Not all infectious disease terms are created equal, though often they’re mistakenly used interchangeably. The distinction between the words “pandemic,” “epidemic,” and “endemic” is regularly blurred, even by medical experts. This is because the definition of each term is fluid and changes as diseases become more or less prevalent over time.
While conversational use of these words might not require precise definitions, knowing the difference is important to help you better understand public health news and appropriate public health responses.
Let’s start with basic definitions:
AN EPIDEMIC is a disease that affects a large number of people within a community, population, or region.
A PANDEMIC is an epidemic that’s spread over multiple countries or continents.
ENDEMIC is something that belongs to a particular people or country.
AN OUTBREAK is a greater-than-anticipated increase in the number of endemic cases. It can also be a single case in a new area. If it’s not quickly controlled, an outbreak can become an epidemic.
Epidemic vs. Pandemic
A simple way to know the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic is to remember the “P” in pandemic, which means a pandemic has a passport. A pandemic is an epidemic that travels.
Epidemic vs. Endemic
But what’s the difference between epidemic and endemic? An epidemic is actively spreading; new cases of the disease substantially exceed what is expected. More broadly, it’s used to describe any problem that’s out of control, such as “the opioid epidemic.” An epidemic is often localized to a region, but the number of those infected in that region is significantly higher than normal. For example, when COVID-19 was limited to Wuhan, China, it was an epidemic. The geographical spread turned it into a pandemic.
Endemics, on the other hand, are a constant presence in a specific location. Malaria is endemic to parts of Africa. Ice is endemic to Antarctica.
Endemic vs. Outbreak
Going one step farther, an endemic can lead to an outbreak, and an outbreak can happen anywhere. Last summer’s dengue fever outbreak in Hawaii is as an example. Dengue fever is endemic to certain regions of Africa, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Mosquitoes in these areas carry dengue fever and transmit it from person to person. But in 2019 there was an outbreak of dengue fever in Hawaii, where the disease is not endemic. It’s believed an infected person visited the Big Island and was bitten by mosquitoes there. The insects then transferred the disease to other individuals they bit, which created an outbreak.
You can see why it’s so easy to confuse these terms. They’re all related to one another and there’s a natural ebb and flow between them as treatments become available and measures for control are put in place — or as flare-ups occur and disease begins to spread.
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By: John Hawthorne john@connexsocial.com https://www.floship.com/guide-to-shipping-from-china/
Apr 25, 2017 8:58 AM
Shipping from China is a fantastic way to get resellable goods at a discounted price. When you’re a dropshipper and/or Amazon seller, goods from China can be your ticket to significant revenues.
But here’s the problem: the process of shipping goods from China isn’t particularly easy to understand, primarily because a host of strange and unfamiliar terms are used. It’s like trying to learn a foreign language.
This learning curve often turns potential importers off, with them assuming that the process is too difficult to understand.
But once you understand the terms used, the process isn’t that complicated.
In this guide, we’re going to give you a simple walkthrough of shipping from China. We’ll unpack the terms in simple English so that you feel confident navigating the shipping world.
Term #1: Incoterms
Inco…what? You probably don’t use that word often, or ever, in your daily life. However, it’s used constantly in the shipping environment so you need to understand it.
Incoterms are international standard codes that indicate where cargo shall be shipped from the supplier to the importer.
One common incoterm is DAP (“Delivered At Place”). This simply means that your cargo will be shipped from the supplier in China to a specified overseas location. If you’re in Wisconsin and are having blue widgets shipped from a supplier directly to your warehouse, you would use the code DAP.
Another common code is FOB, which stands for “Free On Board”. This means transportation from the supplier to the port of export. However, you are responsible for arranging transportation to it’s final destination.
For example, you might have whatchamacallits shipped from the supplier to port of Hong Kong. From there you need to determine how it gets to your warehouse in Wisconsin.
Always be sure to tell your supplier what incoterm you want when getting a shipping quote. Otherwise you may end up paying way more than you expected.
To recap: Incoterms are the codes that specify how the goods are going to be transferred from the supplier to you.
This short video explains more of the what and why behind incoterms:
Term #2: FCL and LCL Shipping
Now we come to FCL and LCL shipping, both of which have to do with the costs of shipping and the size of the container used.
FCL = Full Container Load
LCL = Less (than) Container Load
Depending on the amount you are purchasing from your Chinese supplier, you may fill an entire shipping container or only part of one.
