inf0rm3r Sat Aug 06, 2011 12:06 pm
Those AV Checks mean nothing and are easy to obtain.
Proving a Chinese/Taiwanese/Indonesian/Indian supplier legit is not as easy as it seems.
I do close to 40 checks and about 10 phone calls myself before I even sample off a company to produce goods. Reason being is 90% of these factories are con jobs and produce illegal goods and their business practices aren't even legit. Those knockoffs you see on Alibaba, if you import them and you get caught you will receive one whopping fine. In Fact sadly 60%+ of what you see on Alibaba is usually a scam or second rate product. Even after those checks I've recommended to people I've heard of people still being conned out of money even from AV checked suppliers. Alibaba is simply an ebay system for bulk buying, except in Alibaba more than half the listings are frauds. I personally avoid it and talk to actual people and factories myself.
You simply cannot reproduce a crossbow, Hasbro will have you and everything you own in court the next day.
Molds are also expensive especially plastic molds, silicone not so much, but for a plastic mold from a GOOD chinese supplier it will still cost you roughly $1000-$10,000 each you can't just mold the shell in one hit either it's not that simple. A salesperson will always under quote their MOQ's etc I can guarantee you 3,000 is not even half of what you'll need to order to keep the unit price down.
Put it this way to make a plastic cap like a snap cap, just the mold for that $1,500 in that plastic.
Also you have to take into account, shipping, customs and the laws here, generally a unit cost can double even triple with the joke of a tax system we have in place here.
The plastic must reach a VERY strict standard to get into the country, also a new product shipped across must undergo a lab test to see if the levels meet the correct standards. Some of this costs 10,000-20,000 depending on the product. This is VERY strict on toys in particular.
There are thousands of things and costs you don't see from just a quick look, and some of them if you aren't careful involve heavy fines.
Be Very VERY VERY Careful, take it from someone who's done a lot of research and importing, mistakes can you land you in a big pile of shite.