Import Export Business : Aisa

 

 

That area of the world known as the Far East has long been looked upon as a source of great riches by the Western nations.  The Portuguese were the first to send home great riches from the Orient, but other nations soon followed.  Of all the Eastern nations, the vast Chinese Empire was the greatest and richest source of wealth.  At first the Chinese Emperors were able to hold the would-be Western traders in check.  No Western imports were allowed into China, but exports were allowed and had to be paid for in gold.  Vast quantities of silk, tea, exquisite porcelain, jade and many other riches flowed westwards.  After the Opium wars, China was really opened up to unrestricted trade and the West greatly prospered from this.

 

Today, the Far East still has much to offer Western traders and no-one is better catered for than the mail order trader.  This book will reveal how it is possible for the mail order dealer to strike it rich by making use of the almost limitless supply of goods which are available from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere in the Far East.

 

The British ail order dealer in inclined to chase down blind alleys in a futile and profitless effort to find something which will lift him out of the rut into which so many fall and then remain permanently trapped.  This explains the fact that out of the estimated six thousand people who engage in home-based mail order, the vast majority are operating on a part-time basis and making very little money.  In fact, detailed surveys have revealed that less than fifty of these six thousand are making a full-time living.  In addition there are no more than ten who could be described as very wealthy.

 

In a previous book of mine, based on an exhaustive and detailed survey, I estimated that of all the money generated by the mail order trade, these fifty to sixty prosperous people took over sixty per cent of it.  The other forty per cent was shared amongst the remaining five thousand nine hundred and fifty - the losers, the part-timers who never seem able to rise out of the rut.  Why are there so many losers in home-based mail order?  As that famous publication 'Recommend & Approved' pointed out so succinctly, most of these people are not really mail order dealers at all.  The definition of a mail order dealer is 'one who sells goods by mail'.  Whatever else they may do, the one thing these tiny-scale operators do not do is sell goods by mail.

 

I don't want to go into great detail on loser activities, but I suppose one of the most popular is flitting from one MLM scheme to the next and paying around £25 or the privilege of joining each.  It is worth pointing out that MLM has yet to produce a single millionaire in the UK.  But genuine mail order has produced several, and at least one who became a multi-millionaire from home-based mail order, mainly by importing fast selling items from the Far East.  I will repeat those last four words - from the FAR EAST.

 

So, what I'm suggesting is this.  Become a REAL main order dealer - i.e. sell goods by mail and step out of the rut in which the vast majority of the mail order circle remain firmly and permanently stuck.  Get off the MLM and chain letter roundabout and start making some real money as a bona-fide mail order trader.  It is an interesting fact that of the three top earners amongst the fat cats, none is involved in MLM.  One is a professional writer and business consultant, and both the others sell goods by mail - and both import from the Far East.

 

I don't wish to labour this point about wasting time and effort, but before going on to the main subject of this book, I would like to quote from a letter I received.  It was written by a highly educated man, an honours graduate and college lecturer.  He had been taking a look at home-based mail order and dabbling a little.  The extract I have chosen from his letter reads as follows.

 

"I worked out very quickly that most mail order participants do not actually sell any product, but instead involve themselves in a curious carousel of exchanging pieces of paper and money.  Like cannibals they feed on each other.  The actual amount of money circulating in the mail order circle remains more or less the same, but it is constantly re-circulated.  One other aspect soon forced itself upon me.  A great deal of the material which has been plonking through my letterbox is of an incredibly shoddy quality - tatty leaflets, execrable English, suspect syntax, gruesome grammar, apostrophes scattered like so much confetti and bizarre spelling."

 

I must agree with these comments and in some of my previous books I have myself pointed to appalling low standards of literacy in mail order literature and repeatedly suggested that professional help be sought.  It is freely available and anyone who wants it can write to me care of the publisher, if you want pointing in the right direction.

 

Now let us get on with examining the fantastic opportunities for British mail order dealers who are prepared to look at the other side of the world as a source for products which will sell here with massive profit margins.  I will show you that a tremendous range of products suitable for mail order are available at incredibly low prices.  Why are Far East prices often at a level far below those of our own products?  The answer is that one of the major factors in pricing is labour costs.  The unionised British worker has high living standards, works for a wage and has a working week which would make a worker in the Far East green with envy.