When you are using an entire container yourself, you are shipping FCL (full container load). See, that makes sense, right? More items equals a full container.
Typically, shipping FCL is cheaper by volumetric unit and weight unit.
But, many importers aren’t purchasing enough goods to ship FCL. You could try air freight but the cost is often too high. In this case, LCL (less than container load) is the ideal solution.
When shipping LCL, your items share containers with other items. In other words, cargo from multiple buyers ends up in the same container.
Although this gives you a cheaper total price, is does end up costing more per volumetric unit.
Ultimately, your choice of FCL or LCL will hinge upon how much you’re shipping.
20’ is designed to carry more weight than voluminous cargo.
Example – minerals, metals, machinery, etc. all of which are heavy goods.
40’ is designed to carry voluminous cargo rather than heavy cargo.
Example – furniture, tyres, clothes, etc. all of which are voluminous goods.
If you are able to shape your order based upon how many units will fit in a specific container size, you may be able to save quite a bit of money.
Term #4: Freight Insurance
Freight insurance is exactly what it sounds like: insurance on what is being shipped. If something goes wrong and your cargo is hijacked by fierce pirates, freight insurance covers your losses.
The incoterms specifies who is responsible for insuring the shipments. Insurance is automatically included with the incoterm CIF (Cost Freight and Insurance). If you’re using the incoterms DAF or DAT, you have to tell the shipping company that you need insurance on your cargo.
Thankfully, insurance isn’t usually expensive, usually between $50-$100.
Term #5: Shipping/Lead Time
This one is also pretty self-explanatory. The shipping/lead time is how long it takes to get from the shipping port to the port of destination.
This matters because the longer the lead time, the earlier you need to place your order. If you need to receive your shipment by May, you need to place it several months prior.
Keep in mind, lead time doesn’t just include when the cargo is being shipped. It also includes:
The time your cargo sits in the port before being loaded (up to 1 week).
Administrative delays at both ports
Weather related delays.
The point is simple: shipping by sea is somewhat unpredictable. Give yourself a large margin of error when placing your orders.
Term #6: Export Packaging
The last thing you want to happen is for your cargo to be damaged during transport. Damaged cargo leads to lost sales and plummeting revenue. It’s crucial for you to know how to package your cargo.
It’s also essential for you to be crystal clear with your supplier, since they may not adhere to your standards. It’s not uncommon for suppliers to use cheap packaging materials, which can then lead to breakage.
China Importal provides a helpful checklist for shipping:
Inner cartons: 5 layers
Outer cartons: 5 layers
Plastic wrapping: Yes (on Outer carton)
Pallets: Yes (ISPM 15 EU Standard)
Freight remark: Yes (Printed on outer carton)
Again, be clear with your supplier. Don’t leave things ambiguous. If possible, provide illustrations of how things should be packaged.
Additionally, if there are any additional regulations to consider (such as with lithium batteries), be sure to specify those as well. Failing to follow those regulations can lead to penalties and delays.
Term #7: Amazon FBA Warehouse
These days, it’s common for importers to ship directly from China to an Amazon FBA warehouse. From these warehouses, Amazon handles all the distribution of the products.
So, for example, if you’re selling essential oils from China on Amazon, you could have them shipped directly to an FBA warehouse and then Amazon would handle the shipment of all your sales. This can save you time and shipping costs.
But here’s the deal: Amazon has pretty strict regulations for receiving packages at their warehouses.
Everything must be labeled according to Amazon’s standards.
Everything must be on pallets.
Everything must be forwarded to the Amazon address using DAP and DDP incoterms.
If you fail to meets these specs, you’ll run into problems.
Term #8: Bill of Lading
The Bill of Lading functions as a checklist of sorts. It shows:
The shipping company
The exporting company (seller)
The buyer
The products being shipped
The volume of the products
The incoterm used on the products
When shipping from China, a Bill of Lading is mandatory and always must accompany the shipped goods.
For more on the Bill of Lading, watch this video:
Term #9: Container Tracking
As mentioned above, there is some unreliability when it comes to shipping overseas. Shipments can be delayed, throwing a monkey wrench into all your best laid plans.
Tracking your containers is the best way to stay on top of when your shipments should arrive. In order to track your containers you need:
The shipping line transporting your cargo
The container number, booking number, or document number
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E-commerce is not only changing the way we buy products, but also how we sell them. Competition is fierce in the age of Amazon and Alibaba, and sellers must work even harder to make sure that their products don’t drown in the sea of identical private label and unbranded products.
