"How
much?"
"100
dirhams," answers the young boy, barely
looking
up from his work.
You
make a quick calculation in your head and
determine
that the cost of the hand-fashioned silver
bracelet
is about $10. The workmanship is
exquisite,
and
you find it hard to believe that these young boys,
no
older than 8 or 9, are able to create such beautiful
jewelry.
"I'll
give you 800 dirhams each," you respond.
"And
I would like to purchase 25 of them." The boy nods
excitedly
and turns to fetch the wooden box filled with
finished
bracelets that is sitting on the table behind
him.
You
are wandering the dirt roads of downtown
Tiznit,
a tiny pink-walled city of Berbers situated
along
a caravan crossroads in southern Morocco.
You've
come
in search of merchandise to ship back home and
resell. You figure you can sell the bracelets back
home
for about $35 to $40 apiece. That's a
profit of
300%.
Not
planning to visit Morocco any time soon?
That's
OK. You could buy furs in Finland. Finland is
the
world's biggest seller of farmed furs.
The pieces
are
well-made and inexpensive. So you can
buy silver
fox
furs in Helsinki along the North Esplanade...and
then
resell them for a warm profit.
These
scenarios may sound exotic and far- fetched
at
first. But think again. Purchasing unusual and
unique
goods around the world, and then shipping them
to
other countries, where they can be sold for
tremendous
profits, is becoming increasingly common
among
travelers who want to see the world but who can't
afford
an endless vacation.
Setting
yourself up as a small-time importer is
the
next best thing. It allows you to
satisfy your
wanderlust
while earning at least enough to pay for
your
trip. Plus, it makes all of your travel
tax-
deductible.
One
woman's story
Kathleen
Rozelle, an interior designer from
Dallas,
Texas, first thought of going into the
international
importing business when she and another
designer
were planning a trip to England to visit
family. Once in London, they teamed up for a shopping
spree. They shipped their treasures to Dallas, and
then
sold everything to clients and other designers.
Within
three years, the team made enough money to pay
for
the expenses of their trip (including
transportation,
accommodation, purchases, and shipping)
--
and earned a $14,000 profit.
Confident
after that success, Kathleen and her
family
teamed with two other designers for a three-week
buying
trip in France. They began their buying
trip at
the
March aux Puces in Paris, which is open three days
a
week. The March Biron section of this
enormous
market
is the place to search for antiques.
Another
place to shop in France is Rouen. All
the
shops
here are retail; they are clustered near the
cathedral
and close from noon until 2 p.m.
In
the south, visit Biot, known for its hand-blown
glass. (You'll have to pay more to have these
fragile
items
packed and shipped.) Also visit L'Ile-Sur-La-
Sorgue,
where the antique shops are open only two days
a
week. At Moustiers-Saintes-Marie, an
open-air market
is
set up every Friday in the main square.
This region
is
known for its beautiful hand-painted dishes.
What
lessons can you learn from Kathleen's story?
First,
that you must begin by choosing a country
where
you'll feel comfortable doing business.
England
is
a good first choice, because there is no language
barrier. (Of course, you should also pick a country
where
you want to travel.)
Second,
study the market back home. Is there a
demand
for the items you plan to purchase? This
is the
most
important consideration when deciding what exactly
to
import. The second thing to consider
when choosing
a
product is personal experience. What do
you know
something
about? What are you interested in shopping
for?
If
you have a bit of experience with antiques (and
if
you love poking around in the dark and dusty corners
of
antique shops), then go with that. In
this market,
smaller
pieces of furniture, such as chairs and end
tables,
and knick-knacks and art objects that aren't
easily
found back home are the best bets.
(Small
accessory
pieces also make sense from the perspective
of
shipping. They can be stashed inside the
larger
pieces
to conserve space in the freight container.)
Always
mix your purchases. On return buying
trips,
purchase
what sold well last time, and then buy a few
new
items to test.
The
Peruvian sweater trade
Antiques
is an obvious market for small-time
importers. But it is hardly the only market.
Take
Annie Hurlbut, for example. She imports
alpaca
sweaters hand-made in Cuzco, Peru. It
all
started
as a birthday present for her mother.
Annie,
then a graduate student at the University
of
Illinois, was studying the market women in Peru.
She
spent her days at the marketplace in Cuzco, working
with
the Andean women, who make their living selling
handmade
tourist goods, especially alpaca sweaters and
ponchos.
