This is the guide we wished existed when we started: the actual sequence, in order, from "I want to import something from China" to a cleared shipment sitting in your warehouse — with the decisions that matter flagged, not buried.
Before the how, a harder question: should you? Importing from China makes commercial sense when three things line up — the product has a healthy enough margin to absorb duty, GST, and freight and still beat what you can source or manufacture in India; you have enough order volume (or a clear path to it) to get past minimum order quantities without tying up capital you can't afford to lose; and you're prepared to spend real time on verification and quality control, because the savings China offers come with a supply chain you can't walk down the street to inspect.
It does not make sense as a way to "test an idea" with money you need back quickly, or for products where Indian manufacturing is already efficient and the price gap is marginal once duty and freight are added. A lot of first-time importers skip this question and find out the answer the expensive way. Spend an honest hour on it first.
Three things need to be in place before you can legally import commercially into India. First, an Importer Exporter Code (IEC), issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) — a one-time registration, obtainable online, required for any commercial import shipment. Second, GST registration, since Integrated GST (IGST) is charged on imports at the point of customs clearance, and you'll want to claim input tax credit against it. Third, depending on your product, you may need to be registered with a specific regulatory body before you can sell — covered in detail in our BIS, FSSAI & WPC guide.
None of these are hard to obtain individually, but first-time importers frequently discover a gap — usually the product-specific certification — after the goods are already at port. Confirm all three before you place a purchase order, not after.
The products that work best for a first import share a few traits: a landed cost (product + freight + duty + GST, see the section below) meaningfully below what you can sell it for in India; a manageable compliance burden (avoid anything requiring BIS or FSSAI certification for your very first order, if you can — save that complexity for once you have a working process); a size and weight that doesn't make freight disproportionately expensive relative to unit value; and a category where quality is verifiable by inspection, rather than something that fails only after months of use.
If you can't clearly answer "what does this cost me landed in Mumbai, all-in, per unit" before you place the order, you're not ready to place the order. Model it first — see the landed cost section below.
Alibaba and 1688 are the default starting points, and both will return far more results than you can meaningfully evaluate. The filter that matters most isn't price — it's whether you're talking to a factory or a trading company (both can be fine, but you need to know which), and whether their business registration, trade history, and production capacity actually check out. We cover this in full depth, including the exact verification layers, in our supplier verification guide — read it before you send a deposit to anyone.
The Canton Fair and Yiwu Fair are the other major sourcing route, particularly for buyers who want to meet suppliers in person before committing. Our Canton Fair guide covers phase timing, booth strategy, and what to do once you're there.
A sample approved over a video call or photo is not a reliable predictor of your bulk order. Insist on a physical sample shipped to India before finalising the purchase order, inspect it against your written specification (not the supplier's marketing description of it), and keep it on file — it becomes your reference standard for the pre-shipment inspection later. Sample fees are usually negotiable and often recoverable against the first bulk order; ask for that explicitly, since suppliers rarely offer it unprompted.
This is the calculation first-time importers get wrong most often, usually by stopping at "factory price + shipping" and ignoring the rest. A full landed-cost model has five components:
| Component | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Product cost | Factory-gate (FOB) unit price × quantity. |
| Freight | Sea/air freight from Chinese port to Indian port, plus any inland haulage on both ends. |
| Customs duty (BCD) | Basic Customs Duty, determined by your product's HS code — varies significantly by category. |
| IGST | Charged on (product cost + freight + insurance + duty), not on product cost alone — a step people frequently miss. |
| Clearance & handling | CHA fees, port handling charges, and any inspection or certification costs. |
We go through this with worked examples — including exactly how IGST compounds on top of duty, not just product cost — in the dedicated landed cost & customs duty guide. Model this before you negotiate price, not after; a great unit price on a product with the wrong HS code can cost you more than a mediocre price on the right one.
Minimum order quantities vary hugely by category — low hundreds of units for many hardgoods and textiles, low thousands for electronics or anything requiring tooling. MOQs are often more negotiable than suppliers initially present, especially for a first order where you're testing the relationship. Payment terms typically run 30% deposit / 70% before shipment for new relationships, shifting toward more balance-of-power-favourable terms once you have order history. Document everything in a written purchase order covering price, specification, quantity, lead time, and quality-acceptance criteria — a verbal or chat-based agreement gives you nothing to point to if something goes wrong.
Once the PO is placed, silence from the supplier for weeks is normal and not itself a red flag — but you should still check in at agreed milestones. For any order of meaningful value, arrange a pre-shipment inspection: either a third-party inspection service, or (for higher-value or repeat orders) someone who physically checks the goods against your approved sample and spec before they're loaded. This is the single highest-leverage step for catching a quality problem while it's still the supplier's problem to fix, not yours after it's landed in India.
Illustrative relative cost per unit — actual pricing depends on route, volume, and season.
Most first orders that don't need same-week delivery are best served by sea LCL: you don't need a full container's worth of goods to justify the trip, and the per-unit cost is far more forgiving than air. Air freight earns its premium for samples, urgent restocks, or high-value, low-weight categories like electronics, where the freight cost is small relative to product value. We cover Incoterm selection and how it interacts with freight choice in the Logistics & Customs service.
Clearance runs on three things being correct: the HS code classification (which sets your duty rate and flags any licensing requirement), the Bill of Entry filed against your IEC, and the commercial invoice and packing list matching what a customs officer sees on inspection. A licensed Customs House Agent (CHA) typically handles the filing on your behalf. With accurate documentation and no compliance flags, clearance at a major Indian port usually takes a few days after vessel arrival; missing certification or a mismatched HS code is the most common cause of multi-week delays and demurrage costs.
It depends entirely on category and MOQ, but many first orders in hardgoods, accessories, or home categories land in the ₹1.5–5 lakh range once you include product cost, freight, and duty — small enough to test a category without betting the business on it. Electronics and anything requiring tooling usually needs more.
You need an Importer Exporter Code (IEC), which can be obtained by a proprietorship, so you don't strictly need a private limited company to start — but most serious importers move to a proper business structure quickly for liability and banking reasons.
Budget 6–10 weeks for a first order: 1–2 weeks sourcing and sampling, 2–4 weeks production, 2–4 weeks freight and customs depending on sea vs. air. First orders almost always take longer than expected — build in the buffer.
Going direct saves the agent fee but costs you the verification, negotiation leverage, and problem-resolution an experienced agent provides — which is often worth more than the fee on a first order, when the real risk isn't unit price, it's an undetected bad supplier.
We run exactly this process for clients every week. Tell us what you're sourcing and we'll map the fastest, safest route to your first shipment.
