Dos and Don'ts of Sourcing Products Overseas for Your Subscription Box in Today's Economy

Good morning, happy Monday everybody! Today we're talking about the do's and don'ts of sourcing overseas in this unstable economy. So let's, let's talk about it today. Let me know in the chat, are you currently sourcing products from overseas? Have you not yet sourced? Just put me that— put that in the chat so I can kind of get a feel for where we're at as an audience this morning. Um, but let's talk about it because you're probably feeling unsure about everything right now. Um, there's been so many changes, ups and downs, high tariffs, reduced tariffs, temporary tariffs. And so maybe you're worried about it. Maybe you haven't sourced anything from overseas and now you're like, well, I'm definitely not now because I'm uncertain about it. Maybe you've been sourcing overseas and you're just feeling really uncertain about what you should be doing right now based on that. And so we're going to talk about that. We're going to break down what's happening, what you should do, what you shouldn't do, and how to keep your box profitable no matter what's happening in our economy. And just a quick heads up, we'll touch on this a little bit more later, but if you're inside Launch Your Box, if you're a member, we are dropping 3 brand new lessons about buying, about product buying on Wednesday morning. So we're talking, we'll talk through that a little bit later, but let's talk about it. So let me know in the chat, are you currently sourcing Or have you not yet sourced any products? Um, I can see Lisa's here in the chat says, I've stopped sourcing because I'm worried things will be trapped somewhere. Okay, that's a, that's a legit concern. Um, we're going to talk about that. So let's talk a little bit about the tariff situation. So it kind of changed, was changing almost like daily or weekly for a while. We're in this 90-day, um, truce you call it, between China and the US. So we were at 145% tariffs, which really scared a lot of people. It is— it scared business owners. It's scaring consumers, because what does that mean for us? And there's a lot of conversation on the television, on news and stuff like that about what does that mean for us? Because at the end of the day, it is going to be handed down to the consumer, like the business owner cannot eat that. And so I just want you to understand that you are in the same situation. You cannot eat this going forward. Then we got to this announcement, I don't know if it was a few weeks ago or a month ago, about, okay, we're gonna reduce tariffs from China from 145% down to 30%, okay? And so there was like, okay, what do I do now? What do I do in this situation knowing in 90 days this could change? And we're probably about 60 days out from that. What do I do in this moment? And for me, I've been really tracking what the tariffs are doing to the cost of things. So when I work overseas with our manufacturers, I want the breakdown. What is my product cost? What is the additional tariff cost? And I've been requiring that they put a line item on that for me. So there's definitely something that you should be doing because the minute that got reduced, I said, okay, wait a minute, we've been working on this product, hadn't paid my bill yet. There was the announcement— the day that announcement that 30% was going to be reduced is when I was about to pay the bill for them to start manufacturing. I said, hey, tariffs just got reduced, show me how this affects my bill. And they came back with a $1,300 reduction. Okay, so we have to understand how the tariffs are affecting our overall cost, first of all. So that dropped my bill by $1,300. That was fabulous. I'm like, let's get it in production now. This is stuff that we have been planning for the rest of the year, so I'm like, let's not wait, let's get it in production, let's get it over here before the 90 days is up so I don't have to worry about the tariffs. So what you should do, you should, um, if you have stuff that you've been working on that you've gotten samples that you're ready to move forward, you should go ahead and get them to start manufacturing so that you can get it in this tariff window right now. Okay, you want to ask that they have DDP pricing, and I talk about this in the sourcing lesson inside the library, but that just eliminates a bunch of surprises, um, when it gets to our country. Okay, I do want you to use trusted platforms for this. When we talk about that in the training, I'm talking about Alibaba. There's a few other, um, other areas that you can use. We talk about that in the training that you're going to get on Wednesday, but you've got to vet your suppliers, okay? You've got— you've always had to do that. That is not new, but you've got to vet them. You've got to get samples. We can't eliminate samples because we're in this little time crunch of not knowing, you know, what's going to happen, okay? We have to get samples, and I want you to use a platform that has trade assurance. So if you're on Alibaba, there are— there's a trade insurance. I want you to pay through that platform. Don't wire the money if it's not a trusted vendor. I want you to have that protection from those platforms, and I want you to get everything in writing. So you do need to use a trusted platform, you do need to vet your suppliers, you do need to get samples, and you need to have everything in writing. You need Product specs, you need pricing, you need the tariff. Ask them for a line item for the tariffs because as that change, that's the number that's going to change for you. And I need you to be very aware of that. And we've got to know timelines and we got to know shipping dates because in an unstable economy like this, that is going to change the minute this 90 days is over. So where are we at? Are we going to be able to ship in this 90 days or is it going to come after that? And what does that mean for me as a small business owner? Okay, and so here's the other do. I want you to build in a longer lead