Mmm, this is what I feared with the changes to filing requirements that small and micro companies would start to wield published figures against each other but without having the information behind the figures.
I wouldn't believe that the woman in charge of Jinsan does not speak English simply because she chose not to. I'm not saying that she does, I would just not take everything at face value. Also, Eric (head of YL) would be in the same building. I know that he speaks English as I've spoken to him myself.
I lived in the far East and could find it frustrating when people chose to pretend that they did not understand you... Even when you spoke to them in their own language! Or if they really didn't want to communicate they would just ignore your existance. Litterally, you could be stood there trying to communicate something important (I was trying to get this one stupid woman to move her car as she could not move forwards but would not move back but seemed to figure that ignoring a cement mixer was an option) and they would just look straight ahead of them ignoring your existence.
You're quite right, you don't want Star Bucks and McDonalds. In the far East it's KFC and Seven Eleven.
But its so much better than over here. In KFC you get metal cutlery and glasses and they bring you refills to the table if they see you are running low.
I've got one of those MSc's as well
Mines from UCL. Best investment I've made as not only does it open doors that even my professional letters have difficulty prying ajar, it was actually fun to do. Much less thinking about how and more about why.
Sure that when you did your MSc. you also had to study the Starbucks model. You make all of your money in one country but set it up so that all of the outlets are franchised from a country with a low tax regime (In the case of Starbucks its was a special arrangement in the Netherlands). All costs including the extortionate head office fee's are in the country making the money so they don't turn a profit but the management fee's are recognised in the profits the low tax regime parent. You also pay your staff at a rate that virtually no tax is paid so the host country makes bugger all.
As its been taught for years under corporate social responsibility studies it wouldn't surprise me if they have cleaned up their act by now. But the moral of the story is that if you are bnig enough then you choose whether you want to pay tax and where you want to pay it.
Anyway, I digress, the declaring goods at a low value used to happen with Chinese companies attempting to be "Helpful" rather than the UK companies asking for their help. However, the UK companies were not having this practice and fought to get the right values put on the documentation. Not least because dolls were being seized due to that specific reason.
Jinsan do give volume discounts but you are not allowed to pass those discounts on. You know yourself, they set a price and you will charge at least that price or they won't let you sell their goods.
The people that we buy bespoke creations from are UK vendors. Also if you look in the small print in their T&C's it states that it is they, not you that are the importer. So, whilst hiccups do happen it is not the responsibility of the recipient who is not the importer
How companies do business is generally not obvious from small company accounts. At best you would be filling in the gaps with assumptions. It does help to be able to compare a companies year on year performance but how it is doing business isn't even hidden in the accounts, it's just not there.
All the best,
Shamus.