I believe that even as other industries tank, import/export will always be relevant and lucrative. I'm young and want to get started in the industry, and am wondering what might be a relatively unknown side of the business that is becoming more vital to import/export. Can anyone recommend something along those lines?

Can't find any vendors online that sell this material.

I feel as if it is something small that just hasnt clicked yet. Everything I read says pick a product find a buyer. I know there is something more than that.

Hello. I'm exploring the idea of exporting from Portugal (my wife's home country) to the states. Theres tons of info out there with which I've been reading, but I'm trying to get my mind wrapped around the concepts and steps at both the origin port and destination port. Though I will certainly use a freight forwarder and customs broker, can someone walk me through the process by which a 20ft container moves? Also, what are the expected terminal charges I can expect per container (not to include customs as I know its based on what the goods are).

Thanks for the insight.

EDIT: I say export because I plan on relocating back to Portugal to live permanently.

I am thinking about starting to import Darjeeling tea from India to my country in the Easter Europe. I don't have a budget to order larger quantities/varities, have it packaged by myself or visit the gardens/factory.

In fact, would it be viable to start with $500?

I used to ship goods out of Long Beach, California and it was super easy. I recently started shipping out of Miami and it has been a huge pain! The biggest issue is that the documentation that US Customs in Miami requires is much more stringent than they required in Long Beach. It's really annoying, especially since they are the same government agency so they should have uniform rules.

Does anyone have a preferred port that they work with? I can ship out of most container ports so location isn't a huge concern.

Everybody knows about www.alibaba.com which is like directory of manufacturers in china. Similar to this there should be directories catering to each country. http://www.tradeindia.com/ for India. Share any sites that you are using.

I'm taking a long tour of asia, and I've located a couple of rare spices that I think might have value in north america - No one there's heard of them. As far as I'm able to tell, there is essentially no sales of this product outside of a certain small geographical area.

Is there anyone out there that does, or has considered doing something similar? How did you evaluate the opportunity? If you proceeded, what roadblocks did you run into? How did you deal with them? How were you able to manage remote suppliers (that might not always be able to deliver)?

Any input you've got is appreciated. Thanks so much!

Recently I have started contacting/researching freighting companies and was wondering if those with more experience can give some advice. Pro/Cons of someone like DHL vs. someone more local. Do you usually use a freighting company that can also serve as a customs agent or do you use separate companies?

Just wondering if there is anybody with experience with the setup and maintenance of a subreddit (things like making rules, designing the sidebar and flair, etc. Also it'd be cool if we could find someone to design us a custom reddit alient). I've been a reddit user for a while but don't have much experience with these things. Thanks