Being your own importer: Shopping at Chinese websites

Unless you've been living under a rock this past decade or so, you're probably aware that everything, but everything, is made in China these days. From clothing to shoes to watches to electronics...chances are a decent percentage of your possessions were made there, even if you bought them somewhere else.

Until a couple of years ago, however, the Chinese goods market was open exclusively to wholesalers - unless you happened to be visiting China (and people from Israel did, and still do, take themselves and their interior designers/architects there to buy whole house contents and ship them here). With the ushering in of the online Chinese retailers, now you, too, can order goods directly from that country without getting out of your comfy chair.