Many traders or buyers would like to import LED lights from China because of the cheap price and short lead time. In every year, billions of dollars of LED lighting products are exported to UK, USA, Pakistan, India, Canada and etc. However, as an importer, finding the best LED lighting supplier is not an easy task, as you may encounter many shoddy products if you do not know the secrets in the lighting industry. This article is providing you with the step-by-step guide on how to import Chinese LED light.
Step 1: Where is the best place to import LED lights?
No matter you are looking for commercial, industrial or sports LED flood lights, the first and foremost step is to get in touch with the Chinese suppliers. The table below summarizes the top places for procuring the LED lights & searching the manufacturers.
| Google Search | Alibaba | Exhibitions | |
| Description | The world-famous search engine. We can get thousands of results by entering the relevant LED lighting keywords. | The popular online e-commerce platform for importer. We can find almost all types of LED luminaires here. | By taking part in the Chinese or international lighting trade shows, we can touch and feel the real LED lamps in person. |
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a. Google search – Best place to find the most relevant LED lighting supplier
If you want to get the most relevant result & find the best LED lighting supplier within a short period of time, then Google search would be your secret weapon. In recent years, Google strive to update the algorithm on page ranking to distinguish between good and bad sites. The outcome is that, we can get the best results that solve your issue.
You will probably get to different company if you search for different lighting products, it is because hardly we can find a single supplier that is keen on manufacturing every types of LEDs. For instance, you will find different LED supplier if you type “LED stadium lights”, “LED sports lights”, or “tennis court lighting”. Besides, we can also add “indoor”, “outdoor” or other modifiers to narrow down the search result.
The disadvantage is that some ambitious will have the ad on Google. So, they will get instant exposure to the LED importer. To avoid importing goods from the poor company, we can take a look at their pages. A reliable company should at least have the organized and tidy texts and photos describing the characteristic of the LED lights, as well as the importer guide.
If you are planning to procure the LED lamps from an external source, then Google search is one of the best places to find the Chinese manufacturer.
b. Alibaba – Best location to find the shoddy LED lights
Alibaba is another popular Chinese search engine. But it is specialized for product searching. Similarly, we can also get thousands of LED lights by typing the specific keywords. The results are highly relevant as you can find countless lighting manufacturers. However, it is not the best places to import LED.
The drawback is that you will get the poor-quality luminaires. It is because the companies can pay for the top position. The ranking algorithm can be easily manipulated by the shoddy companies. Besides, when you search in Alibaba, says LED lights, most product photos are of very low quality, which greatly affects the first impression.
Another bad practice is that, if you leave the email address, you may get tons of spam emails sending from the LED supplier because they strive to get the order.
Therefore, although Alibaba is one of the most famous online platforms for importer to buy LED, you will need to spend much time on selecting the reliable lighting suppliers. As you can only rely on the information on the pages.
Alibaba vs Made in China – which is it the better choice?
If you really wish to find the LED lights from Chinese online platform, it is recommended to use Made in China (MIC). It is a direct competitor of Alibaba. However, the overall product quality in MIC is much better than that of Alibaba.
In addition, the next comparison is that the product ad on MIC is less aggressive. So, we can find the more relevant products with less distraction.
The limitation of Made in China is that the number of LED supplier is lower. However, MIC is still a better platform for international importation.
c. LED lighting exhibition – Best for building business connection between importer and seller
Another way to reach the Chinese LED lighting manufacturer is to attend the exhibitions and trade shows. Hundreds of LED light supplies will gather in an exhibition center. Generally, they will display the luminaires, so you can observe the real LED, instead of just looking at the photos. It is always the best places for importer to talk to the salespeople, and test the lights in person before buying. In addition, we can also collect the catalog, contact, and build a business relationship with different sellers. Eventually, you will create your own powerful network for importing the LED lights from Chinese suppliers.