 

How can a Western working man compete with workers who survive on a few handfuls of rice, who work eleven, twelve or more hours per day for a pittance?  Now you may think that the exploitation of cheap labour in the Far East is morally wrong, but it is something which has been going on for centuries and will no doubt go on for many more years.  In the workers' paradise (communist China) the wages are even lower than elsewhere in the Far East and the exploitation is even greater.  But mainland China should not be ignored as a source for low priced products.

 

Let us start with the Far East source with the most numerous sources for low priced products, Hong Kong.  Some people are influenced by a belief that Hong Kong is almost at the end of the road as a source for cheep goods.  Don't listen to the panic mongers.  The reversion to Chinese communist rule is still some years off.  When it does come, do not expect to see a sudden and total collapse of the free enterprise system.  The Chinese communists know very well which side their bread is buttered.  As is already happening, communism and capitalism will work hand in hand in the former British colony.

 

So if you want to deal with Hong Kong suppliers, do so with confidence.  There is another reason why you can have confidence when dealing with Chinese businessmen, whether in Hong Kong, Singapore or mainland China.  The vast majority are honest and have a sense of honour.  Inexperienced mail order dealers who order goods from the Far East sometimes forget just how long it takes for good to come by surface route from the other side of the world.  So they sometimes send a nasty letter to Hong Kong complaining about delay or even worse.  Such a letter would be insulting if sent to a firm in this country.  It is doubly insulting when sent to a place where honour plays such an important role in business.

 

You will notice I said the vast majority of Far East businessmen are honest, not all of them.  There are always one or two rotten apples in every barrel.  Happily, it does not make for a major problem.  The Chinese business community in the Far East are very anxious to protect their reputation for honest and ethical trading and have methods for policing and monitoring the activities of their own business communities.  There are various trade associations whose main purpose is to promote the export potential of their own business community, but I found them very helpful when checking the ethical  standards of firms which I proposed to consider for listing in this book.

 

In particular, there were three organisations which helped me a great deal in sorting the wheat from the chaff.  One was an  organisation in Singapore, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME).  Another was the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the third was a British organisation, the Ethical Mail Order Trader's Association (EMOTA).  I will refer to all of these three organisations by their abbreviated titles from now on in this book.  EMOTA has members with extensive experience in Far East trading and has built up large files of information.  Without their co-operation and helpfulness it would have been much more difficult to product this book.

 

This book deals with it's subject with a view to being primarily of interest to mail order traders.  However, I do realise that those who import, usually on a comparatively small scale, from the Far East often have other ways of marketing in addition to, or instead of, operating by mail order.  At least two traders who initially imported original oil paintings from Hong Kong with a view to operating purely by mail order found other venues of marketing and now only a small part of their business is conducted by mail order.  Both these traders have made a great deal of money from their business activities and as I propose to deal first with oil paintings from Hong Kong, I will provide information on these other outlets for sale.

 

The import of paintings from Hong Kong can roughly be divided into three groups:

 

1. Original oil paintings by Chinese artists, usually in the western style.

 

2. Reproductions of famous old masters of the western school.

 

3. Oil paintings, usually portraits of people, based on photographs supplied by the customers.

 

Here I would stress that while a great deal of money can be made from any of these categories, there are certain pitfalls which the trader inexperienced in importing must avoid and I will give considerable attention to these.

 

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, you cannot communicate with suppliers in the Far East in the same way that so many small scale ail order operators do in this country.  You will be dealing with hard-headed businessmen who are very much profit motivated.  They will often send expensive colour catalogues free of charge to those they take to be bona-fide importers in this country.  But these catalogues and long detailed lists are often expensive to produce, apart from the postal costs of sending them to the UK.  So, over the years, Chinese businessmen have become used to receiving numerous enquiries and requests for trade catalogues from the West.  They have thus developed an eagle eye, almost an instinct, for spotting the time waster and the curiosity monger.

 

The practice of so many home-based mail order dealers in corresponding with hand-written letters, often with no proper printed letter heading, or at best, one of those little adhesive gold labels with the name and address printed on it, or a rubber stamped heading, all of these are o-u-t OUT.  You are unlikely to get a reply by sending an enquiry or request for a catalogue in such a cheap, amateurish way.  There is a good chance your letter will go straight into the wastepaper bin  without even being read.  Your letters MUST by typed, never hand-written.  The letters must be sent on properly printed letterheads and remember that absence of a telephone number on that letterhead is an instant give-away that you are a small timer who is not worth bothering about.

