I'm a little unclear about one area: When you say to "make it clear than any VAT, import duties, taxes, etc. are the responsibility of the buyer", to what kind of buyer were you referring? If you were stocking inventory before selling to American consumers (assuming that you're an American), wouldn't you be the "intermediate" buyer responsible for import duties, etc?
It sounds like, in some instances, you were providing the goods directly to another distributor or end-consumer. If you imported from China and exported to the UK, would you actually keep inventory in the US? I'm not sure I see many advantages to that approach, except perhaps that you could get your goods to the UK slightly faster and maybe you already had inventory being distributed locally in the US (but shipping twice seems expensive).
I already have a corporation and a friendly attorney, so in terms of the regulations, it sounds as if I just need to dig in and start reading and asking my attorney questions.
Thanks for the info about UPS and pre-ordering, that's a clever trick I hadn't thought of. The idea about starting by sourcing locally to get a feel for volume is also interesting.
I'm a little unclear about one area: When you say to "make it clear than any VAT, import duties, taxes, etc. are the responsibility of the buyer", to what kind of buyer were you referring? If you were stocking inventory before selling to American consumers (assuming that you're an American), wouldn't you be the "intermediate" buyer responsible for import duties, etc?
It sounds like, in some instances, you were providing the goods directly to another distributor or end-consumer. If you imported from China and exported to the UK, would you actually keep inventory in the US? I'm not sure I see many advantages to that approach, except perhaps that you could get your goods to the UK slightly faster and maybe you already had inventory being distributed locally in the US (but shipping twice seems expensive).
I already have a corporation and a friendly attorney, so in terms of the regulations, it sounds as if I just need to dig in and start reading and asking my attorney questions.
Thanks for the info about UPS and pre-ordering, that's a clever trick I hadn't thought of. The idea about starting by sourcing locally to get a feel for volume is also interesting.
It sounds like you quit. May I ask why?