Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2010. The 2018 update it contains, on dropshipping and sourcing from wholesalers found on AliExpress, was added later; the original article is from 2010.
As we said in our previous article on clothing business ideas, there are some basic guidelines to follow if you want this to be a profitable business and avoid unpleasant surprises. Remember that if we decide to import clothing from India, it is purely for the price.
The drawback, as we discussed, is that you naturally have to bring in a full container of clothing. There are other options that let you bring in clothing in small quantities, and we’ll look at them below.
The problem with bringing in small quantities of clothing from India
If you decide to bring in clothing in small quantities, which I don’t recommend, you can do it through companies that import clothing, decorative items and all kinds of products from India.
Disadvantages
There are two big disadvantages to saving yourself the trip to India:
1. The company or individual in charge of negotiating and importing the clothing may be “pirates.”
They won’t rob you at gunpoint, but they will never negotiate in your favor, and they may even try to cheat you on prices. You often end up paying a very high price. I’m sure there are companies that act in good faith when bringing in the goods, but even so, understandably, they charge a commission.
2. The other disadvantages are:
First, you already have a partner who will take part of your profits, even before you start selling.
Second: you are not present when the price is negotiated.
How I recommend bringing clothing from India
- I recommend going to India in person. Of course, if that’s completely impossible, find a person you trust to do it for you.
- Don’t go in blind. Get in touch with someone who can tell you where the most reliable factories are, and who might do you the favor of going with you. Ideally, without question, this would be a native of India who speaks your language.
- Don’t buy clothing in small quantities. Buy the minimum needed to fill a container.
- Negotiate the price ruthlessly. These manufacturers know how much they’re in demand worldwide, so they know that once you’ve made the trip, it will be easy to draw you into their pricing game.
- Find a shipping company with an international reputation to handle the first shipment. It won’t be cheap, but you’ll worry less while you wait for the goods.
- Deal with the factory owner from the very start. Insist until you can see them in person, and negotiate only with them. Ask for their contact details for future orders.
As you may have noticed, the only advice we give about the business of importing clothing from India concerns protecting yourself when you receive the goods. We won’t go into whether it’s a good business, because, as we discussed in our previous article, it’s a highly profitable one.
If you’re thinking that going in person means too much in travel costs (probably a day’s stay plus delivery costs for the goods), think of the peace of mind you’ll have once you’ve gone through these steps, which in my view are necessary.
It’s the price you’ll have to pay as an entrepreneur in this profitable business.
2018 update
Lately, thanks to the dropshipping model we discussed in this article, more and more entrepreneurs are turning to wholesalers they find on AliExpress, where there are clothing manufacturers. That said, keep in mind that in many cases these “manufacturers” (both Chinese and Indian) are not manufacturers at all, but retailers and wholesalers.
Trying them out can be a good way to test whether your business would work, but sooner or later, if you end up dealing directly with the manufacturer, the advice is exactly the same: travel to India to close the deal in person.
Featured image: Fabrics for Freedom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
