How to start importation with little capital

Posted by Felix Okoli on Saturday January 5, 2013 at 9:23:43:

Compared to the number of consumers in Nigeria, the number of people who make big money from importation business are quite few and these are people with big capital that normally make imports of needed products in Nigeria via ships and they focus on items related to food, construction and household materials.

What if you could start your own importation business even with a little capital? Well it is quite possible to be a small time importer no matter the amount of capital you have.

Things needed
- Start up capital
- Internet access
- Online buying account
- Shipping address
- Product

Caution
Before you get started as an importer in Nigeria, one important thing you should do is get a copy of the prohibited items listed on the Nigerian custom website - www.customs.gov.ng.
When you want to import things to Nigeria, knowing what Nigerian law allows and forbids is what every importer needs to do. If you end up importing things that are prohibited by law, the items could be seized and you may even be prosecuted. So only import things that are not prohibited.

How much capital can I start with? Well, you can start with as little as N15,000 to N20,000 and import those things you can easily resell in Nigeria.

How to do it
- Decide on the product you want to import. Things like memory cards, phone covers, flash drives or cheap laptops

- Get a Visa or Mastercard from bank in US dollars

- Go to an online site like Aliexpress.com(China.com) or Amazon.com and place your order

- Make payment with Visa or Mastercard

- Arrange for shipping to Nigeria. Shipping from China is much cheaper than from US stores. Also, shipping light items is much cheaper than heavy ones.

- Expect shipping to Nigerian address within a week or agreed time frame

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Re: How to start importation with little capital Reply by Josephine Anucha on Wednesday March 6, 2013 at 9:1:16:

i want to start laptop and flash drives importation, how do i go about d shipping issue?




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Re: How to start importation with little capital Reply by Felix Okoli on Wednesday March 6, 2013 at 9:1:16:

It depends on where you are buying from. If buying from China, they also offer shipping to Nigeria. If buying from the USA, you should get a US shipping address.


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Re: How to start importation with little capital Reply by Josephine Anucha on Thursday March 7, 2013 at 13:14:19:

You talked about a shipping address. What is it? Thanks




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Re: How to start importation with little capital Reply by Felix Okoli on Thursday March 7, 2013 at 13:14:19:

The shipping address is simply an address you use to receive your goods after shopping. For those buying from US stores, you should know that most of them don't ship to Nigeria so it's good to at least get a US address(mail forwarding service) that would then ship it to Nigeria to you using DHL. You can get one from myus.com


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Re: How to start importation with little capital Reply by AJIBADE ADEBAYO MATTHEW on Friday March 22, 2013 at 11:1:18:

I want to start the importation of phone accessories, how do i go about it




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