A first container to Lagos, and the three things that nearly went wrong

He had never imported before. He sold houseware from a shop in Lagos, he had seen gold-rimmed dinner sets doing well in a competitor's window, and he wanted a container. That is the whole brief we started with.

Eleven designs, four ranges, one 40HQ. It shipped on time and he has reordered twice since. But three things nearly went wrong, and all three are worth knowing before your first order.

One: the stowage plan was an afterthought

We quoted him per item, as we always did. He worked out his own quantities, sent them back, and the total came to 62 cubic metres. A 40HQ holds about 68. Fine on paper.

Except mixed ceramics do not stack like boxes of the same size. Once we laid it out properly, the real figure was closer to 71. He would have paid for a container that did not close.

We now send a stowage plan with every quote, before anyone commits to quantities. It costs us an hour and it has saved three customers from the same mistake.

Two: he ordered the wrong ratio

His instinct was to split the order evenly across the eleven designs. In most West African markets, plates and bowls turn over far faster than teapots and creamers. A teapot is a display piece that makes the shelf look good and sits there for months.

We suggested weighting it heavily toward the dinner plates and bowls, keeping the decorative pieces to a small number. He was not happy about it at the time. Six months later the plates were gone and he still had teapots.

• Ask your supplier what the ratio looks like for buyers in your region
• Order the display pieces in small numbers on the first container
• Let the second order be driven by what actually sold, not by what looked good in the catalogue

Three: nobody talked about the carton

He assumed cartons were cartons. They are not. Ceramic going to a hot, humid port needs a heavier board and proper dividers, and the difference in breakage between a good carton and a cheap one is not small.

His first container arrived with four broken pieces out of roughly nine thousand. That number is the whole argument for spending a little more on packing.

What we would tell a first-time importer

Start smaller than you think you should. There is no rule that says a first order has to fill a container, and we have shipped plenty that did not. Send us what you are thinking, even if it is only a photo of a competitor's shelf, and we will tell you honestly what we would order in your position.