time. Right now, production plus shipping is 60 to 90 days. Okay, so you've got to get it in their pipeline, they've got to add it to their schedule, then they've got to manufacture it, then they've got to package it. Typically it'll get on a ship and it'll come over the water. Sometimes we'll have stuff air shipped. It's a lot more expensive that way, especially if it weighs if it's heavy items. So we've got to make sure that you build in a long lead time, and you've got to add a buffer right now for customs and port delays. So right now, if you're buying overseas, you should be planning September, October, November, December right now. And so that's where we're at. So if you're like, I wanna, I wanna source overseas, but I don't know what I should be planning and what the timeline is— the timeline is fall right now. So if you are like, okay, I just need to work on fall and I can start sourcing, that's a great place to start. You need to get summer months through August really wholesale here, already here in the States, but you could start sourcing overseas for the fall months, okay. Now, I want you to diversify. So we talked about, do know what's happening with tariffs and get those separated line items. Do use a trusted platform like Alibaba to make sure you're getting samples, you're vetting, you're getting trade assurance, that you have pricing timelines. Like, do your due diligence here. Make sure you have all of that written out. You need a long lead time. You do need to diversify your vendors. Okay, so what this kind of unstable tariff talk has done for me, it has allowed me to look outside of China. I would love to purchase more American-made products, but that's not as easy as it sounds. And I think a lot of people, um, that don't understand the supply chain really don't understand how hard that is. Okay, and so what I want you to do is look outside of China. So we've been doing some research. I found a great t-shirt brand that is made in Honduras So that is going to be a go-to for me as far as my t-shirts go. The brand I currently use is made in China and is distributed out of the US. But as those tariffs change, I need to have a backup plan. And so I've done some research and we found a great brand that we can get outside of China. And so I want you to look at India, look at Vietnam, look at Mexico, look at, look at um, Central America. Like, what other regions can you source product from? Okay, and then by spreading that out, no matter what happens with any of those negotiations, is that you reduce your risk. You have a backup plan. I have a backup plan for t-shirts if that gets out of control with tariffs. Okay, that's what I want you to think about. What are you sourcing now? Do some research on how you can source differently if this changes. We always have to have a plan B. At the end of the day, that's what it is. We always have to have a plan B. We have to do that when we're curating the products. How many times— let me know in the chat— how many times have you curated the most perfect box and, um, and then all of a sudden, um, something goes awry with one of your products and you have to reconfigure the whole box? How many times has that happened to us? I could— I don't even know how many times that's happened to me, but probably couldn't count how many times that has happened to me. And so I always am thinking about a Plan B. If this doesn't work out, this is my Plan B. If this doesn't work out, this is my Plan B. And so I need you to start thinking about a Plan B. And so it's not anything like you've got to redo everything. It's just you got to know that things happen and you have to be able to pivot and be flexible when things happen. And what I see most with our small business owners is that if you're not flexible, if you don't have the ability to pivot, if you don't have the ability to switch gears, you really fall behind, okay? You really fall behind. And so, um, that's what I want you to start to think about. What is your plan B? You've got to source from different countries. You've got to have a backup plan. You can test some small samples or some small trial runs with some different things, but for me on the t-shirts, I just started to go, I went into my t-shirt distributor, which is S&S Activewear, and I started to look and research on where brands were produced. Made in China, made in Honduras, made in Mexico, made in India. You start to look at that and order some samples. Like, if I were to call my rep over at S&S right now and said, hey, I'd really love some samples of this brand and this brand, can you send me some samples I want it to feel like my Bella Canvas t-shirts that I'm currently using. Do you have some suggestions? That's what they do. That's what they're there for. He's like, yes, I suggest this brand. It is produced in this country. I'm going to send you a sample of this number of style because it's the most similar to Bella Canvas. And I said, can you send it to me in a large so I can try it on and see how it fits and feels? Absolutely. He sends me 5 samples, he sends me a couple different brands, we get them, we try them on, we take a look at the feel, we print them to see how the printing holds up on them. That's how you start to do your research. That's the plan B. And you don't want to wait to have your plan B when plan A is stuck. You need to think about it now, because what we do know The last year has been a nightmare in our economy. There's been so many ups and downs, there's been so much uncertainty, and that's not stopping. So what we do know is that we need a plan B when it comes to sourcing. We need a plan B. T-shirts are one of my number one items for my subscriptions. I have to have a plan B for that. I cannot go into this naively and think, oh, it's going to work out, oh, it'll sort itself out, I'll be fine. We can't do that when our business is our livelihood. If I don't have a t-shirt, I don't have any of my subscriptions. If I don't have a t-shirt in the price range that I need, I'm gonna have to do a serious