 

If you want to deal with Far East sources you had better give a professional appearance to your business letters.  Do not ever give the impression you are a part-timer operating from your kitchen table, even if you are.  Many Far East traders do not mind sending small quantities or samples if, I repeat if, they think you are a bona-fide businessman or woman who may order much larger quantities later on.  So you either operate from the start in a professional manner or you forget the idea of importing from the Far East.

 

 

We will start off by dealing with art imports from Hong Kong, dealing in any or all of the categories I have previously listed.  There are numerous studios in Hong Kong who are eager and willing to do business with Western businessmen.  I mentioned that there are some pitfalls which need to be avoided, so I will deal with these next.

 

One pitfall is that inexperienced beginners do not realise just how far away the Far East is.  Goods coming by sea take a considerable time to come from the other side of the world.  So it is not really a good idea to take orders and then to send off the order to Hong Kong.  Not, that is, unless you have the goods sent airmail and that can be expensive and add greatly to the costs.  Far better to build up a stock, however modest, before you begin to accept orders.  Orders coming by surface mail can take between two and three months, sometimes longer.  Experienced importers may use se freight instead of surface mail and it is possible thus to cut down on journey time, but sea freight is really best for larger orders.  In the case of oil paintings, (say) a couple of hundred canvasses or more.

 

I will explain the differences between surface mail and sea freight and also explain certain common abbreviations which are used in export/import when shipping freight.  Let us start with the abbreviations which one will come across most frequently when importing.  When you receive a quotation from the Far East, the quotation will either be F.O.B., C.I.F. OR C & F.

 

F O B  stands for Free On Board

 

An F.O.B. quotation means the supplier will pay all costs up until the goods are safely lodged on the ship.  So the quotation includes the actual cost of the goods, plus costs of transporting the goods to the ship, plus cost of loading onto the ship.

 

C I F  stands for Cost, Insurance, Freight

 

This means not only F.O.B. costs but also freight costs up to the arrival at the unloading port, plus insurance costs for all the journey from the supplier to when you actually receive the freight.  The goods are usually insured at one hundred and ten per cent of actual value.  You have to make arrangements or delivery from the loading port to your home or warehouse.  So if the goods are unloaded at (say) Southampton and you live in Birmingham, you will pay the charges of the freight forwarder or the Post Office for delivery from Southampton to Birmingham.  C.I.F. quotations are often given if freight is coming by air.  If sent by airmail parcel it will be delivered free to your home.

 

C. & F.  stands for Cost & Freight

 

It is the same as C.I.F. except that insurance costs are not covered.  You should arrange insurance with the freight forwarder.  The same goes for F.O.B. as insurance costs are yours once the goods have been loaded at the point of departure.

 

B/L  stands for Bill of Loading

 

This gives information regarding the weight of the goods, the type of packing and actual number of parcels or crates, the name of the ship onto which the goods have been loaded and the ship's date of departure.  Whatever you do, do not mislay that B/L.  It is an important document which you will need to collect your goods.  It will also be needed to produce to the insurance company if a claim has to be made.

 

I.L.C. stands for Irrevocable Letter of Credit

 

This will only concern you on larger orders when the value of the order is getting close to four figures or beyond that point.  It is a simple but safe process which protects both the buyer and the seller.  The buyer pays sufficient into the bank to cover the cost of the order.  The bank then draft a letter of credit which is sent to the seller (exporter).  It is confirmation from the buyer's bank that they hold the money to pay for the goods and form a promise to pay that amount of money to the seller immediately proof is given that the goods have been dispatched on time and are in accordance with the description given on the letter of credit.  The seller is thus sure of receiving his money once the goods have been dispatched, and the buyer is assured of receiving the goods.

 

But on more modest orders one would not use and I.L.C., but instead would use a Banker's Draft.  Having placed your order, you will receive a pro-forma invoice from the Far East supplier with a request that you pay by Banker's Draft.  Your bank will make up the draft and you send it off the supplier.  The bank charge for this varies from bank to bank, but is usually around £5.  If the amount of the order is so small that it does not justify this charge, you can always send cash.  In this case you will get a special envelope from the Post Office and thus insure the cash at a cost considerably below that of the Bank Draft fee.

 

There are other abbreviations used in import/export but they will seldom concern you.  Before leaving the important matter of transportation I would like to clarify the differences between mail and freight and ensure there is no confusion.  I would also like to clarify the difference between sea mail and sea freight.  Freight usually only involves orders which are too big to be sent by normal methods.

