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jdog2050
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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 Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:50 pm Post subject: *importing* products into Seoul |
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| Anyone ever done this? What are the hurdles and obstacles? Is Seoul friendly for starting a small business? |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:16 pm Post subject: Re: *importing* products into Seoul |
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| jdog2050 wrote: |
| Anyone ever done this? What are the hurdles and obstacles? Is Seoul friendly for starting a small business? |
http://www.customs.go.kr/
Be aware that the Korean government is very happy to have direct foreign investment
BUT
The hurdles are substantial
AND
the protectionist policies and import tariffs are daunting at best for an import company.
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jdog2050
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:53 pm Post subject: Re: *importing* products into Seoul |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
| jdog2050 wrote: |
| Anyone ever done this? What are the hurdles and obstacles? Is Seoul friendly for starting a small business? |
http://www.customs.go.kr/
Be aware that the Korean government is very happy to have direct foreign investment
BUT
The hurdles are substantial
AND
the protectionist policies and import tariffs are daunting at best for an import company.
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This is what I'm thinking. I feel like the Korean government wants the money, but not the competition. Sucks because for a lot of industries; it'd be great to ride the wave of Korea becoming a more sophisticated country, but how does one get started if they'll only let the big boys in, but the big boys don't really care?
Thanks for the link Ttompatz. It warrants further investigation. |
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loose_ends
Joined: 23 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:05 am Post subject: |
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I had a friend try to set up a business here. It was actually a really good idea.
In theory, it wasn't hard to get a business license. I think having 50 million in a bank account was one pre-requisite among others.
In the end the plan fell through because of the American side, not the Korean. |
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CeleryMan
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:25 pm Post subject: Re: *importing* products into Seoul |
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| jdog2050 wrote: |
| Anyone ever done this? What are the hurdles and obstacles? Is Seoul friendly for starting a small business? |
It's not about hurdles. It's about poorly educated Koreans who import products into Korea and severely undercut competitors by selling purely on "cheapest" price. The product's brand suffers, inventories are always unpredictable, margins are unnecessarily diluted, gray markets emerge, and nobody wins. |
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simone
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Now Mostly @ Home
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| Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:35 pm Post subject: |
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No. Not friendly.
Serious serious hurdles.
Particularly if it's foodstuff related.
PM me with a phone number and we can talk over the phone. I have a story for you about health food products, customs, corruption, and a warehouse full of stuff that's technically illegal to sell.
That is, if you're really serious about importing. If you're just making general inquiries, then the short answer is: Make sure it's something you can charge 7x higher here than your costs before importing are. Minimum. |
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