In the USA a purchasing agent is a profession. Buying something seems to be very easy. A lot of people can just dream about such a job.

However, alas, but reality is much more commonplace. The work of a professional purchasing agent in the USA is far from resembling a shopping at trendy boutiques.

A purchasing agent is required to find exactly what the client is interested in (in order to do that, the purchasing agent should at least have a good idea of what he/she is doing) at the price the client is interested in, and with delivery at a certain time to a certain place. (This is the minimal order).

Some orders are much more complicated. E.g., products should be bought only from certain companies and in certain packaging, etc. In a word it’s not a bed of roses.

Inexperienced buyers have two common wrong beliefs:

1. In the USA one can immediately buy anything at all.

2. American companies work like a Swiss watch.

Unfortunately the first statement is wrong and the reason for that is very commonplace. Production in the US (China) is much more pre-planned than it was in the USSR known for its planned production. Manufacturing of goods that cannot be sold (or have no one to be sold to) means direct losses of the manufacturing company. I.e. no company would do that if it does not have clients. If one can still negotiate quick production of a small lot of this or that product with a small company, the big companies have their schedule filled in for months ahead, and it is practically impossible to get into it with a more or less big order – production capacity loads and purchase of raw materials and calculated for the next year. It means that one has to find such products at dealers and distributors. And here new problems arise:

• Nobody can guarantee the exact quantity of the products needed by the client.
• Transportation costs increase greatly because you have to put together different small shipments
• When dealers or distributors understand that the purchase agent needs the products today they use their inherent right to increase the price. It is called business in the USA…
• And, finally, a lot of things are not manufactured in the USA, but purchased abroad. It means that even if the purchasing agent finds the manufacture and laces an order, it is almost guaranteed that the schedule will be jeopardized.

Perhaps you already started to understand and feel the problems arising at purchasing goods. But there are also warehousing costs, transshipping, consolidation warehouses, container loading etc.

Then, if you are a new client, buying goods in small shipments and in the very last minute, you will need a really ingenious purchasing agent, who will be able to satisfy your demands to prices, volumes and terms.

There is another problem. As a rule, big companies produce a certain product for not more than three months. Then they shift into new products etc. A lot of products reach Russia and bordering Russia countries not immediately but after some time. It means that when a client calls us and requests purchasing some products which were taken off production 6 months or a year ago, it could be a real problem. Manufacturers will not be able to provide you with these products – they simply do not have them any more, so it is necessary to look for residual lots of these products here and there.

We cannot even guarantee that we will find these products after all. The good news is that if we actually find them there is a good chance of buying them at good prices, because the seller will be most likely trying to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Another problem is that many US companies (especially big ones) sell their products in the US to ONLY US companies and ship them ONLY to US addresses. And advise buyers from Europe to buy the products from European branches of such companies at usually higher (and sometimes much higher) prices than in the USA; besides, the range of products usually does not correspond to the range of products in the US. It is often the case that some product which costs $100 in the USA would cost 100 euro in Europe.

Besides, to be able to approach purchase of goods correctly one should know and understand a lot of things that seem to be insignificant (or just impossible). For instance:

• How to buy products at prices lower than producer price.
• How to make the producer pay you for purchasing its products.
• How to calculate all the overhead costs.
• How to minimize your transportation costs in the USA or even bring them to zero.
• How to minimize warehousing costs.
• How to insure the goods (Insurance).
• How to make sure the goods correspond to the norms and standards of the country you want to send them to
• How to export goods.
• Customs duties in the USA.
• How to receive reimbursement of customs dues paid by the importer for the goods received from abroad during its re-export.
• How to guarantee receipt of commissions when purchasing goods.
• How to pack goods for transportation.
• What documents should be prepared for customs clearance etc…

It is necessary to know the answers to these and many more questions in order to organize the purchase of goods correctly. Not knowing the answers to these and many other questions, wrong planning of purchases finally result in huge losses suffered by companies and businessmen in relation to deals that look extremely attractive. You must know lots of similar examples though.

Our company has considerable experience in organization purchasing goods in the USA and other countries (when it is necessary to deliver goods from the USA or on behalf of a US company). Of course we will not be able to ensure the best solution of all the issues related to purchase of goods in another country, their transportation, customs clearance etc. But at least by using our expertise we will help you avoid those mistakes made by the majority of businessmen buying goods in the USA or via the USA. And this will DEFINITELY cover all your costs for paying for our services regarding purchase of goods and services in the USA.

For many of our clients it is very important that we (our Russian representative office) can provide practical assistance with logistics and shipment to your country. I.e. we can practically take over all the goods purchasing and transportation issues. Your task is to finance the purchase, ensure customs clearance and sales of goods.

 Print This Page