increase on my subscriptions. And what is the aftereffect of that? That's the plan B. You've got to diversify your vendors. Don't just do it because you've always done it. That's where we get in trouble. And then I do need you to monitor the shipping times because shipping times are going to affect the amount of tariffs that you have to pay. So if we can get it in here in a shorter window right now where we have a 30% tariff from China, Great. If it's going to be outside of that window, there's now the uncertainty. Is that going to go up? Heck, it might even go down. We don't know at this point, but you've got to know your shipping times. Now let's talk about the don'ts, because the don'ts are important. Don't order anything without knowing the full landed cost. You need to ask what is the full landed cost. This is the DDP that I'm talking about in the new lessons, okay? So the product cost is just the beginning. We need freight costs, we need tariff costs, we need port and handling fees, we need customs costs. You want to know your true cost per item. Okay, so if I order these glasses right here, they might say they're $1.15. That's the product cost. And then there's the freight cost, and there's the tariffs, and there's the port and handling fees, and there's customs. So now this might be $2.95 per product because that's what everything costs together. The product cost is the cheapest thing you're going to get. It's the other costs that really add up. So I need to know that these are gonna cost me $2.95 landed. That's the information that I'm seeking from these, landed. Because your profit is based on your landed cost, not that product cost. So now my product cost is actually $2.95 instead of $1.15. I need to know that that's my official product cost, not the $1.15. We got to know what the landed is. Do not order anything without knowing what the full landed cost is. Here's the other thing: don't assume that the same charges and rules apply from your last order to the next order. Things are changing rapidly. Okay, so you've got to ask these questions again. Even if I ordered this pair of glasses— I'm just— you can see I have lots of readers on my desk. I can't see. Um, if I ordered this pair of glasses 2 months ago for a subscription box and it cost me $1.50 landed, I cannot assume that this pair of glasses is also going to cost me $1.50 landed. Okay, I'm just making these numbers up. I don't buy glasses from overseas, so don't be, don't be excited that you could get glasses for $1.50. I have no clue. I'm just using it as an example. So you've got to, at every order, don't assume that the same thing applies from the previous order. Okay? And this is very important, and I need you to hear me about number 3. Don't skip getting a sample in order to get your order rushed out quicker. That's your very, very most important quality control step is getting your sample. And so you can't afford to guess that it's okay, even if they send you videos. They send me videos all day long. I want to touch it, I want to feel it, I want to wear it, I want to use it, I want to see how well the zippers zip, I want to see the actual inside of the bag, I want to see the material. Does it feel cheap? It might look good in the video, but it might feel cheap when I get it. I need all of that. Do not skip getting a sample in order to get your product here quicker. This is your— this is the most important part because you're investing in a whole bunch of product that you may be very disappointed when it gets here, and in turn your subscribers will be disappointed, and that results into churn. So I know we're under this uncertainty feeling right now, but we have to be certain about those products that we put in our subscription box, okay? And don't wait until the last minute. This is the work. I used to be the worst at this because there's so much we need to do, right? We have so much on our plates to run our subscription box businesses. And I'm in the moment trying to get the June box out. I'm not thinking about October right now, but I have to. I have to. And I have to put it on my task board to think about October, November, December. In June. I have to get that done. I can't say, oh, I'm still working through stuff for July. I've still— I've got August I still have to— I'm missing a piece for. No, I have to think about those things. That is part of my job. Do not wait until the last minute, because even if production is fast, even if your factory says, yeah, I can get that, customs and freight will always have a delay. So you can't rely on what the factory is telling you that they can produce because shipping's unpredictable and customs is unpredictable. You've got to pad your timeline. You've got to be proactive. And you have to— if you're watching me right now and you don't have September, October, and November planned out, I need you to have that taken care of by the end of this week. You do, and you need to start the process because you're going to put yourself in a bind if you don't. And then you're going to panic buy, and then you're going to pay too much, and then you're going to pay extra for fast shipping, or you're going to buy something wholesale because it's in stock in the US and you're going to pay 4 times more than you would if you would have just gotten ahead. And I'm not speaking out of like do better. I'm speaking out of my own experience because I did that a lot and it cost me a lot of money. Every additional penny that it costs you to do that is taking away from your profitability, it's taking away from your cash flow, and it's taking away your ability to make an income from your business. And I don't want that for you. We're smart. We are smart people and we can do this. We just have to do it the smart way. So if you haven't planned your fall boxes get it on your calendar to do this week. You're going to feel so much better once you have that in the works. And then another thing that you can do every week, you spend an hour working through your plans, checking on product, reaching