Customer brokers

Yikes This was getting really scary I figured there was some sort of catch to all this so I next paid a visit to a licensed customs broker in my fair city. 

Just so you know, a customs broker is a dude who you pay to coordinate and facilitate the import of items from abroad. The man I talked to was really nice and really knew his shit. I explained to him that I was considering opening a company and was looking to get some of the items I needed from overseas. The foreign prices were just too low for me to pass up. The trouble with some of these items, I explained, was that I was not sure if they were regulated by the DEA or required notification to the DEA. I told the broker that in some cases regarding sales in the U.S., some of the items 1 needed required notification to the DEA and I was not sure if the same applied to the import of these items. Lastly, I told him that I was rather sick of the constant run-ins with the DEA, EPA and FDA over my product sources and that I would just as soon buy American than foreign if the scrutiny was the same. 

This went on and on so I decided to stop. I signed a card promising that should I need a customs broker it would be this man. Indeed he was very nice and helpful. 

I have yet to order anything from abroad except for some small sampler bottles of essential oils. But after talking extensively to companies. Customs and a nice customs broker, I have come to the tentative conclusion that import may very well turn out to be a godsend. Some other pointers that I have learned may help you better understand and use the process. 

For all these reasons T m begging you to hire a customs broker. To show you how uncomplicated my customs broker made things for me, let me tell you how a scenario played out between him and me. Earlier that week I had contacted and received two quotes from two different Asian companies. One in Shanghai, China was willing to sell me 1 kgofNaBH3CNfor 350. The other in Thailand was quoting me 500 for a 55-gallon drum of Asian camphor oil. And my broker explained how that was all I needed to do. 

Of course, I never made the deal with my broker that day. It was just part of my ongoing investigation. But I can certainly relate to the idea of having a licensed customs broker and his official paperwork championing my stuff thru Customs. T alk about peace of mind. Is all that worth about 100 You bet your ass it is ... 

As it so happened, I ran into a friend a few weeks later and, believe it or not, he had become a customs broker himself a few years back. We chewed the fat over these customs scenarios and he pretty much agreed with what my original broker had told me. BUT, he also told me a very worthy piece of info that you should know as well. You see, when I was relating to my first broker what chemicals I wanted, we were both under the assumption that these chemicals would be for use in my fake business. And what we never got around to discussing was the particulars of the... 

Procedures governing shipment changes, carrier selection, product database updates and carrier selection, preparation of blanket TSCA certifications, and selection of customs brokers. 

For the past 16 years, he has been a Research Group Leader for ONDEO Nalco Energy Services, located in Sugar Land, Texas. He works daily with laboratory chemists to provide technical service and support to a variety of customers worldwide such as major oil refiners, independent fuel marketers, aftermarket additive suppliers, fuel brokers, and others in the petroleum industry. 

Similarly, customers are traditionally classified into confusing or misleading categories—internal customers, external customers, partners, patients, clients, patrons, guests, fans, and so on. In reality, all customers can be simply defined based on their role as an end user, a broker, or a. fixer. 

Brokers These are intermediaries, such as retail stores, car dealers, pharmacists, and travel agents. Brokers make products and services accessible to end users, and also transmit customer expectations to the solution provider to improve the value of the solution. 

Keep in mind that customer roles are dynamic—they are determined by the customer s relationship with the solution at a given moment. For instance, the end user in a restaurant is the person(s) having a meal. A waiter is a broker, unless that waiter comes in on his night off to enjoy dinner, in which case he becomes an end user. A restaurant critic having a meal is an end user but also a fixer because her comments may influence the restaurant to provide a better product or service. 

Although it s critical to meet the expectations of end users, be careful not to alienate brokers or fixers along the way. The most successful organizations are able to align expectations between different customer segments so that conflicts are minimized. 

Market professionals include the banks and specialist financial intermediaries mentioned above, firms that one would not automatically classify as investors, although they will also have an investment objective. Their time horizon will range from one day to the very long term. They include the proprietary trading desks of investment banks, as well as bond market makers in securities houses and banks who are providing a service to their customers. Proprietary traders will actively position themselves in the market in order to gain trading profit, for example, in response to their view on where they think interest rate levels are headed. These participants will trade direct with other market professionals and investors, or via brokers. Market makers or traders (also called dealers in the United States) are wholesalers in the bond markets they make two-way prices in selected bonds. Firms will not necessarily be active market makers in all types of bonds smaller firms often specialise in certain sectors. 

Intermediaries trade either with customers or with each other. In the latter case, trading is conducted via interdealer brokers (IDEs). Like all brokers, they match up buyers and sellers, but do not take positions themselves. They provide a useful service by allowing intermediaries to adjust their positions without revealing them to other professionals. In the absence of a centralized exchange, IDEs provide dealers with market color around flows of securities. Related to this, they also provide information to allow dealers to price less liquid bonds. 

Electronic commerce applications were first launched within transportation carriers and associated shippers, brokers, customs, freight forwarders, and bankers (Milosevic Bond, 1995). The computing and communication framework platforms were based on the use of value-added networks. EDI is the computer-to-computer exchange of business data in standard formats. In EDI, information is organized according to a specified format set by both parties, allowing a hands-off computer transaction that requires no human intervention on either end. All information contained in an EDI transaction set is, for the most part, the same as on a conventionally printed document. 

Because of John s proprietary semiautomatic winding technique, he was able to profitably supply frames to other custom bike makers. From the contacts made by the Alpha Group members who occasionally toured Japan and Australia, John was able to start a small export business to these markets. It was through these exports and contacts with export brokers that John became aware of opportunities in Latin America. 

The distribution tier receives customer requirements and is responsible for delivering required products or services. It involves such general units as warehouses, distribution centers, and cross-docking points. These units are grouped into distribution sub-tiers. Alternatively, supply chain units in the distribution tier can be classified as wholesalers, retailers, and brokers. Third-party logistics providers present a special case for belonging to the distribution tier. In some situations, these can be represented by a single supply chain node. 

Many customers are able to give advice on production, but dealers in particular are best placed to advise. To enable contact with such dealers, it is worthwhile attending international meetings such as the International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades (IFEAT) annual conference or reading the Perfumer and Flavorist magazine, which gives full details of brokers, dealers, and essential oil suppliers. There is no reference site that is 100% reliable in pricing for essential... 

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