Annie
planned to fly home to Kansas City for her
mother's
50th birthday party -- and she needed a gift.
She
chose a fur-trimmed alpaca sweater-coat made by one
of
the market women. The present was
extremely well-
received. In fact, Annie's mother and friends went so
far
as to suggest that Annie had stumbled upon a real
opportunity. The Peruvian Connection was born.
Annie
continued her graduate studies, visiting
Peru
to do research, and then returning home with all
the
handmade sweaters she could carry. Her
mother ran
the
business end of the company from her farm in
Tonganoxie,
Kansas. Their first customer was a local
store,
which placed a wholesale order for 40 garments.
"When
my mother told me we had an order for 40
sweaters,
I almost panicked. I couldn't even
remember
where
I had bought the first one."
Annie
began running small space ads in the New
Yorker
and selling her sweaters across the country.
She
personally visited the owners of stores in New
York,
Philadelphia, Chicago, and California, asking if
they'd
like to carry her line.
By
this time, Annie had created her own design,
patterned
after what she'd found in Peru. She'd
made
the
sweaters of the market women into a classic fashion
product
that appealed to upscale boutiques.
The
business really took off in 1979, when a
reporter
for The New York Times Style Section saw
Annie's
sweaters at the Fashion and Boutique Show in
New
York. Annie and The Peruvian Connection
received
front-page
billing -- which brought in thousands of
requests
for catalogs.
Annie
has been running her import business for 10
years. She spends part of each year at home in
Kansas
-- and the rest of the year in Peru. Not
only
does
her business bring in enough money to pay for her
regular
trips to South America -- but it has grown into
a
big-time mail-order company that provides a living
for
both Annie and her mother.
Annie
has organized 25 cottage industries in Peru
that
work for her under contract. She works
out the
designs
and patterns, and then hands over the
production
to the Peruvians. Everything is shipped
by
air
to the United States.
What
words of advice does Annie have for anyone
considering
getting into the international import
trade?
First,
don't try to handle the production and the
marketing
yourself. You end up spreading yourself
--
and
your money -- too thin.
It's
better to come up with a good product,
something
that no one else makes as well, and focus all
your
attention on the production. It's not
that
difficult
(or costly) to set up the overseas production
of
a product. It's the marketing and
advertising that
can
drain you. Sell yourself once to a
backer, and
then
let him handle it from there.
Annie's
other piece of advice is that you should
give
a lot of thought to where you set up shop.
Americans
should think twice, she warns, before opening
a
home office for an international importing company in
New
York. This city is overwhelmed with
shipments, and
you
can end up waiting a couple of weeks to see your
merchandise. Things go much more quickly and smoothly
in
the Midwest, for example.
Another
thing to consider is customs regulations.
However,
Annie assures all would-be entrepreneurs that
they
won't have any problems with customs.
Importers
bring
a lot of revenue into their home country and are
generally
treated well by their home governments.
Nonetheless,
you will have to pay import duties.
In
the United States, duty is generally about 20%,
depending
on the type of goods being imported.
Cashing
in on Brazil's mineral rush
How
much money do you need to go into the import
business?
Harvey
and Michael Siegel, brothers born in Long
Island,
New York, did it with about $400.
A
boyhood fascination with rock and rubble led
these
two to Brazil, where they filled their knapsack
with
$400 worth of agate ashtrays. This was
the
beginning
of Aurora Mineral Corporation, which is now a
leading
wholesaler of semi-precious stone and mineral
specimens,
with a client list that includes the Harvard
University
Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and H.
Stern
Jewelers.
The
brothers didn't fly down to Brazil with
armloads
of research, deep pockets, and a long list of
connections. On the contrary, this was a seat-of-the-
pants
operation. The Siegels' cousin had
traveled to
Brazil
for Carnival the year before, met a Brazilian
girl,
and decided to stay. He was their only
connection
in the country, and he agreed to act as
their
agent.
Having
a reliable agent can really make or break
an
import business. The agent's role is to
screen
products,
accompany the importer on buying trips,
consolidate
orders from multiple suppliers, and arrange
for
a shipper to transport your merchandise back home.
You
can work without an agent -- doing all the legwork
yourself
-- but your job is made much easier if you
have
someone working with you.
"It
is invaluable to have someone on the spot to
shop
the market constantly," says Irving Viglor, a New
york-based
international trade consultant. An agent
is
independent
and acts as an intermediary in a deal but
does
not take title to the merchandise.
"Pay the agent
a
commission to protect your interest," warns Viglor.