In this interview, Pilar Newman – a leading Amazon and E-commerce expert based in Brooklyn, NYC – explains what you must do to ensure that your products stand out in a crowded marketplace.
She also explains why product selection is not only about data or statistics, and why the lowest price point is not always the key to success.
Before we get started, please introduce yourself to our readers
I’m an 8+ year veteran Amazon seller. I started off doing retail arbitrage as a means to supplement my income. Once I started to make a significant income on the site, I quit my job and took my business to full-time status.
That was 4 years ago. I pride myself on having learned how to sell on Amazon from the school of Trial and Error! This is also what gives me my unique perspective on finding profitable products to sell.
Now, I sell Private Label items across various niches on Amazon using the FBA program. The freedom that the FBA program has given me, allows me time to travel the world and work from my laptop.
Additionally, I’ve spent the last two years doing one-on-one coaching with Amazon Sellers of various levels. This experience led me to put together a comprehensive course for sellers looking to start and excel with selling on Amazon FBA. But before they can go through the course, I have them take my free Product Research Training Videos.
Where do you source most of your products today?
Part of my self-described ‘job description’ involves traveling the world and educating myself on products out there!
There’s an infinite amount of ideas that come about when you open yourself to international travel. Plus, you never know who you’ll meet on the road that could potentially introduce you to a new business contact. But while I do offer products from both Spain and Japan, I still source the majority of my products in China.
This continues to be the most cost-effective option for my product needs.
I enlist sourcing agents in China to help cut down on the amount of time it takes to find a supplier or manufacturer of a product and take it to market. This is not the most economical way to buy a product, which is why most people overlook working with agents.
They don’t want someone to take a cut off the top to help them with the product sourcing process. I think of it differently and it has served me well throughout all these years.
My sourcing agents in China are my eyes and ears on the ground. The most helpful ones have a good understanding of what’s happening in the marketplace. Many times they have led me in the direction of some of my best selling items.
One of my agents even sells to a guy that sells his items to big box stores! That right there tells you the importance of fast turn around time rather than always going the route of lowest price point.
Ultimately, sourcing agents provide me with more time to work on marketing a new product. My healthy profit margins speak to the success of using this sourcing method to sell products online.
How do you go about finding the right product for your audience?
Truthfully – It’s a gut feeling. When I see something, I can almost immediately tell whether the item is worth testing out with my audience or not. I know. It’s not the type of answer one really wants to hear.
But this innate skill was built up over years of selling across various niches. During this time, I gained a better understanding of my audience’s needs and wants.
When I was creating my free products research training course, I was able to break down the process of doing product research in a more tangible manner. In a nut shell, it begins with understanding the platform one is selling on.
For example, Amazon attracts many bargain shoppers, and they love to use their Prime membership benefits for fast delivery options. Hence, it makes sense to offer key competitively priced items using the FBA program. In order to find a suitable product to sell, one must decide on which audience they want to serve.
If they don’t know much about the niche audience, then one can enlist various approaches in learning about them via social media gathering circles.
This can be as simple as joining a Crochet Knitting Social Group on a site such as Facebook. From there, one reverse engineers a product based on what they’ve learned about the niche buyers. I explain this in further detail and with examples in the free products research training course.
Isn’t there a risk that product niches get crowded very quickly, as more and more businesses apply a data driven approach to product selection?
If you really think about it, most all niches are already crowded with product offerings. But people continue to introduce products and profit from these niches. How is that? It’s definitely not by following the crowd! If I slap my Private Label logo on the same product you have, then price becomes the deciding factor for the buyer. It then becomes a race to the bottom with who can offer the better price.
When you use a logical approach to product selection, you are better able to accommodate to the needs of your customers in real time. You can do this by taking advantage of trends, creating more value-add products, introducing complementary items, or even inventing a new and improved product.
Once you’ve listening to your customers’ needs and created a product well-suited for them, the focus then turns to optimizing your product listing, Amazon Sponsored Ads and cross-selling them on another one of your items.
Assuming that you are in a relatively crowded niche, what can you do to make your product stand out?
In the Amazon world, standing out from the crowd means offering a product that doesn’t look exactly like your competitor’s products. That’s one way. Another way to stand out is to increase the perceived value of your product through offering e-books or enhancing the product through customization.