out to vendors, talking to manufacturers every week. Just put it on your calendar. Maybe that's Mondays, maybe that's Wednesdays, maybe that's Thursday afternoon. But every week there should be a slot on your calendar that says work on product curation. And if you're like me and you like systems and processes because it makes things feel organized in your brain, I put it in my Asana board. And when that thing comes up on my calendar to work on curation, I look at where I'm at. Okay, right now we're in September. I'm on the beginning of that. We've gotten the main thing for through the rest of the year, but I need the little things. So I'm going to start with where I need to. Maybe that's July for you right now. Okay, what do I have for July? Let me check on all of that. Is it here? Is it on its way? Okay, let me look at August. You just spend an hour going down your Asana board or your Trello board looking at the products you've already planned, and you work on it for an hour and you're done. And then you go on and do all the other things that you need to do for your business. And then next week you pick right back up. Okay, let me follow up on the thing I was following up last week and I haven't heard back from them. Let me reach out to another vendor because this vendor came back at way too high of a price. And you just keep working through that to get yourself 6 months ahead. Okay, it's easy once you have a system in process. And my last don't for today, and I've answered this a couple times in our Launch Your Box group, but our last don't is don't panic buy. Right now is not the time to be overstocked. And I went through this situation in 2020 and 2021. Product supply chain was a hot mess and there was a lot of uncertainty of where, if we could even get products. And I was buying everything and anything I could. And I am still in 2025 digging myself out of that mess. And it's affected my cash flow and it's affected my profitability. And it was a very hard lesson for me to learn, but right now is not the time to be overstocked. We're seeing launches come in less than average. People are still growing, we're just not growing as much, and that's okay. So I don't want you to overbuy and then be stuck with all this product and then your cash flow is really stressful. Like, raise your hand in the chat if you are like, sometimes you're at the point of like, I need my subscriptions to run before I can even pay the bills of the business. Because sometimes like, that is real. Like, that happens a lot. And so if you're using all your additional cash to buy more products, you're going to feel that financial stress and that financial pressure over and over again. And I don't want that for you because that's not a place we need to live. We don't make good decisions in that place. So you buy what you need for the time you need it, and we figure it out depending on what happens with our tariffs. It's not the time to buy a whole bunch of product while tariffs are low. It doesn't make sense. Now more than ever, cash flow and flexibility are more important than a shelf full of maybe products that will sell. I don't want you to stop sourcing from overseas because it can be really profitable for your business. Even with the tariffs the way they are, me manufacturing and buying stuff overseas is still cheaper than me buying it wholesale right now. And until that change, I'm not going to change. And I think that's what you have to realize, and that's what you have to really take to heart, is like, even though it's costing me more to source overseas, it's still beneficial to my business, and I just have to be smart about it. I have re-recorded some new lessons that are going to drop in the library this week inside LauncherBox. And if you're not at the point where you're sourcing stuff from overseas, um, this is for you too because lesson 1, I go into buying wholesale at any stage, like what to look for, where to buy, how to budget. No matter the size of your business, I still buy wholesale some. Okay, number 2, lesson number 2 is brand new. I'm talking about, um, trade shows and markets, how to prep for them, what to expect, how to order smart while you're building vendor relationships for the future. And then lesson number 3— so there's 3 lessons that are dropping on Wednesday— it is sourcing and manufacturing. I'm going to dig into helping you find vendors, what to look for, shipping logistics, lead times, DDP, how to scale that. So all of those are brand new, um, they haven't been recorded in 4 years. So I am updating a 4-year-old lesson here, and that's coming on Wednesday. And I don't want you to be scared of buying. We have to buy, it's part of our business. We just have to do it smart. Sourcing overseas can be very profitable if you do it the right way, have the right plan, and have the right timing. So I want you to dig into that lesson on Wednesday. Let's talk about it in the group. Ask me all the questions, um, and we'll get through it. Because what I do know is that we will continue to have uncertainty. I do know that things are going to change. I don't know what they're going to change to, but I have to be open to knowing that things are going to change. And how will I pivot? How will I address that? How will I change? Because we cannot stay the same when the world around us is constantly changing, and we have to be open to that. Change is hard sometimes, but we have to be open to that. We have to do it strategically. We have to do it with knowledge. And that's what I'm here for, to help you with the knowledge. And if we do it together, we make smarter decisions. All right, y'all have a great week this week. I hope you felt a little motivated today to go plan out some extra months on your calendar. Let's, let's get strategic. And then on Wednesday morning, the new lessons are going to drop in the LauncherBox library, um, for all of our members. So I'd love to talk about it after you watch them. Let's have some conversations, and I'll see you guys later this week. Have a great day.