"Don't
let the vendor pay the commission. And
always
check
references."
Aurora
Mineral Corporation mines for its minerals
(figuratively
speaking) in the tiny towns of La Jeado
and
Salto Jaqui in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's pampas
grasslands
bordering Uruguay and Argentina.
Actually,
the
local Brazilians do the mining. They dig
for
amethyst
and agate with back hoes on land leased from
farmers. The bounty is sold by the kilo from wood
shacks.
North
of Rio Grande do Sul is the state of Minas
Gerais,
where quartz crystals, rose quartz, fossils,
aquamarines,
topazes, and uncut emeralds are mined.
The
finest quality pieces are purchased in their
natural
form and sold to museums or collectors at trade
shows.
In
addition to the minerals themselves, the
Siegels
also import decorative pieces made of amethyst,
agate,
and quartz. The stones are carved into
birds,
grape
clusters, coasters, spheres, book ends, ashtrays,
and
clock faces.
These
finished pieces are culled from one- person
workshops
and larger factory warehouses. "In
Minas
Gerais,
unlike in the south, you deal with many small
suppliers. An agent is particularly important
here,"
says
Michael.
The
recent craze for quartz crystal, believed by
some
to have curative powers, has meant big business
for
Aurora Minerals. The World Prayer
Center, a
Buddhist
house of worship in Maryland, mortgaged its
real
estate to pay for its collection of quartz
crystal,
which it purchased from Aurora Minerals
Your
Brazilian connections
All
Brazilian exporters are required to file
annually
with the Department of External Affairs in
Brasilia. These records are accessible, free of
charge,
from the Brazilian Government Trade Bureau, 551
Fifth
Ave., New York, NY 10176; (212) 916-3200; fax
(212)
573-9406, or their offices in many major
countries. If you're interested in going into the
import
business in Brazil, it would be a good idea to
review
these records to find out something about the
competition
you'll be up against.
In
addition, the Brazilian Government Trade Bureau
offers
free consultations for anyone interested in
doing
business in Brazil. Other complimentary
services
include
use of meeting rooms, conference calls with
simultaneous
translating services (you pay only for the
telephone
charges), assistance with travel arrangements
to
Brazil, and referrals for accountants, lawyers, and
agents
who are experienced with matters of import and
export.
The
deputy director of finance for the trade
bureau,
Luiz de Athayda, can answer all your questions
pertaining
to the Brazilian economy, banking, and
financial
regulations. Contact him at the address
given
above. Or contact the trade bureau's
office in
Washington,
D.C., (202) 745-2805. The Brazilian-
American
Chamber of Commerce publishes a listing of
trade
opportunities for U.S. businesses in Brazil and
vice
versa. This international swap meet is
part of a
bilingual
business newspaper called The Brazilians.
To
submit
a listing (which is free of charge) or to reply
to
a posting, contact The Brazilian-American Chamber of
Commerce,
42 W. 48th St., New York, NY 10036; (212)
575-9070;
fax (212) 921-1078. To receive a copy of
the
newspaper
itself, call The Brazilians, (212) 382-1630
in
New York or (55-21) 267-3898 in Rio de Janeiro.
Choosing
an import
If
you're intrigued by the idea of setting
yourself
up as an importer as a way of paying for your
world
travel, but you don't have an idea for what
exactly
to import, attend the Frankfurt International
Fair. This exposition, held every August, is known
as
the
Cannes Festival of Consumer Goods. It is
the best
place
in the world to preview the latest European
trends. Among the exhibits are clocks, tableware,
home
accessories,
lighting fixtures, giftware, housewares,
arts,
and handicrafts. For more information on
this
year's
festival, contact Messe Frankfurt Office,
Ludwig-Erhard
Anlage 1, 6000 Frankfurt am Main 1,
Germany;
tel. (49-69) 75-63-64.
If
you can't make it to this annual fair, you
surely
can make it to one of the other 16
internationally
renowned trade fairs held each year in
Frankfurt,
which has become a mecca for international
importers. For a calendar of the fairs and more
information
on how to make arrangements to attend,
contact
Philippe Hans, Frankfurt Fair Representative,
German
American Chamber of Commerce, 666 Fifth Ave.,
New
York, NY 10103; (212) 974-8856.
And
remember, if you attend any of these fairs to
do
research for your import business, all the costs of
the
trip are tax-deductible.
