I was doing some reading and these ideas came to me and they seem to be something that I would love doing. But there are a few problems that I can't seem to overcome.

First of all suppose you start an import/export firm, wouldn't you need to find a buyer who is willing to buy whatever you are exporting. But the person buying the goods usually wants to buy it at a dirt cheap price, my friends father does this for a living. He says that companies give you a qoute and you need to find a supplier that will keep you in that budget.

He also said that online trade leads are bs, that you have to have connections and know suppliers, and that you won't find any on the net, and that you will have to travel abroad to find them.

Secondly why would somebody need a importer/exporter when they can use the internet themselves and just cut the middle man out, which is me.

The only reason he would consider using me would be that I know about suppliers who can supply the product at dirt cheap prices. And that is the only way the buyer has contact with him.

The same question goes for a freight broker.

Both of these ideas keep comming up on start your own business sites.

Unless I have a really fat rolodex, with suppliers who can supply me products with really cheap products then its no use, you wont find them on the net, cuz everyone would be doing it.

You would be responsible for customs, shipping and dealing with the foreign company...If there were issues with the products, you would/could also be held liable for that. That's part of what your buyer is paying for.

I don't think it's impossible to find decent trade/suppliers online...but you better be quite the networker and know people who know people overseas. Like you already said, that magic e-book with all those untapped suppliers doesn't really exist...

I can't imagine just jumping into a market and expecting to go far without a lot pre-market research and knowledge.

I agree with sam. It sounds alot easier than it really is.

I think the trick is to gather together enough people who need a certain product in order to pool bargaining power to get a good deal from a supplier.

I can see where this could lead to headaches but if done right, a huge profit.

It would be a great career for you and possibly lead to lots of money being made. If your friend's father does this for a living then ask him for a job. Even if you are working for NOTHING, you'll learn the whole business from an expert.

International trade is very interesting and of course leads to lots of travel. Delivering the right quality and on time is extremely important. Finding the right price is important too, but there's always a multiple number of suppliers of almost everything so getting the right price is not as hard as it might seem.

Sure it's not easy, but here's what you need to do to provide a cheap product that your buyer can't get directly from the vendor: select a product category that you undersatnd and use alibaba.com to find cheap imports from China. You'll have to finance the import and handle customs and delivery but the idea is that you'll buy a large stock (container) and this will result in very cheap per-unit cost. You should proceed by selling the stock to multiple vendors in your area. They will pay per-item 2-5 times as much as you paid since each one of them buys only a small quantity.

Be careful with alibaba.com...a lot of the vendors are unreliable or fake or worse.