 

SEA MAIL

 

Cheapest, but with the longest delivery time.  You will have probably heard the song 'Slow Boat to China', but the boat from Hong Kong to the UK. can seem to take even longer.  It is not just the actual journey time, there are other factors involved, not least of which is that there are far less ocean going ships than there used to be.  So the frequency of sailing from a port like Hong Kong is very much reduced.  A few years ago such ports would be crammed with deep sea vessels, not anymore.  Your Hong Kong supplier will take the parcel(s) to his local Post Office where he will obtain a Certificate of Posting and  he will send you a copy of this.  Unlike the sea freight, you do not know when your goods will be placed on a ship, nor do you know the date of departure.

 

Your parcel(s), along with many other parcels, will be put in a container.  Only when the container is full will it go down to the docks to await a suitable ship.  Once on the high seas the ship might sail directly to the UK, if you are lucky, but it is much more likely that the ship will call in at other ports to off-load parcels for that particular country.  So surface mail seldom takes less than eight weeks and that would be exceptional.  Best to estimate at least twelve weeks for the journey time.  There is a surface mail weight limit on parcels of fifteen kilograms per parcel.

 

SEA FREIGHT

 

Strictly for large orders, but it does have certain advantages over sea mail as you are able to be aware of what is happening to your order - i.e. actually know the date on which the ship left port with your order.  As you get more used to dealing with Far East sources, and if the size of your order justifies the use of sea freight, you can easily obtain information about shipping movements, such as which ships are sailing from Hong Kong and when.  You can send instructions to your supplier telling him which ship to put your order on.  You will receive a Bill of Loading (explained earlier) and from this you will see the date of departure of the ship carrying your goods.

 

Airmail is considerably more expensive but so much faster.  Hong Kong has one of the biggest airports in the Far East, even if it is one of the most hair-raising to land at.  With aircraft constantly leaving for the UK. there is little or no delay.  But you will notice I have refrained from giving airmail or other postal costs.  The reason is that postal rates are constantly changing (unfortunately always upwards) and any information given here on postal rates would quickly become outdated.  It is easy enough to find out current postal and freight rates from Hong Kong.  Probably the HKTDC London office would be pleased to tell you (address given later) or any main Post Office should be able to provide information.

 

Now to deal with the practical matter of importing oil paintings from Hong Kong, then I will deal with many other fast-selling items from the Far East.  You will notice that although I have mentioned Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China I have not mentioned two other Far East sources - Taiwan and Thailand.  There is very good reason for this which I will come to later.  Now to oil paintings and, for the moment, we will exclude oil paintings from photographs as this is a subject which deserve a separate section.

 

The importation of oil paintings from Hong Kong can be extremely profitable, but anyone who is inexperienced should start cautiously and in a small way.  There are hundreds of studios in Hong Kong employing artists of varying degrees of skill and expertise.  Big is not always best in Hong Kong.  One of the best is a very small family studio and they all work in one room.  What Hong Kong sets as standards are not necessarily the same as those in the West.  So when you see grades given on the literature from Hong Kong, there are usually three.  Very good, good and standard.  These grades are only relevant to western style paintings and not paintings in the classical Chinese style.  I will interpret these gradings with my own.

 

HONG KONG GRADING  -  MY GRADING

 

VERY GOOD - EXCELLENT TO GOOD

GOOD  - GOOD TO MEDIOCRE

STANDARD  - MEDIOCRE TO PRETTY AWFUL

 

These grades refer to original oil paintings.  Reproductions of oil masters by the better studios are generally of a higher standard.  Original paintings not in the western style and which follow the classical Chinese style are often exceptionally good.

 

The reproduction of oil masters is more expensive, but the profit margin is still very good.  It is not usual to buy ready framed oil paintings from Hong Kong, yet for retail sales it is essential that paintings are framed.  Unless you are an expert DIY man I do not recommend that you try to make your own frames.  There are plenty of UK. firms who will supply ready made frames.  Here are a few of the good ones.

 

Saucha Sauda, 40 Great Hampton Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 6AA

 

Northern Framing Company Limited, 86 Miller Street, Manchester, M4 4DY

 

Art Trade Frames, 2 Dagnan Road, London, SW12 9LQ

 

Ford's Frames, 10 Brighton Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 3EA

 

If you are going to sell retail you will need canvas stretchers which you can buy at almost any art shop.  The people in the art shop will probably show you how to use them if you don't already know.  The canvas is placed on the stretcher prior to being framed.