A
publication that has provided many product
sources
since 1963 is Worldwide Business Exchange, a
monthly
newsletter with hundreds upon hundreds of
leads,
contacts, sources, and resources
every
month. It covers not only import
sources, but also business
financing,
channels of distribution, franchises, new products,
finder's
fees, mergers & acquisitions, venture capital, joint
ventures,
partnerships and more. Information and
current
subscription
prices can be obtained from Worldwide Business
Exchange,
Dept. 70197, P. O. Box 5385, Cleveland TN 37320.
The
value of a home-grown import
The
import companies that prove most successful are those
that
grow out of a native cottage industry whose product is
considered
exotic or rare back home. That's why
Annie Hurlbut's
import
business is booming. She discovered a
cottage industry
that
was already thriving in Peru -- and then transported the
fruits
of that industry back home to the United States, where
alpaca
sweaters handmade in Indian designs are valued -- and not
easy
to come by.
An
idea for a similar import is handmade cotton clothing
from
Guatemala. The colorful and comfortable
shirts and skirts
being
made here can be bought for virtually nothing -- and then
shipped
back home, where young girls are willing to spend a
pretty
penny on these fashion statements. We
know of a couple,
living
in Maryland, who travel to Guatemala several times a year
to
purchase the handmade clothing, and then ship the pieces to
the
United States for resale. Like Annie
Hurlbut, this couple is
not
only able to travel to their favorite South American country
three
or four times a year free -- but they are also making a
comfortable
living off of the profits of their small import
company.
The
ideas are virtually limitless ... handmade Mexican
blankets,
which can be purchased anywhere in Mexico for a few
dollars
and then resold in the United States for $30 or $35 ...
brass
pots from Morocco, which can be purchased in any shop or
from
any street vendor for about $15; these can be sold in the
United
States for at least twice that...tiny wooden boxes from
Uruguay,
useful as decorative objects or for storing jewelry;
these
sell for $5 or $6 in nearly every gift shop in Montevideo
and
can easily be resold in the United States for $10 or $15...
Similar
deals can be made between any two countries.
Where
do you want to go? Which country of the world are you
interested
in exploring? That should be the primary determining
factor
when trying to decide on an import.
Remember, the whole
idea
is
to use the import business as a way of paying for your travel.
An
unusual suggestion for the importer in Sulawesi
In
Sulawesi, Indonesia, craftsmen make traditional wooden
sailing
boats using methods little changed from those used
hundreds
of years ago. These boats, built without
hand tools and
without
electricity, come minus an engine, and they have two huge
steering
oars instead of a rudder.
Known
as an Indonesian pinisi, a boat of this type is a
cross
between a junk and a 16th-century galleon.
The pinisi was
once
the sailing ship of choice among the fierce Bugis pirates,
who
ravaged the islands of Indonesia and conquered much of
mainland
Malaysia.
It
is possible to buy one of these boats for as little as
$5,000
or $10,000. Of course, you must travel
to Ujung Pandang,
the
capital of Sulawesi, to do so. But
that's where the
adventure
begins.
Once
in Ujung Pandang, your first job is to find a reliable
agent,
who speaks the language and who knows something about
building
a pinisi. One agent is a Mr. Rustum, who
can be
contacted
at Jalan 302/10, Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
But
perhaps the most helpful person in the traditional boat
trade
in Sulawesi is a Yugoslavian sailor named Ivo Rebic. Ivo
speaks
fluent English and Indonesian and has spent two years
researching
traditional wooden boat building. He is
a good bet
for
reliable and enthusiastic local assistance.
Contact him in
care
of Evie Rumagit, Jalan Sumba 86/9, Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi,
Indonesia.
Once
you have found an agent, the next step is to find a
competent
builder. The biggest boat building center
in Sulawesi
is
Tana Beru. At any given time, there are
50 boats being built
along
the palm-lined beach of this seaside village.
One
of the most respected builders in this area is Usman
Hasan,
an Indonesian Chinese who has the most Western-style
approach
to the boat- building business of anyone in Tana Beru.
You
can contact him at Jalan Tokambang 072, Bulukumba, Tana Beru,
Indonesia.
Now,
you may be thinking, that all sounds intriguing, but
why
in the world would I want to buy an Indonesian pinisi?
First,
it is a wonderful excuse to travel to exotic
Indonesia
and have the adventure of a lifetime.
But
more than that, investing the time and money in building
a
pinisi in Sulawesi makes it possible for you to see Indonesia
free.
