China remains the default production base for the world's toy brands, which means most US retailers, e-commerce sellers and FBA operators eventually source there, whether direct from a factory or through a trading company that consolidates genuine branded stock. This guide walks the whole path from RFQ to customs entry, the compliance documents that decide whether a shipment clears, the Incoterms and HTS codes that shape your landed cost, and where genuine, invoice-backed stock fits a US assortment. It is written as a practical framework, not a legal opinion, and the specifics should be confirmed with the relevant US authority before you import.
The pull is straightforward: breadth of supply, competitive case-pack pricing, and the speed to ride a trend. The catch is that toys are a regulated consumer-safety category in the United States, so the importer, not the factory, carries the compliance obligation. The practical takeaway is that the cheapest quote is only cheap if it arrives with the documents that let it clear and a listing that stays up. A buyer's real job is to make the genuine, documented supply chain the easy default. The supplier-verification guide shows how to screen a trading partner in ten minutes before you send a deposit.
Read the path as a sequence, not a menu: (1) send an RFQ with the brands, series, target quantities and destination; (2) review the itemized quote, unit price, case pack, MOQ, lead time; (3) confirm a small sample or a documented test order; (4) issue a Purchase Order and receive a Proforma Invoice (PI); (5) pay by T/T against the PI terms (deposit plus balance, or balance against shipping documents); (6) the supplier produces or allocates stock and packs to your carton spec; (7) you collect the compliance package, CPC, CPSC eFiling reference and ASTM F963 evidence; (8) freight moves under your chosen Incoterm; (9) a customs broker files entry with the ISF and HTS codes; (10) goods clear and move to your warehouse or FBA center. Each step produces a paper trail, and the trail is what separates a smooth repeat order from a one-off gamble. The quote-reading guide explains exactly which lines on a China-direct quote prove the supplier knows its own stock.
For US-bound toys, the non-negotiable set is a CPC (Children's Product Certificate) issued against ASTM F963 test evidence, the CPSC eFiling reference, mandatory at US entry since 2026-07-08, and the tracking-label and certificate data on the carton. Toys are a CPSIA-covered category, so these are entry and listing requirements, not optional bureaucracy. Ask for the certificates with every order, keep them with the commercial invoice, and confirm the current requirements with CPSC, because the specifics change. This is also where a genuine trading company and a risky one diverge most clearly: the genuine one answers the document request with the paperwork; the other deflects it. The compliance checklist lays out the full US and EU/UK document stack and the flags that mean stop, and the CPSC eFiling guide walks the filing itself.
The Incoterm on the PI decides who pays and who carries risk at each leg. EXW (ex-works) puts everything on you from the supplier's dock; FOB (free on board) is the common middle ground where the supplier gets goods to the Chinese port and you take over ocean and onward; CIF adds ocean insurance and freight to the supplier's side; DDP (delivered duty paid) hands you goods at your door with duty included but at a premium and with the supplier controlling the customs entry. For a first import, FOB or CIF keeps you in control of the freight forwarder and the broker; DDP is convenient but hides the duty math. Ocean is cheapest and slowest (roughly 18–35 days to a US port by season); air is days but multiples the cost. The shipping-cost guide breaks the freight options and the cost framework so you can model landed price before you commit.
At the US border, a licensed customs broker files the entry using HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) codes, most toys fall under Chapter 95, plus the Importer Security Filing (ISF, the "10+2") submitted before vessel departure. The broker also handles duty and any applicable fees, and ties the CPSC eFiling reference to the entry so the shipment is not held at the line. Get the HTS classification right: a misclassified line can mean a duty surprise or a customs query that delays the whole container. If you sell on FBA, plan the inbound shipment and labeling with Amazon's requirements in mind, the FBA inspection and labeling guide covers the prep that keeps a branded shipment from being rejected at the fulfillment center.
A common worry is whether you need an authorization letter to import and resell branded toys. You do not. Genuine branded toys move through trade channels every day without an "authorized distributor" title, and what actually protects you is the commercial invoice and batch traceability that prove the stock is genuine, plus the compliance documents that clear US entry. Under the US first-sale framework, genuine goods bought and resold in the ordinary course of trade are generally treated as the brand owner's own goods for import purposes, the paperwork, not a label, is what matters. Our own posture is exactly this: we carry genuine, China-direct stock sourced through real trade channels, we say so plainly, and we back every order with full invoices and batch-traceable cartons. The parallel-imports guide explains where that model sits relative to an authorized program, and the red-flags checklist helps you spot the suppliers where the paper trail does not add up.
Most first-import problems are avoidable and repeat the same shape: skipping the sample or test order and committing volume blind; treating the CPC and eFiling as afterthoughts instead of pre-shipment requirements; choosing DDP to "keep it simple" and then discovering the duty math was buried; misclassifying the HTS code; and underestimating Q4, when both factory slots and ocean space tighten and transit stretches. The cheap insurance is boring: start with a small, fully documented order, confirm the documents before the container closes, and build buffer before the holiday window. A first test order, a few cases of a known line, documented end to end, is the single highest-ROI step in the whole process, because it turns every later claim into something you have already verified.
Send an RFQ, genuine China-direct stock, full invoices and batch traceability in one reply within 24–48 hours.