 

Those who have imported oil paintings from Hong Kong have found several lucrative methods of marketing which do not involve mail order trading.  A favourite method is to hire a hall or a large room at a hotel and hold an art exhibition.  Finding the right venue and the best methods of advertising such an event are often part of a trial and error process, but very fat profits have been made by some of those who have imported these original paintings from Hong Kong.  One might say that cold canvassing from door to door would not be a suitable way of selling such paintings and this is probably true, but I have heard of a variation which worked very well for one man.  He worked with a charming and articulate lady who would call at houses and ask if they would like to see a selection of good original paintings with no obligation to purchase.  Response was surprisingly high and her partner would then follow up and display the paintings.  He did not use any high pressure selling methods and had no prepared sales patter.  He said that English people generally did not respond to such methods.

 

One thing I must mention, because at some stage you may be asked about it.  Many of these Hong Kong artists are incredibly good and are very well known, not only in Hong Kong but throughout the Far East.  Yet when painting for the Western market they usually use a Western nom-de-plume.  Thus Lin Yong Chuen becomes Harry Brown, or whatever.  There is nothing wrong with this practice.  Many creative people use nom-de-plumes or pen names.  The top professional writers may have several.  Peter Head has at least six to my knowledge.  You may get asked why an original painting by a Hong Kong artist has an Anglo-Saxon signature.  Now you know the reason.

 

Paintings from photographs is something which is extremely profitable and the best sources for this work are in Hong Kong.  But past experience has shown that many of those in this country who operate this service are often unfair to the Hong Kong studios who undertake this work in that they often ask them to accept the impossible.  If you operate this service you must insist the customer supplies you with a photograph which will give the artist a chance to reproduce a good likeness.  I suggest you do not accept Polaroid photos and it is best to insist that photographs are at least postcard size.  Even then, do not accept if the person is a considerable distance away from the camera.  Remember you are asking the artist to make a comparatively large painting from a photograph, so it is no use sending a photograph of somebody standing at the other side of the garden.

 

Reject any photograph sent to you which is blurred or out of focus.  It is essential that the facial features of the subject are clear and distinct.  This will enable the artist to produce a painting which will delight your customer.  Asking the artist to do the impossible will only bring complaints from customers.  Of course, not all the orders for this work are for paintings in which a person is the subject.  A relative of mine used this Hong Kong service for a painting of her Yorkshire Terrier.  The resultant painting was (in her own words) "absolutely fabulous", but she did supply a large, good photograph of the dog.  She also supplied a photograph of her very attractive cottage which resulted in another brilliant painting.  But mention of painting from photographs which are not of the actual customer brings me to a very important pint, and this is the thorny  matter of copyright.  Any person running a 'paintings from photographs' business may run up against occasional copyright problems.  If someone sent you a postcard photograph for a painting to be made of a photograph of (say) a Pop Star or other prominent figure, or perhaps a postcard featuring a famous building, scrutinise the postcard carefully because most of them are copyright.  Of course there is nothing to stop your customer taking his own photographs of some familiar building or person and then there are no copyright problems.  But this is something you need to be very careful about.

 

Now I'm going to give some addresses in Hong Kong for those who are interested in importing the original paintings or the paintings from photographs service.  I will give you names and addresses and details of what each particular studio offers.  My personal experience are that all the studios I list are first class.  You will notice tat some of the addresses are long and complicated.  The reason for this is that Hong Kong is a very, very overcrowded place.  More like a huge rabbit warren than anything else.  A building which in this country might house fifteen firms would perhaps house eighty in Hong Kong where space is at a premium.  Copy these addresses down very carefully, exactly a shown here.  You will also notice that a lot of firms use PO. Box numbers for postal business.  The reason is that Hong Kong firms are more mobile than elsewhere.  Workspace is very expensive and leases are often very short.  So a firm may move two or three times in a year.  Use of a P.O. Box number allows continuity of business.  Of course,, this does not apply to all firms and some of those I list have been at the same address for years.  Here is the list:

 

NAME:  ARTS COMPANY

 

ADDRESS: Flat D, 9/F., Wing Lee Building, 27-33 Kimberley Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. Box 98522, Tsimshatsui Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

 

TELEPHONE:  3-7394777-9 TELEX:  41113 ACWKC HX FAX: 3-7394981

 

Manufacturer and exporter of high quality original oil paintings  of landscapes, seascapes, flowers, street scenes, harbour scenes,  still life and oil paintings from photographs.

 

NAME:  THE ASIA COMPANY

 

ADDRESS:  11/F., Flat 4, Hai Phong Mansion, 99-101 Nathan Road,  Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. Box 95587, Tsimshatsui Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-660546 TELEX:  40966 YFWON HX FAX:  852-3-3110293

 

Full range of oil paintings. Sample packages, write or telex or free catalogue.