Before
you take off for Sulawesi, contact marinas and boat
clubs
in your area. Put up notices on the club
bulletin boards
explaining
what you're planning to do. If you're
lucky, you may
be
able to arrange for a buyer -- or a sponsor -- before you
depart
for your trip. But at the very least,
you'll build
interest
in your venture.
Once
your boat has been built and shipped back home, contact
all
those marinas and boat clubs again. And
place small ads in
boating
magazines and newsletters offering your rare and
authentic
Indonesian pinisi for sale -- for several times what
you
paid for it. You should have no trouble
finding a buyer --
these
boats are beautiful and truly exotic in any other part of
the
world. Any boat lover anywhere would be
thrilled at the
opportunity
to own one -- and probably more than happy to pay
enough
to cover all the costs of your trip to Indonesia.
Buy
a Chinese junk
Years
ago, the harbor at Hong Kong was filled with Chinese
junks. These flat-bottomed, high- sterned sailing
vessels with
square
bows and masts carrying lug-sails served as floating homes
for
thousands of the island's residents.
Today, these
traditional
junks are disappearing from the harbor.
They are
inconvenient
and uncomfortable places to live. And
few new junks
are
being built.
But
that is not to say it is no longer possible to buy a
junk. You can get one for as little as $8,000 or
$10,000. They
are
listed for sale in the classified sections of local
newspapers.
This
gave us an idea. You could travel to
Hong Kong,
purchase
an old junk, and then go on an extravagant shopping
spree
in the myriad antique shops that line the streets of this
city. Oriental carpets. Porcelain and marble statuary.
Centuries-old
Chinese vases. Jewelry. Carved wooden boxes.
Then
you could pack up all your Chinese treasures, stash
them
in the holds of your Chinese junk, and have your junk loaded
on
to a huge ocean freighter and shipped back home.
While
your treasure chest is crossing the sea, contact the
local
media of the city where the ship will land.
Send out press
releases. Alert everyone in the area that an authentic
Chinese
junk,
filled with valuable Chinese antiques, will be landing in
the
city's harbor. Make it a gala event.
All
the press coverage of the junk's arrival will help you
sell
the treasures it contains. You should
make enough to pay
not
only for the antiques you shipped home, but also for your
adventure
in Hong Kong.
What
do you do with the junk? Well, you may decide to keep
it
-- you'd surely be the only one on your block to own one. Or
you
could sell it. A Chinese junk is a rare
and valuable thing
outside
its home country. You could sell one
back home for
several
times what you paid for it in Hong Kong.
The
real wealth angle here, however, is not buying a Chinese
junk. It's using your imagination to unlock profits
that no one
else
ever thought of. Ultimately, your
imagination -- along with
your
patience and energy -- is the key to your fortune.
Before
you buy anything...
You
can simply take off for parts unknown, with several
hundred
dollars cash (or traveler's checks) in your money belt,
and
buy up a few dozen of whatever strikes your fancy and you
believe
will sell well (and for a premium price) back home. It
really
could be that simple.
But
taking off blind can also be a bit risky.
Better to do
a
bit of homework first.
Begin
by reading everything you can get your hands on about
the
country where you want to travel. What
do the local
craftsmen
make there? What do they make it out
of? Where can
you
buy it? How much will it cost? Will it ship easily?
A
good first contact is the embassy or tourist board for the
country
where you'll be shopping.
Representatives at these
offices
should be able to provide you with some of this
information
over the phone; most are natives of the country they
are
representing.
Also
ask a staff member at the tourist board for a listing
of
department stores or specialty shops in your area that carry
handicrafts
or other goods imported from his home country.
Then
go
to see for yourself what is being sold, for how much, and to
whom.
It
is also a good idea to introduce yourself to the owners,
managers,
or buyers of a few shops in your area.
Tell them about
your
shopping trip and your plans for importing goods back home.
Ask
what they would be interested in carrying and what prices
they
would charge. (Remember, most retail outlets mark prices up
100%.) You might even get an order before you leave.
The
other things to investigate before you take off on your
grand
shopping adventure are customs and rates of duty in your
country. Explain to your local customs service what
you are
planning
to import and to where and ask that you be sent all
relevant
information on clearing customs and paying the
appropriate
duties.
Setting
a price
Don't
wait until you've returned home, suitcases full of
silver
bracelets and brass pots, to determine prices for all of
your
exotic treasures. If you leave all of
this to chance, you
may
be in for a very unpleasant surprise.