But I do find that one of the best ways to have your product stand out is to bring products on the marketplace that are not easily found online. For example, most people go to Aliexpress, lift an item from there and put it on Amazon to sell at a higher price point.
This is a common pitfall for new sellers. Other than going to something like the Canton Fair and seeing products that are not easily found online, your next best bet is to enlist your vendor to help with product suggestions.
I do this time and time again with great success! I’ll point out to my vendors in China an item I see online that is doing well and ask them for recommendations along the same product line or niche.
My vendors know that if I can find it on Aliexpress or Alibaba, then I don’t want to see it. They always come back with great recommendations that lead me to new product offerings. Leverage the resources you already have to bring new, relatively unknown products to the marketplace.
That’s one of the best ways to get your product seen in a relatively crowded niche.
If we all apply a data driven approach to product selection, wouldn’t that stifle innovation? Perhaps we would all be thinking within the same box, rather than update products.
Yes, I agree that a data driven approach to product selection could potentially stifle product innovation. One important piece of information to remember here is that many of us Amazon sellers are truly just marketers.
Most Amazon sellers aren’t selling products they’ve invented. As marketers, we recognize that the Amazon platform brings with it built in traffic of repeat buyers. Our job is to find a product worthwhile enough to test out the proposition, and then to maximize the traffic on the platform to bring maximum exposure and profits to our items.
Inventors are the real innovators. Some inventors are not good marketers. One way to make money on Amazon could be partnering up with an inventor and helping them market their item on Amazon FBA.
You’ve been selling on Amazon for years. Do you use any other sales channels?
I have a Shopify storefront for my items on my 2nd Amazon account. But I haven’t been as active with my Shopify storefront in sending traffic to it. When you have a ‘seasoned’ Amazon account for 8.5yrs, it’s easy to completely focus on that and continue building complementary items across my profitable product line niches. It’s almost automatic at this point.
I have to be one of the very few that’s been able to sell on Amazon this long and make a full-time income without having an outside storefront!
That’s been slowly changing though as I’ve tested out selling my products on FB with a private niche group and have seen good initial results from that. Ask me this question again in a year and I’m sure my answer will be very different from today.
Do you apply different strategies when selecting products for different marketplaces?
Yes-ish. I’ll explain. This is what I’ve noticed in my initial trials of selling products off the Amazon platform.
There are some products that require more touch points, or rather further education on them before someone decides to purchase it. For example, these types of products may be higher priced items or something in which you’re asking people to change their normal behavior or habits.
Those products would require a separate storefront where the brand story and the value of the product proposition could be better represented. As an example, I have an extra virgin olive oil that I’m selling in my second Amazon storefront. I also have a Shopify storefront and a FB fan page for it.
Not everyone is willing to part ways with their EVOO and try a new one! This sort of a product requires more attention.
For regular items I sell only on Amazon, there’s a definite strategic approach I take for product selection. Amazon shoppers tend to be bargain buyers. They are also used to fast shipping with their Prime memberships. With this in mind, my products mostly fall within a sweet spot price point of $15 – $25.
They tend to be light-weight and quick turnaround items. The price is good enough for them to simply add it to their cart and checkout without much thought. I also sell across multiple niches. Basically, I’m looking for the ‘holes’ in product offerings on the site and take advantage of those opportunities.
This is a continuous process and it doesn’t pigeon hole me into one particular product line offering or category. I often refer to this as “flipping products on Amazon.”
You recently launched an online course for Amazon sellers. Can you tell us a bit about this?
Yes, the course is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time. Essentially, it came about after hearing so many of my one-on-one coaching clients ask me the same question: “How do I find a profitable product to sell on Amazon?”
Most sellers that would come to me had spent so much time on implementing systems in order to sell their product that they completely neglected finding the best possible product to sell. No amount of systems in place will sell a product that no one’s interested in buying.
The other pain point I would commonly hear from sellers is that they were overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge needed to start an Amazon business. They felt it was necessary to have an outside website for their product as well as know how to run social media traffic to their product.
And while those pieces do become important to further scale one’s business, it’s completely possible to run a full-time Amazon business with simply knowing how to work within the Amazon eco-system. I’m a great example of that!
My course is focused solely around working within the Amazon eco-system in order to optimize for best results as well as finding the right product to sell. This makes learning the Amazon selling process more manageable and less overwhelming.