 

NAME:  ORIGINAL ARTS & INDUSTRIES

 

ADDRESS:  Flat 4, 4/F., Cosmopolitan Centre, 760 Nathan Road, (Side Door), Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. Box 78939, Mongkok Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-800728  FAX:  3-971009

 

High quality original oil paintings. Portraits, masterpiece reproduction, water colours, Chinese paintings on silk/cork paper.

 

NAME:  THE PAINT BOX

 

ADDRESS:  No 9, 11/F., Block B, Chong Yip Mansion, Pratas Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-617643 FAX:  3-7250977

 

Manufacturer/exporter/wholesaler o original oil paintings, water colours, copies of old masters, paintings from photographs.

 

NAME:  TODAY ART COMPANY

 

ADDRESS:  Room A2B, 1/F., Tai Fu Building, 10 Tai Tsun Street, Taikoktsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

 

TELEPHONE:  3-961198 TELEX:  47595 RGMC HX FAX:  852-3-7894481

 

Manufacturer/exporter of quality oil paintings, landscapes, seascapes, portraits, reproduction of oil masters.

 

NAME:  ULTRA ART COMPANY

 

ADDRESS:  Flat A, 3/F., 440-442 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

 

TELEPHONE:  3-7808649 TELEX:  52846 HAIS HX FAX:  852-3-886443

 

Reliable manufacturer/exporter of quality oil paintings.  Reproduction of old masters.  Paintings from photographs.

 

NAME:  VICTORY TRADING COMPANY

 

ADDRESS:  Room 2303, Loong San Building, 140-142 Connaught Road C., Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. Box 33882, Sheung Wan Post Office, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  5-417074 TELEX:  67684 VTRDC HX FAX:  5-8540196

 

Experienced manufacturer/exporter of original oil paintings.  Varied subjects. Large quantity of stock from 8" x 10" to 24" x 28".

 

NAME:  YUNG'S PAINTING & ARTS

 

ADDRESS:  Room 717, Sincere Building, 83 Argyle Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-939804 FAX:  3-7899856

 

Manufacturer/exporter of original oil paintings (Western style).  Also Chinese water colour artwork on cork paper.

 

NAME:  UNITED ASIA ART COMPANY

 

ADDRESS:  Flat C, 7/F., Hang Wan Building, 42-44 Granville Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. Box 90760, Tsimshatsui Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-3115963 TELEX:  44750 UNISA HX FAX:  852-3-7962861

 

Manufacturer/exporter of original oil paintings. Oil portraits from old masters.  Oil paintings from photographs.  Free samples and photographs for bona-fide businesses.

 

NAME;  DOMINIC'S ART GALLERY COMPANY

 

ADDRESS:  Block C, 1/F., 183-189 Fa Yuen Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. Box 78786, Mongkok Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-952342 & 3-918495 TELEX:  40207 WNJOY HX FAX:  3-7890643

 

Manufacturer/exporter of fine hand painted original oil paintings. Over five hundred talented artists, specialised in various subjects.

 

NAME:  HUTS ART OIL PAINTING GALLERY

 

ADDRESS:  Room 10-12, 8/F., Eureka Industrial Building, 1-17 Sai Lau Kok Street, Tsuen Wan, N.T., Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. Box 116, Tsuen Wing Street Post Office, N.T., Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  0-4168706 TELEX:  51689 HAOPG HX FAX:  852-0-4114776

 

Manufacturer/exporter of original oil paintings and  reproduction of old masters.  Water colours etc.

 

NAME:  CHOI YIN FONG ART GALLERY

 

ADDRESS:  Flat A3, 9/F., Burlington House, 92-94 Nathan Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. BOX 73543, Kowloon Central Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-7218020 & 3-7218021  TELEX:  41252 CYFAG HX  FAX:  852-3-3113670

 

Experienced producer/exporter of oil paintings from photographs.  High grade copy oil paintings.  Commercial oil paintings. Water colours. Cork paper silk Chinese traditional hand paintings and embroidery pictures on silk.

 

NAME:  HILL FUNG ARTS COMPANY

 

ADDRESS:  Flat C, 8/F., Kin Tak Industrial Buildings, 1172 Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-7973342  FAX:  852-3-434321

 

Large group of experienced artists specialising in hand painted oil paintings, also oil paintings from photographs.

