrisvic, they have office both in China and in Lagos.
Good morning Eno thank you so for birthing this blog, your informations are sodetailed. Please what is your Instagram handle?
Thanks @Ini my brotherabi my sister. I have not been very active on instagram. When I update it, I will let you know. Cheers
Thanks eno. Your blog is really empowering. Pls how can I contact you for the detailed manual for this importation Biz. You can message me via WhatsApp or email.—zero-8-one-84495393
my number 08035965405
Thanks Eno Johnson for this piece. I want to know the minimal amount for the startup of this mini importation and also do they deliver to state like Ebonyi. Thank you.
It depends on what you are going for, dollar price has gone up, I will say 100k