In my work, I’ve had clients complain to me about the potholes and concerns they’ve had when importing portable power stations from China. Some products cannot be imported for customs clearance or sold in the local market due to certificate problems; Some products are not suitable for the local market due to minor mistakes. Some have suffered big losses because they covet cheap prices.

I think a big part of it is that they don’t know much about China’s portable power stations market and know much about a suitable supplier of portable power stations, and another part of the reason is that they lack experience in importing portable power stations. I am writing this article to share with you the information I have learned and some of my experience in my work. If you need to import portable power stations from China, the following may be of some help to you.

1. Where are the industrial clusters of portable power stations in China?

You may find many suppliers of portable power stations, which are located in different cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Yangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou and so on. If you know something about this industry, you will find that most of the portable power station factories are concentrated in Shenzhen.

If you ask me which city has the most advantageous suppliers of portable power stations, I will definitely recommend you to find suppliers in Shenzhen. Why is that? I have summarized the following three reasons:

First, the supply chain for raw materials is perfect. Factories in Shenzhen can easily pick out the most appropriate supplier from a large number of local suppliers of raw materials, and because in the same city, the transportation and communication efficiency can be greatly improved, so that the order delivery time is shorter.

Second, because of the concentration of suppliers here, there will be more fierce competition, which will promote people to pay more attention to research and development and innovation instead, so new products will appear in Shenzhen more quickly.

Third, Shenzhen is an important port with a developed logistics industry and convenient customs clearance, which will also help you reduce the import cost of portable power stations.

2. What kind of supplier suits you?

Each factory has its own advantages, but the one that best fits your business model is the one that works best. I divided portable power stations factories into three types according to their scale:

• Big factory/company
• Medium sized factory/company
• Small company

I will describe the characteristics of each supplier one by one.

Big factory/company

It has complete production equipment (such as battery assembly equipment, controller and inverter mounter, etc.), and everything from component production to assembly is done in its own factory. It has sound internal management, strong research and development team and a specialized marketing team, and will often go abroad to attend exhibitions. If you work with a company like this, the process will be very orderly and the quality of the product will not be a problem.

In terms of cost, large companies will have higher management costs, so the price of each product will be higher than that of small companies. What’s more, since there are various principles and norms that need to be followed in their department management system, the efficiency will be very low if special cases need to be handled specially, and it is even impossible to give customers alternative plans.

Medium sized factory/company

It has a professional R&D team and some equipment, but will outsource some production processes (such as patch, battery assembly, etc.) to other companies for OEM production, and only take charge of some production steps such as R&D, design, assembly and testing. Its input cost is lower than that of large companies, but these companies have a high dependence on external suppliers, so the delivery time of production will be uncertain, which requires the company to have sound quality control and supplier management system. Because of the simplicity of the internal systems of these mid-sized companies, communication with such companies is more efficient, and flexibility and coordination may be better.

Small factory/company

These small companies are like family workshops. I once visited a small company like this, where several family members assembled products together. All the materials were from suppliers, and there were no professional engineers or complicated quality control procedures. The products were all male models, with limited production capacity, the lowest input cost and the lowest product price. Unless you know and trust them very well, it is generally not recommended to cooperate with such small companies.

Keep in mind: When looking for suppliers of energy storage small systems from China, you can choose several more suppliers for communication and comparison, so as to select the most suitable ones.

3. Lead-acid battery portable power stations or lithium battery portable power stations?

Currently, portable power stations in China can be divided into two categories according to batteries:

• Lead-acid battery portable power stations
• Lithium battery portable power stations

Lithium battery portable power stations is a new product in recent years, with more than 1000 cycles of charge and discharge. Lithium batteries have no memory effect, longer life, AC output function and higher price. They are currently popular in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States.

You can decide which portable power stations to purchase in accordance with the specific customers in your market.

4. What voltage and jack do you need?

Each country may follow different standards on voltage and jack. Because lithium battery portable power stations are equipped with AC output port, it is necessary to make sure with the supplier that the voltage and jack standards of your local area are met when purchasing portable power stations. For example, 110V voltage is applied in the United States, and the jack is of American specification; The Japanese market is suitable for 100V voltage, and Japanese specification jack; The applicable voltage in the Australian market is 230V, and the jack of Australian specification. The size of the jacks varies in different markets, and the number of AC jacks in some models may be different. For example, the standard configuration of our GES-TP100A 100W portable power stations can be made into two jacks of Japanese specification, but if we make a jack of American specification, we can only make one jack.

5. Can the supplier provide relevant certificates?

Some countries need to be provided specific product certificates for customs clearance when importing, and some countries require certain certificates for products to be sold locally. For example, I know that PSE certificate is needed when Japanese customers import portable power stations, SAA certificate is needed in Australia and New Zealand market, FCC certificate is needed in American market, CE certificate is needed in European market and so on. Therefore, when purchasing portable power stations, you need to ensure that the supplier can provide relevant certificates to avoid unnecessary losses.

If you are not clear about what certificates are required to import and sell portable power stations, you can consult your local freight forwarding company or customs department, or contact us for more information.

6. What do you need to know about the import tax of portable power stations?

Import tax
The customs code of the portable power stations is 850440. If it is your first time to import portable power stations, you can consult the local customs clearance company or the customs department about the import tax rate.

Certificate of origin
Some countries have trade agreements with China, so if you can provide a certificate of origin in China, you may be able to enjoy preferential import taxes. For example, China-Australia FTA, certificate of origin FORM E of Asean Free Trade Area, certificate of origin FORM K of China-South Korea Free Trade Area, can help you get some tax concessions.

Other reasonable methods of tax avoidance
In addition, my clients have shared some other tax savings with me. For example, they buy major parts and components from us and simply assemble them in their own countries, or transship them through a third country; There are other some risky ways to do this, if you are interested, please contact me for more details.

Our company’s portable power stations is produced in strict accordance with CE, FCC, RoHS, SAA and PSE requirements and is sold to many countries in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Oceania. We also have rich export experience, which can help you import portable power stations smoothly. Please feel free to contact us if you need to know more about imported portable power stations.