 

Just one or two points to clarify the foregoing list.  The main areas for the business community in Hong Kong are Kowloon and the area known as the New Territories.  It is common to just use the abbreviation N.T. for the latter.  Do not attempt other abbreviations and copy exactly the addresses I have given.

 

Before I close the subject of importing art from Hong Kong, there are a few further points I must mention, though they apply to all imports from the Far East.  Remember that you will have to pay import duty.  Small samples might get through Customs with no duty payable, but generally you can expect to pay between 15% and 20% of the value of the bill or invoice.  Remember to allow for this when working out your own prices.  The other relates to a normal practice of business courtesy.  If you write to the Far East and you are hoping to get literature sent to you, perhaps even an expensive colour catalogue, then you should at least have the courtesy to send postage.  The international equivalent to the S.A.E. is the International Reply Coupon, available from Post Offices.  The person you write to can exchange these I.R.C.s for stamps to answer your enquiry or request for information.  They can exchange each I.R.C. for stamps to cover a reply at normal surface rate.  So if you want an airmail reply you should send several I.R.C.s.

 

Earlier, I mentioned using an International Bankers Draft instead of an I.L.C. when buying small quantities of goods.  To avoid confusion, the drafts are also known as International Money Orders.

 

Now I want to explain why this publication concentrates on the wonderful bargains available from Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China, but it virtually ignores Taiwan and Thailand, two sources which have much to offer.  The reason why, for the time being, we chose to ignore these two source is because of a disturbing trend which has caused great concern to Western manufacturer.  You may have heard of the 'copy cat' system whereby famous brands are copied, right down to the last tiny detail.

 

You may have read in the press of horrific accidents caused when vital parts in vehicles and aircraft failed at a critical moment, only for investigators to discover that the part that failed was a cheap and inferior copy cat part, probably from Taiwan and Thailand.  It is often very difficult to tell the genuine product from a Far East copy cat.  It is not just things like video and compact discs.  Just about every prestige product is reproduced in cunning detail that defies anyone but an expert to tell the genuine from the counterfeit.

 

The famous Rolex watch in one example.  Lay a genuine Rolex down alongside a counterfeit and it is very difficult to tell which is which.  Even the printed guarantee is identical to the original.  Same type of paper, same size and style of print.  The packaging is absolutely identical.  The luckless purchaser only finds out when the watch stops and he takes it for repair.  Then he finds out that the works in the watch are cheap and nasty.  In the case of things like certain car accessories, such as tyres or brake fittings, these counterfeits can kill.  I am sure that at least some of the mail order dealers, market traders and others who have been convicted for selling these counterfeits were probably innocent in the sense that they genuinely did not know they were handling counterfeit goods.

 

I personally know of one unfortunate person who sold top brand electrical goods at a car boot sale.  I firmly believe that he was totally unaware that he was handling counterfeit goods.  But to quote an old saying - "ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law".  This man was heavily fined.  In this case the counterfeit goods came from Taiwan.  Most of these clever fakes come from Taiwan or Thailand.  Representation has repeatedly been made to both governments by manufactures' associations in Europe without effect.  Criticism by European governments and the Western media has also been ignored.

 

Earlier I mentioned EMOTA (Ethical Mail Order Traders Association).  They have advised their members not to engage in importing from either country until their respective governments take positive action against the manufacturers of these pirate goods.  As I am myself a member of EMOTA and also one of the freelance consultants retained by them, I will follow their policy and give no favourable publicity to either country until action is taken against these pirates.  This explains why you will find I have almost entirely ignored both countries in this publication.

 

I have given details of the art studios in Hong Kong and the obvious opportunities for big ft profits, but Hong Kong as much more to offer.  Everything you care to think of is made in Hong Kong and at very competitive prices, so I propose to give some more good Hong Kong sources for all kings of fast selling items which will be of special interest to mail order traders.  In some cases I will give instances of the types of goods which have already been imported with great success by British mail order traders and importers.

 

One example which comes to mind is that of a small firm of flag makers in the East End of London.  For years they had supplied flags of all kinds as well as bunting, banners, etc.  They always had a thriving mail order section, but rising labour costs, the increased cost of materials, increased rent on the business premises, increased rates and other problems almost put this firm out of business.  The wolf was at the door.  The two partners knew that something drastic needed to be done to save the business.

