[Export 5] Selling wigs can cost millions of dollars a month.

Cross-border export e-commerce is really so profitable?

Experts remind: Now that you are in the market, the competition is big, making money is not so easy.

As the Spring Festival approached, when all walks of life began to enter the holiday countdown mode, the deities of the cross-border electric business community were still busy. As Huifeng and He Feng (both pseudonyms) in the cross-border e-commerce circle said: “Business follows people and does not delay earning foreigners’ money.” Recently, the New Express reporter interviewed some cross-border e-commerce companies in Guangzhou. Enterprises, found that the unremarkable gadgets, but the less competitive, high-profit "blue sea" goods; receive the dollar and pounds and other goods, must be "drifting" to become the renminbi in the pocket...

A cross-border electricity business is still a "wa" in Guangzhou

Cross-border e-commerce has recently become a hot word. When the "good quality and low price" imported goods received attention, the "Made in China" across the sea was rarely known.

In 2010, Huifeng, who threw away the “iron rice bowl”, turned from a part-time “shop second” to a cross-border e-commerce boss. In the same year, He Feng also opened a company, specializing in online export business. For the spontaneously formed cross-border e-commerce industry, that year was a watershed. Going forward, "there is not much competition, what is sold, and the profits are high." Huifeng said that the average monthly transaction amount is 40,000 US dollars, and the net profit is less than 50%.

Since then, cross-border e-commerce has entered explosive growth. It is reported that more than 200,000 enterprises in China are engaged in online trade. In 2013, cross-border e-commerce transactions exceeded 3.1 trillion yuan, and cross-border e-commerce maintained a growth rate of more than 30%. In 2014, the cross-border e-commerce retail import and export transaction volume in Guangzhou exceeded RMB 1 billion.

“Cross-border e-commerce exports are mostly hot, and fire.” Fang Zhenming, executive vice president of the Cross-border E-commerce Association of Guangdong Province, said that Guangdong is the largest foreign trade province in China, and cross-border e-commerce companies account for 70% of the country’s total. It accounts for about 50% of the nature of individual households and millions of related employees. It is reported that the 3C products in export products are the largest, followed by clothing. With the rise of cross-border e-commerce, Guangzhou Baiyun, Panyu, Haizhu and other places have successively appeared “cross-border e-commerce villages”. However, at present, the industry not only faces the dilemma of high logistics costs, long time-consuming, and low-level vicious competition. The related policies such as cross-border payment and export tax rebate also lag behind the development speed of the industry.

He Feng, who exports electronic products and leather bags online, said that although he now has a monthly transaction volume of “a million dollars”, his profit is not as good as before. “Maori is less than 30%, and the overall trend is going down.” LED decoration Huifeng, who has lights, small appliances and outdoor lighting, also feels the same. He can do $500,000 a month. "There are many people, there must be competition, and profits are falling."

B “Blue Ocean” products are not so easy to find

“Blue Ocean” was originally a term used to describe the emerging cross-border e-commerce industry. Among the many commodities, there is no shortage of "competition and high profits", and e-commerce calls it "blue ocean" products.

He Feng, who graduated from the "electric shock" in 2008, said that his business was transferred from China to foreign countries in 2010. For the characteristics of "hands-on ability" in North America and Europe, many people have "special tool rooms" in their homes. Started selling small modules such as chips and industrial products. In China, “paying a module for more than ten yuan directly on the Internet, and then selling it for more than ten dollars, it is small and light, and the freight is cheap.” However, the good times are not long. In 2012, there are big e-commerce companies also eyeing. These products, "all of a sudden reduced the price to two or three dollars, the profit is only a few percent." He told the New Express reporter that the switch to electronic products and leather bags, the two types of products "half open", the bag " The profit is relatively high."

Huifeng also talked about a product that changed from "blue ocean" to "red sea" (competitive competition, low profit) - wig , which is a bit unexpected. "In 2009, some people made a wig to make a home, and they could achieve millions of dollars a month." Then, they caused the competition to follow suit, and the price fell to the bottom. At the moment, the two will focus on creating their own brands, Huifeng registered a small home appliance brand. They are not responsible for production, they are looking for manufacturers to OEM.

Huifeng has a friend who also exports cross-border e-commerce. "Experience, ideas have been said, even employees have lend him, but it has not improved for several years." Fang Zhenming said that many people in e-commerce are not perfect. The overall plan, not to study the market, no data analysis, "the money can not afford to toss."

The reporter learned that in the cross-border e-commerce industrial park with a cement factory rebuilt in Juyuan Street, Baiyun District, Guangzhou, the most unique thing is that college students can start a business here free of charge, without starting capital, and they don’t know what to sell. Someone will provide product guidance for "novice" entrepreneurship.

Want to be a cross-border export e-commerce network is your network big enough?

●Keyword: Shipment

Domestic shipments will become "non-mainstream"

Ms. Zhang, who is a women's electrician in China, is transforming “going out to sea”. Warehousing and logistics contacted her friends from overseas Chinese friends to help. Listening to a bit of a circumstance, but wearing the logistics status of export e-commerce.

“Many people do this, ship it domestically, or ship it from overseas warehouses, depending on which resources you have in which countries.” He Feng said that his customers are more in the US, followed by Europe. Therefore, he has his own warehouse in the United States, "there are 500 square meters, monthly rent of 20,000 US dollars." In the United Kingdom to find a friend's warehouse, in Australia, a third party, "the third party's lowest cost." Huifeng chose to ship directly from overseas warehouses. "Compared small products will gradually go from China, and larger small appliances will be shipped to overseas warehouses in advance." He said that the warehouse logistics model is the general trend.

● Keywords: collection

Cross-border payment of goods, "drawing"

Cross-border e-commerce, which is mainly export-oriented, cannot avoid the problem of “returning money”. Overseas consumers, such as buyers in the United States and Britain, pay for US dollars or British pounds. How do these payments return to the hands of domestic e-commerce?

He Feng said that in the overseas e-commerce platform, there are similar payment tools for Alipay. Some platforms require e-commerce to "deliver" themselves. In order to reduce the handling fee, he chooses to pick it up once a week, and the platform will periodically make a voluntary payment to the bank account provided by the e-commerce. Huifeng revealed the twists and turns of the industry's return, the foreign currency paid by overseas buyers, and the bank account of the e-commerce in the US or Hong Kong, "part of the settlement with the supplier", and then through the bank in Hong Kong, China. The account is remitted to the mainland. "The process is really troublesome." He said that remittances have "amounts". Some e-commerce companies need to launch relatives and friends to go to the bank to "open twenty or thirty cards" in order to meet the demand for remittances. "Sometimes not enough, you will also find friends from your peers to borrow credits."