Importing LED from China doesn’t mean that you have to get to the Chinese lighting trade shows. Instead, you can check out your local exhibitions because many Chinese companies will rent booths at different international light shows. The table below shows the popular light shows in your country.
| Venue | Lighting Exhibition |
| UK | LuxLive |
| Germany | Light + Building |
| India | Light India |
| USA | LIGHTFAIR International, NAB Show |
| Pakistan | Light Pakistan Expo |
| China | Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition |
| Thailand | LED Expo Thailand |
| East Africa | Kenya LIGHTEXPO |
See also: 20 Best LED Lighting Exhibitions
The limitation of attending lighting exhibition is that we need to pay for the visa, airfare and accommodation, if you decide to get to different foreign exhibitions. Besides, we also need to avoid the scam as anyone and rent a booth by paying a certain amount of money.
The bonus tips for you is that it is strongly recommended to bring some cash, because you may buy the very cheap LED lights as the sample. This is because the supplies are reluctant to ship their goods back to China due to excessive freight. Therefore, they will sell their lights at a very low price at the end of the trade shows.
Step 2: On-site visit to the LED lighting factory
As a LED importer, in order to buy the best quality lighting and import them from China, we can get to the supplier’s factory to inspect the manufacturing process. The reliable company should have a large-scale factory and warehouse. It is because they need the spacious area for their production line and storage.
a. Lighting Showroom
Showroom is a place where the company will display their product line of LED lights. We can toggle on/off, dim and even change the colors of RGB lights.
b. Aging Room
Before delivery, we will turn on the lights for 24 to 48 hours. Therefore, we can guarantee the lights can function normally.
c. LED Production Line
The large LED supplier should be able to manufacturer at least 5,000 to 10,000 pcs of high-power flood lights (>1000W). In case you have a large-scaled lighting project with a tight schedule, we can also help.
If you would like to order a lot of LED flood lights, the boss & manager are willing to grant you a special discount at the factory.
By visiting to the LED factory, we will know if the manufacturer is trustworthy, and if the lights are sturdy. Although it takes time and money to travel from your country to China. It is worthwhile to do so because once you can find a trusty partner, we can avoid many problems after importation of LED lights.
Step 3: Avoid the common problems of LED light from China
After finding the reliable LED manufacturer in China, we can start discussing the project details. To avoid the common problems of LED & achieve the best lighting outcome, it is strongly recommended to customize & discuss the project details with Chinese LED lighting engineers. It is because we can ensure that the lamps are best suit the lighting requirement. LedsMaster offers the full LED lighting customization service for importer. The content below illustrates the top issues of buying China LED lights.
How to select the best China LED lights for Importation?
a. Lux requirement problem (LEDs are not bright enough)
The brightness, or lux level, is one of the most important lighting requirements in a project. Different venues or applications would have their unique brightness standard. For instance, if you are going to install or replace the lights in warehouse, then we will need around 200 to 400 lux. For sports field. the lux required would be 300 to 500 lux for training, and 800 to 2000 lux for professional stadium. For seaport, we will need approximately 100 to 200 lux. Hence, we can see the standard is vastly different. The problem is that, if the brightness is not adequate after installation, the end user may wish to return the lights. You will loss both money and reputation.
See also: How to covert watts to lumens of LED lights?
As an LED importer, it is advised to consult the lighting engineer before buying the lighting fixtures. It is because you can always get the LEDs that are bright enough to light the indoor or outdoor areas. By providing the basic measurement, pole height and brightness requirement for us, we can create a lighting simulation. The idea is to utilize the photometric software called DIALux to mimic how the LED lights illuminate the ground. It includes the brightness as well as lighting uniformity.
See also: Football field lighting design
b. Lighting uniformity issue
Lighting uniformity is not a inherit parameter of LED lights. Instead, it reflects the distribution of illumination. The uniformity is basically a scale from 0 to 1. By calculation the ratio between minimum and average lux (U1) or the ratio between minimum and maximum lux (U2), we can get this value. Ideally, if the uniformity is 1 (highest), it means the lux level in each sampling point is the same; however, it is almost impossible to achieve by using artificial LED lights.
See also: What is lighting uniformity?
Depending on the types of venues, we will also have different standards. For instance, the uniformity required is 0.7 for world-class stadium, 0.4 to 0.5 for general outdoor or indoor areas, and 0.3 for airport apron. It would be problematic to get the LED lighting solution from China with low uniformity because the vision of users will be greatly affected. The issue is especially critical for parking lot. If some parking areas are dark due to uneven illumination, road users will not be able to clearly see cars and pedestrians, resulting in tragedy.