 

What they did was revolutionary, but it saved the firm.  They moved to smaller and cheaper premises.  They ceased manufacturing and got rid of most of their small labour force.  They still supplied flags and banners as before, but now all their stock was imported from Singapore.  This firm has taken on a new lease of life.  In less than two years the business has been turned around and is once again highly profitable.  As one of the partners told me - "If we hadn't moved with the times, we would have gone under".  Flags always sell well.  If you want a good source in Singapore for flags, banners, pendants, message printing, etc., I suggest...........

 

NAME:  WILLICHEW ARTS & ADVERTISING ENTERPRISE

 

ADDRESS:  Block 2023, Bukit Botok Industrial Park A., Street 23-04-110, Singapore 2385

 

TELEPHONE:  567-4822 FAX:  (65) 5637381

 

Manufacturer/exporter. Specialised in all kinds of silk screen printing for flags, banners, T-shirts, etc.

 

That account of the London flag making firm had a happy ending (for them), but it points to a very disturbing trend.  The manufacturing base in this country continues to shrink.  The story I have told has been repeated thousands of times up and down the country, usually without the happy ending which the flag makers enjoyed.  In a situation where we operate a free market economy, where our trade unions have enforced living standards which may be morally justified but are not justified by production levels at costs far above those of the Far East and elsewhere, we can only continue to decline.

 

There is a Chinese proverb - "The tears of the dispossessed will help water the garden".  In other words, one person's calamity may well benefit someone else.  The fact that our manufacturing industries are, with a few exceptions sliding rapidly downhill, should not deter you from taking advantage of an economic situation which gives you the opportunity for making money.  Will 1992 and the dropping of E.E.C. barriers make any difference to this Far East bonanza?  The answer is no.  Though most of our European partners have lower manufacturing and labour costs than we do, theirs are still very much higher than those of the Far East countries.  So there will be no change and Far East importers will continue to flow.  Nor will there be any appreciable difference in Hong Kong when the colony reverts to communist Chinese rule. So I can see no serious problems arising for importers of goods from the Far East.

 

Sometimes one can hit on something from the Far East by accident which can give birth to a highly profitable idea.  A Navy man, based in Hong Kong, bought a Chinese lacquer trunk fro a firm specialising in Japanese art and furniture.  He eventually arrived back in the UK. to take his discharge from the Navy.  He and his family had to move into cramped, temporary accommodation and he decided that the Japanese lacquer trunk had to go.  He put it into a local auction and, to his utter astonishment, it went for about five times what he paid for it.  Uncertain whether this was a fluke, he ordered other items from this firm, more trunks and a lacquer round table.  An advertisement in a quality Sunday newspaper brought an unexpectedly high response and this man realised he had, by chance, fallen into a profitable business.  There are firms in Hong Kong who can provide the most exquisite oriental furniture.  One I can recommend is...........

 

NAME;  ORIENTAL ARTS & FURNITURE

 

ADDRESS:  Flat A-F, 9/F., Agincourt Industrial Building, No. 428 Cha Kwo Ling Road, Yau Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

POSTAL ADDRESS:  P.O. Box 72455, Kowloon Central Post Office, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-480161-3  TELEX:  39151 OAF HX  FAX:  852-3-7727671

 

Manufacturer/exporter of lacquer furniture, screens, oriental hand paintings, hand painted wallpapers, porcelain wares, ceramic wares, etc.

 

I wonder how many of you reading this publication realise just how big are the quantities of goods which pour into this country from the Far East.  Go into any toy store or any market place and check on the country of origin on the goods you see.  You will find that a surprisingly high proportion come from the Far East.  Many of the goods sold by mail order through such publications as Exchange & Mart come from the Far East.  Why is this so?  Is it because such goods are produced far more cheaply than goods made in the West for reasons I gave at the beginning of this publication.  Thus profit  margins can be enormous even allowing for the import duty.

 

What you have to do is decide which particular product you think will sell well in this country.  Then you find a source in the Far East which can supply that product.  You can be certain there is such a source.  I am now going to make a few suggestions.  One line which seems to do very well is Chinese porcelain wares.  Don't be afraid of that word 'reproduction'.  There are several manufacturers of exquisite reproductions of ancient classical Chinese designs.  Admittedly such items have to be specially and carefully packed and care has to be taken during transit.  It is wise to ensure that consignments of this type are fully insured against damage.  If sold by mail, then special care must be taken with protective packing.  A highly recommended source for porcelain ware is...

 

NAME:  SHUN JING PORCELAIN WARES CO LTD

 

ADDRESS:  Room 1501, Tung Chun Commercial Buildings 438-444 Shanghai Street, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

TELEPHONE:  3-7708286  FAX:  852-3-857773