How do I find buyers for export? A six-step method with checks

The example product in this guide is incense sticks. The same six steps work for handicrafts or a packaged food line. Only the code and the name sources change. With five hours a week, plan on one week for steps 1 to 3 and one week for steps 4 and 5. Week two then covers about 25 checks and 10 to 20 first messages.

1. 1

   Find the 6-digit HS code (about 1 hour)

   Incense sticks fall under 330741. Check: read the official description of your code and confirm that it covers the product you actually sell, not a neighbouring product. These six digits are the same in the more than 200 countries and economies that use the Harmonized System of the World Customs Organization. Countries then add their own digits. The United States, for example, uses a 10-digit Schedule B number for exports and a 10-digit HTS number for imports, according to the International Trade Administration (ITA). If you sell sticks packed in a set with holders or cones, the set can have a different code, because sets follow a separate rule (Rule 3 of the General Rules of Interpretation, per the ITA). In that case, ask a customs broker to confirm the code before you go on. For a deeper method, see find importers by HS code.

2. 2

   Choose one or two markets (about 1 hour)

   Open UN Comtrade. It holds imports and exports by product and trading partner, reported by about 200 countries and areas and classified the same way, so countries can be compared. Look up imports of 330741 and note the countries that import the most. Then compare the number of importing companies in your two best options, as in the table below. Check: you can name one or two markets and give one reason for each.

In the United States, 356 companies appear as importers of 330741, with 4,305 shipments worth about $7.05M. In the United Kingdom, the figures are 137 companies, 1,647 shipments and about $1.51M. Both sets of figures come from import records filed in the destination country, so you can compare them directly. At the time of writing, India is the origin of about 89% of the shipments in the United States records and about 90% in the United Kingdom records. The data provider does not state the period these records cover. Treat each company as on record, not as confirmed active today. Step 4 confirms that each one still trades.

Here is a decision for this example. The United States has more importing companies. The United Kingdom has fewer, but HMRC publishes a free trader list by commodity code (see step 3), so you can get names and addresses at no cost. A reasonable plan is to start with the United Kingdom for the free names and add the United States in week two. Both pages are linked here: United States and United Kingdom.

• United Kingdom: the Find UK traders search of HMRC on uktradeinfo.com. Search by commodity code (start with 330741) or by a product description. You get the trader's registered name and address, whether it imports or exports, and when it traded the goods. HMRC does not publish values, the trader's customers or the origin countries. The data is updated monthly from customs declarations. For more detail, see find importers in the United Kingdom.
• Canada, if you add it later: the Canadian Importers Database lists companies that import a product, by product, by city and by country of origin. See find importers in Canada.
• Trade fairs: use AUMA, the association of the German trade fair industry, at auma.de to find gift, home and lifestyle fairs. Open the exhibitor list of each fair where the organiser publishes one. Keep the wholesalers and distributors on the list. Leave out other incense makers, because they are your competitors.
• A buyer search: enter the product and the market in a Reevi search. It returns named companies with a short reason why each one fits. The search is free, needs no account, and shows the top results when you are signed out.

Copy every name into the tracker at the end of this guide. Fill in the column that records where you found the name. Other free sources are listed in find export buyers free. A comparison of paid tools is in best AI tools to find buyers. Check: you have 20 to 30 names, and you can describe each one in a single line, such as "gift wholesaler, sells incense to independent shops".

• Website and contact route: the website passes if it sells or uses incense, such as a shop, a wholesale catalogue or a spa. Then open its Contact, Wholesale or Trade enquiries page. Copy the published email address or the contact form URL into the "Contact route" column. If you find none after 5 minutes, write "none" and move the row to the bottom.
• Registration: confirm that the company appears as registered in the official company register of its country.
• Risk: check who owns the company. Then screen the name for sanctions (selling to a sanctioned company can break the law), politically exposed persons or PEP (owners who hold public office, a corruption risk) and adverse media (news reports of fraud, lawsuits or bankruptcy). A free option is listed in the tools section below.
• Role: drop customs brokers and freight forwarders. They file the paperwork, but they do not buy the goods. The Canadian Importers Database says openly that its lists include customs brokers. Customs-based lists in other countries can contain them too.

Write the result of each check in the tracker in a few words, such as "OK" or "forwarder, dropped". The guide verify a foreign buyer covers deeper checks to run before you agree payment terms, and payment terms for a new export buyer covers how to get paid. Check: every name still on the list has a written reason why it fits your product and a contact route.

Step 5 (about 1 hour for 10 messages). Each message has one product, one reason this buyer fits, and one small ask, such as a sample box or a price list. Do not attach a full catalogue. Do not quote prices before the buyer asks for them. Check: the message is under 120 words and names the buyer's business.

Fill in the brackets with facts from your own product. More examples are in first email to an importer.

Step 6 (30 minutes a week). If there is no reply after about a week, send one follow-up. Keep it to two lines and repeat the ask. Then stop writing to that company. Record every outcome in the tracker: reply, no reply, or not interested. Set a fixed number of sends before you change anything. For example, after 30 sends with no useful reply, rewrite the message first. If the next 30 also get no useful reply, move to your second market. Change the product only after that. Change one thing at a time, so you know which change made the difference. Check: every row in the tracker has a next step and a date.

Reevi offers one free tool for each of steps 3, 4 and 5.

• Step 3, [Find Buyers](/find-buyers): enter a product and a country. It returns named companies that already import the product, found from trade records and the public web, each with a short reason why it fits. You can refine the list in plain words. With a free account, you can save the list and view verified contacts.
• Step 4, [Check a Lead](/buyer-intelligence): enter a company name and get a basic report on identity and ownership, sanctions and PEP screening, and adverse media. The basic report is free.
• Step 5, [Message Writer](/tools/message-writer): it drafts a first message in the buyer's business language, with a version in your language so you can review it. Each draft has one clear ask. You copy the message and send it yourself.

Look at the "Source of the name" column after your first 30 sends. It shows which source gave you the replies, so in the next round you spend your five hours on that source.