Instead,
do a bit of arithmetic before you even get on the
plane.
Start
with the purchase price. What do you
think you'll
have
to pay for whatever it is you plan to buy?
Add the expected
costs
of shipping and duty. This gives you
your total cost.
Double
it, and you have the cost you can charge the retail
outlets
you do business with. Double it again,
and you have the
cost
the retail outlets will charge their customers.
Say
you plan to buy wool blankets in Mexico for $8 each.
You
know the cost of shipping each blanket will be $1, and the
cost
of duty will be $2. That's a total of $11. Double this to
get
$22, the cost you should charge when selling your blankets to
a
retail outlet. Double that again, to get
$44 -- that is the
cost
to the consumer. Is the blanket worth
$44? Is it worth
more
than $44? Consider the market. What else is available?
How
much is it selling for? Who is buying
it?
If
the total cost to the consumer you come up with sounds
like
too much -- or too little -- make adjustments one way or the
other. In the case of the Mexican blanket, for
example, $44 is a
bit
high. The retail outlet may only be able
to sell the
blankets
for $35 apiece. Thus, you can only sell
them for $17.50
apiece. This means that the most you can pay is
$5.75. It's
possible
to buy blankets in Mexico for $5.75 apiece -- if you buy
a
dozen or more at one time, and if you know how to haggle. If,
however,
once you get to Mexico, you find that you just can't
find
the blankets you want for the price you can afford,
reconsider. Maybe you ought to be shopping for silver
earrings
instead.
Remember
also that the whole purpose of importing the goods
in
the first place is to pay for your trip.
So, once you've
arrived
at a price, determine how much you will make if you sell
all
of the merchandise you have imported back home.
Make sure
you'll
come out ahead -- or at least even. If
not, reconsider,
both
the pricing and the merchandise you're importing.
The
shipping factor
One
of the most important considerations for anyone in the
import
business is shipping.
The
shipper you deal with is responsible for picking up your
purchases
at the shop, packing them, and shipping them back home
for
you in 20-foot containers. With some
shippers, you can
arrange
for a split-container. This way, the
shipper doesn't
send
the merchandise until he has enough going to your city to
fill
the entire container. Shipping costs
about 15% of the value
of
the merchandise when a full container is sent; about 25% or
more
when a partially filled container is shipped.
The
shipper should provide you with stickers (one is
attached
to every item being shipped), a shipper booklet (in
which
you record the merchant's name, the agreed-upon-price, your
company
name, and a description of the item), and the name of a
driver,
if you need one. (If English is not
spoken in the
country
where you're shopping, you'll need a driver to help you
find
the markets and to negotiate with the merchants. A driver
can
be expensive -- as much as $75 a day.
But this is a
worthwhile
investment.)
How
can you find a competent and reliable shipper? Two good
places
to try are your embassy in the country where you will be
shopping
and the local chamber of commerce office.
Tricks
of the trade
Always
carry a Polaroid camera, a 35mm camera, and lots of
film
with you when shopping for merchandise to ship home. Take
two
pictures of every item purchased, one Polaroid and one 35mm.
Keep
two ledgers: one that lists prospects, another that lists
actual
purchases. This way, if you're unsure of
something, you
can
easily go back to buy it later -- you've got a record of
where
to find it.
Europe
does not have the same type of wholesale market, but
they
do have large wholesalers. They may not
be willing to deal
with
an individual, which is one good reason to form a company
first. But if you tell merchants that you are buying
for export,
they'll
usually give you a 15% to 20% discount.
In
some countries of Europe, especially France, the entire
country
goes on holiday at the same time. In
France, it is the
month
of August. Plan your buying sprees
around these holidays.
Always
keep all of your invoices and receipts.
If your
merchandise
doesn't arrive as expected -- or if you have to prove
the
value of your goods to a customs official -- you will be lost
if
you've accidentally thrown away your documentation.
What
governments won't allow you to import Many countries
have
passed stringent laws against importing many of Mother
Nature's
souvenirs from foreign countries, and many of these
types
of products are protected by international treaties. These
laws
have been established to protect endangered animal species.
Certain
plant species are also outlawed as imports.
If you
ignore
the regulations and try to import two dozen pairs of
Brazilian
alligator pumps (because you're sure you can sell them
back
home for a 200% profit, and you simply can't resist the
opportunity),
you risk having your booty snatched. You
may even
be
hit with a hefty fine. So check the
regulations of your
destination
country carefully.
No comments:
Post a Comment