An aspiring importer-exporter should know:
- The law of supply and demand;
- What consumers want to buy;
- The differences in price between "your" costs and buyers' costs;
- What sale prices the market can bear;
- The differences between price paid to export (shipping costs and the price consumers are willing to pay (unit price);
- The risks for unmarketable items; what is the backup plan if the products don't sell overseas; will you discount it; wholesale it; dump the products in the other country, or donate them;
- How to work with domestic loaders and shippers, and the overseas loaders and shippers
- How to work with overseas vendors who will be selling for you;
- The difference between what overseas vendors will charge to sell your product versus what consumers will pay, versus what the exporter needs to earn to cover shipping plus to earn an income;
- Banking rules -- domestic and abroad;
- Tax laws both in the exporter's country and in the overseas country;
- Tax laws for filing taxes on earnings and losses.
That's just some off the top of my head.
