We live in an age where it has never been easier, or faster to import products into the UK. Whether by air, sea, or rail, importing products is accessible and in some cases, surprisingly cost-effective.

Read on for advice on importing products to the UK.

Why Import Products To The UK?

First of all, why would you want to import products to the UK?

There are several reasons to import products to the UK but the main one is how accessible it now is to set up your own online retail business. With multiple easy ways to sell online, from social media to Amazon and retail platforms like Etsy, setting up shop is easier than ever.

From home décor items to jewellery, importing products to sell is incredibly easy and when importing from overseas you have access to a much wider range of products than we have available in the UK. It’s no secret that the UK doesn’t manufacture an awful lot, especially consumer products so with a vast range of products and bargain prices, shipping products in from countries like China and India makes sense to many retail business owners – whether they operate online or have a bricks and motor shop.

How Easy Is It To Import?

Traditionally, for small retail businesses, the only option to import smaller loads of product from countries like China would have been to use air freight. Whilst this method works just fine, it can be expensive in some cases and subject to delays. Not ideal when you’re ordering in products for holiday periods like Christmas.

The good news is, there is an easier way to import products, for experienced retail sellers to newbies, sea freight has become the go-to method for importing products, particularly goods from China.

LCL Shipping

Using Less than Container Load (LCL) shipping, sea freight is now one of the most accessible forms of getting your goods to the UK from countries like China and India.

But how does it work?

In the past, sea freight wasn’t as accessible to small business owners who only wanted to import smaller quantities of product as to access good shipping rates, you would need to fill a container full of goods. Just in case you’ve never seen a shipping container…that’s a lot of stuff!

The average Etsy or Amazon seller couldn’t and wouldn’t want to import a full container of product.

However, the concept of LCL shipping has changed this. It’s a pretty simple idea – with LCL you share a shipping container with other lower-quantity importers. With a container shared between multiple small business owners, the cost becomes much cheaper for each individual.

And just in case you think organising this sounds complicated and a hassle, there are LCL shipping specialists you can work with to make the process really easy – even for complete novices.

Companies such as Shippo completely take the headache out of importing from overseas. Finding the best LCL rates, preparing your quote and guiding you through the entire process.

Have you ever thought about importing products to sell online or considered sea freight? Perhaps a new career for the New Year!