Import Clothing From USA

[rumifdx]

Greetings everyone, first post for me.

This site is HUGE, so instead of spending DAYS searching for the info I need -which I'm sure it must be here somewhere- I'll just post a new thread hoping for great responses.

Long story short: How can I be an importer/distributor of clothing here? This guy I know is from the US and has a reseller contract for some top-shelves jeans brand (Diesel, Buckle, Lucky, miss me, big 5 etc.); every month his company is DESTROYING 10's of thousands of pair of jeans and yoga pants 'coz he cannot sell outside the US, be he can send outside the US, so he's looking for DISTRIBUTORS, and that would be ME.

How can I proceed?

I'll give you more details if requested

thanks

[oncearugge]

Step 1.

Set up a legal Thai Company.

[rumifdx]

Thanks for taking the time for such an in-depth response!... just joking

What kind of Thai Company? Can I set up a sole proprietor-Company or do I need Thai-shareholders? Would it be easier opening a Company on my Thai wife's name?

[buji]

Step 2.

Find & payroll a Thai customs agent (high up the ladder) you can bribe. Or find an import business (already has a ship & set bribes) to bring it all over to avoid the import or usual Thai inflated taxes.

[NeverSure]

A wise man once said "No one ever made a profit selling anything. He made the profit when he bought it." This is so true.

If you believe you can buy product at prices far below your Thai competition, you can pay the import duties and still succeed. Americans get sticker shock looking at prices of the items you mentioned in Thailand due to import duties.

If you are American you have some special rights under the Treaty of Amity and you want to read about that. The short version is that you can own your own business. You still have to comply with the number of employees, etc.

If you have a large supply of product at dirt cheap prices, just go for it. You might even wholesale them to other stores.

Good luck!!

[Naam]

Step 1.

Set up a legal Thai Company.

step 2.

this guy you know seems to be a scammer

[rumifdx]

from Siam Legal: a foreigner can engage in an import/export business without a 51% Thai shareholder or without having to apply for permission from the Thai government. Another appealing factor is that there is no overarching law regulating the import of goods, which means that generally speaking, goods may be imported into Thailand without restriction. (http://www.siam-legal.com/thailand-law/import-and-export-license-in-thailand/)

Does this mean I can set up a Company without need of thai emplyees? can it be a sole-proprietorship Company?

I guess I'll need to speak to a lawyer...

Does anyone know import duties % for clothing (jeans) imported from the US?

[impulse]

There's a reason western goods are expensive in Thailand, and it's not just the import duties and taxes. It's also due to the way powerful Thai companies can lock up distribution channels and keep out anyone who tries to compete with them.

My suspicion is that every one of those "Top Shelf" companies already has a Thai company signed up as a distributor- generally with an exclusivity clause.

They may be doing zero business in those product lines, but you can bet they'll send someone over to stomp on you if you start selling "their exclusive product" in violation of their distribution agreement.

FYI, the importer of a product into a country takes on the same responsibilities as if he had manufactured the product himself. So you must have permission from those "Top Shelf" companies to legally import and distribute their products in any particular market. Otherwise, it's considered a grey market product, and foreigners dealing in grey market products in a country like Thailand isn't for the feint of heart. (For the naive, sure- but you can't stay naive for long)

Lots of folks do quite well at it, but I suspect a lot more end up going home broke with a story to tell- and we never read about them.

Edited November 2, 2015 by impulse

[BKKdreaming]

First it sounds like BS ,

but if it is not , what % of the pants are sizes that will sell in Thailand ,

as you know Americans are much larger after 40 years of Big Macs ,

And are you playing 10-20% of wholesale price ?

And do you have someone you trust to pick them up and ship them to you ?

or are you trusting this guy to ship them ?

so , if it is not BS , and you can pick Thai sizes to send to BKK and ship the other sizes to Europe, plus you have someone you trust to do this for you and handle the money ......

if all that is fine I think you will be RICH............

and if you miss a step , I think you will be POOR

If you think this is for real , it is worth a $1000 plane ticket to fly to the USA , inspect the pants , make the deal, fill the container and make sure it gets to the port

but there are so many dealers with export connections already in the USA I wonder why he can not find someone locally

Good luck , you will need it