Our engineers will provide you with the comprehensive lighting report, so we can present it with your client to increase the chance of winning the contracts.
c. Glare that causes dazzling
In addition, we can also import LED lights having anti-glare optics. It is because it can minimize the dazzling effect when people looking at the lights directly. It is especially important for office lighting, warehouse lighting and sports lighting.
If there is significant glare in the office or indoor areas, the productivity of the workers may be decreased. For sports venues, the glare will discomfort the athletics and audience. Although it is not the requirement in most lighting project, it affects the end-user compliance.
To avoid this problem, we can ask Chinese suppliers if the LED lights have anti-glare system. It would be the best to inspect the LED lights in person if you have the opportunity to go to China.
d. LED Flickering problem for broadcasting & photography
The best LED lights should not flicker in regular or high-speed camera. Flickering is one of the most common problems of LED because of the improper dimmer setup and shoddy LED. We can observe the flicker because the light intensity goes up and down rapidly. If the frequency is below 100Hz, it is observable to the naked eyes.
Fortunately, all our LED lights adopt the premium optics, and we cannot see observable flicker in 6,000 Hz slow motion camera. The flickering rate is just around 0.3%. That said, the brightness remains unchanged. Our LEDs are flicker-free, so it gives a better lighting experience for the users. By importing our LED lights, your customers will be pleased and they may buy the lights from you again, or at least you will not get any trouble due to flickering LED lights.
e. Heat sink & Life span of LED lights
Do you know high junction temperature decreases the brightness of LED lights? One of the LED lighting common issues is that some Chinese manufacturers have a poorly designed heat sink system. The heat generated from LED chips cannot be dissipated away. The high temperature is harmful to the electronic inside the chips, and hence decreases the lumen output & life span. Therefore, keeping the LED cool is essential.
Although our LED has very high power, we have our patented heat sink design. It consists of the dense aluminum fins at the back of the LED chips. So, we can maintain a relatively low temperature of the lights. The lighting fixture can be long-lasting.
However, we need to see if the company used the recycled or low-quality aluminum. In order the maximize the profit, the unscrupulous companies will use the cheap quality aluminum having poor heat dissipation ability.
g. Material & weight of luminaires
Our LED flood lights adopt top-quality aluminum alloy, which is anti-corrosive and durable. This feature is especially important for outdoor lighting because the lighting fixtures may be susceptible to the adverse climate says rainstorm and snowstorm. If the LED does not have protection or any waterproof reinforcement, the LED will be damaged easily.
To solve this issue, our LED lights have IP66 waterproof function, so it is able to withstand the severe weather when they are installed to high mast poles. The lamp body is made of the aluminum alloy, so they are sturdy and rust resistant.
h. LED driver
Another problem that is often overlooked is the quality of LED driver, which is basically the power supply of the luminaires. Its function is to convert AC to DC voltage. A good quality power supply should provide a stable current for the lights. Our LED lights adopt MeanWell driver, which is one of the mainstream & reliable brand having the extremely low failure rate. The use of shoddy driver will lead to flicker and decrease in life span.
Aside from going over the above issues, we can also customize the additional components such as barn door, rotating bracket, and etc. We provide you with the free lighting consultation service, so as to save your effort and time on importing the best LED lights from China.
Step 4: Negotiate price with Chinese LED manufacturer
A thorough communication between China manufacturer and LED importer is important because we can know what we are buying, as well as negotiate the price. Generally speaking, there will be a discount if you order a lot. If you have built a long-term relationship with a supplier, your bargaining power will be greater. In the extreme cases, we can get a discount of 10% to 20% depending on the quality.
If you want to maximize your profit, do not be shy about bargaining with Chinese LED lighting manufacturers.
Although price is one of the predominant factors in procurement, it is not advised to import the LED having the unreasonably low price, says, $300 for 1000W. It is because if the price is too cheap, you will probably get the shoddy LED lights. Why do they can give you such the cheap price? It is because those manufacturers may overstate their power & lumens. For instance, some may claim their LED lights have 1000W & 170 lm/W. However, the actual power you get is just 500W, and the luminous efficiency is just 130 lm/W. What is more, the abnormally cheap LED lights are made of low-quality material and LED chips, so the life span will be very short. As a smart LED light importer, we need to avoid the products having the extraordinarily low price.
