INFOGRAPHIC – 6 Common Mistakes Americans Make When Sourcing & Importing From China

This infographic will get you on track when importing from China. Ecommerce sellers from the USA who sell on Amazon, Shopify, Ebay, Jet, WalMart or any other channel tend to make the same basic mistakes when they buy direct from China.

Note: This post is primarily an infographic with limited text content. The main mistakes covered likely align with other Guided Imports articles on supplier verification, quality inspection, payment terms, logistics planning, and holiday scheduling.

TL;DR

• Most importing mistakes are documentation and specification mistakes, not supplier mistakes.
• They repeat because the same steps are skipped: brief, sample approval, written terms, verification.
• Each one is preventable with a written record at the right stage.

Common importing mistakes and the step that prevents each

Mistake	What actually went wrong	Prevention
Product is not what was expected	The specification was never written down	Issue one written specification and require it to be quoted against
Wrong supplier or wrong entity	Identity and payment details were not checked	Verify the legal entity, address and account name before paying
Quotation not comparable	Suppliers priced different products or scopes	Send the identical brief and normalize every quote before comparing
Sample approved informally	No record of what was approved	Approve a dated sample revision in writing and link it to the order
Cost overrun at destination	Delivery terms and exclusions were unclear	State the exact Incoterms rule, named place and what is excluded

The pattern: nearly every avoidable importing loss traces back to a step that was skipped or left verbal — an unwritten specification, an unapproved sample, or terms agreed only in chat.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common mistakes when importing from China?

Unwritten specifications, unchecked supplier identity, non-comparable quotations, informal sample approval and unclear delivery terms. All are documentation failures rather than supplier failures.

How do I avoid importing mistakes?

Use a written record at each stage: specification, supplier verification, normalized quotation, dated sample approval and a purchase order that matches the quotation.

Are importing mistakes more common with new suppliers?

They are more common where no written record exists, which is more likely on a first order. The fix is the same at any stage of the relationship.