Bonus Tips: Hiring an import agent when buying LED lights from China
If you have no idea on how to choose the best LED lights in China, we can get help from the local import agency in China. The advantage is that, your buyer representatives will try their best to find the LED lamps that satisfy your need, as well as handle the importation issue, tedious documentation and other miscellaneous tasks. Thus, we can save time and effort when buying China LEDs.
However, we need to pay the commission for your agent. Besides, we will need to find a trustworthy agent from China to get the best deal; otherwise, you will eventually get the trashy LED lamps.
By reaching us, you can not only get the free premium service on lighting consultation, but receive the high-quality yet affordable LED lights for your projects. Our LEDs are so inexpensive, and thus you can still have the considerable profit after reselling our lights. We have a team of professional engineers and sales representatives that help solve your issues.
Step 5: Place an order from us
a. Sample order vs bulk order
If you have a few candidates at hand but don’t know who to choose, we can buy the samples from different Chinese LED suppliers before the large-scale importation. The advantage is that it is less risky to buy a small quantity, and you may get the lower price for sample purchase.
After find the best supplier, we can have the bulk order. Although most companies like us will have the quality control, says the LED stress test before deliver, it is advised to visit to the China factory when the lights are about to finish. The merit is that we can check the LEDs and inspect the manufacturing process in person. Although you may have additional traveling and accommodation expenses, it is worthwhile to get to the China because we can ensure everything is perfect before the importation.
b. Deposit
The next step is to settle the deposit. In China, most LED suppliers require a 30% deposit before starting to manufacture. However, if you find that the bank location inside the proforma invoice or quotation is from Hong Kong, we need to be extra careful. Although China has the sovereignty of Hong Kong, the company registries in these two locations are different. That said, it is better to ask if the LED companies have the China bank account to avoid future monetary disputes.
After settling the 30% deposit, the LED companies will commence the manufacturing process.
c. Inspection of LED lights before delivery
This step is optional to importer. If you do not have time get to China, we can still inspect the lights by asking the manufactures to take the photos and videos. Thus, we can ensure that the LED lights are 100% work before importing to your countries.
Besides, if you unfortunately find out that there are mistakes of LED lights, we can still ask the companies to see if there is any remedy. Taking a look at the LED lights before delivery is far better than resending the lamps back.
d. Final payment
After checking all the details, we can settle the final payment (usually 70% of the total price). Afterwards, the LED lights will be exported.
Step 6: Get ready to import LED lights from China
As for the delivery, we will need to choose an importation protocol, namely Free On Board (FOB) or Ex Words (EXW).
a. EXW
If you would like to trade on EXW terms, then the China LED lighting supplier will need to bear the transportation cost and customs clearance in your countries. If you wish to ship the LED lights to your company address, we can ask the supplier to provide the door-to-door shipment. To simplify the process, the China suppliers usually hire a forwarder to handle the importation.
It is a more convenient way to import from China, as we don’t need to handle the custom clearance as well as the arrangement of LED light shipment. The FOB terms can definitely save your time.
b. FOB
If you hire a Chinese agency to procure the lights, we can use FOB trade term. The responsibility of the China supplier is to deliver the goods to a designated port. The importer (or your forwarder) will need to handle the subsequent airfreight, import duty, custom declaration, as well as shipping cost to the buyer’s location.
See also: How to import LED from China to India
Step 7: Maintenance and warranty
As a reliable LED lighting manufacturer and supplier, we offer 5-year warranty. So, if your lights failure under normal applications, we can offer you the free replacement service with the warranty period. In fact, since we are using the top-quality material, says LED chips, aluminum alloy, LED driver, heat sink and etc, our LED lamps are very unlikely to go off. Our LEDs last for at least 80,000 hours, which means if you are turning them on for 8 hours per day, they can last for approx. 27.4 years. Therefore, you can enjoy almost life-long using time by selecting our LED lighting products.
If you have any enquiries or uncertainties on buying or importing the LED lights from China, please feel free to contact us at email beatus@ledsmaster.com. We offer free lighting consultation service.