Fireworks.org – The World’s Fireworks Community › Forums › General Discussion › Do you need a license to buy wholesale fireworks from China, or can anyone just order a container?
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Been kicking around the idea of splitting a container with a few buddies next season, but nobody can give me a straight answer on the licensing. Do you actually need an ATF import license or is that only for 1.3G stuff? Kinda confused on whether consumer 1.4G is even worth importing vs just buying from a US distributor. Anybody actually done this or is it way more hassle than it sounds?
Consumer 1.4G you don’t need an ATF license to buy or import, but you DO need an import license if you’re bringing in 1.3G display stuff. For a container of 1.4G it’s still not a walk in the park though — you need a customs broker, and a lot of distributors already did the import legwork so by the time you add freight, duties and a broker, the per-case savings aren’t always worth it unless you’re doing a full 40ft. Splitting with buddies helps but someone’s gotta be the importer of record.
Jim’s got it right. For consumer 1.4G the big gotcha isn’t really the license, it’s the import paperwork and hazmat compliance on the shipping side — plus any state you bring it into still has its own rules. If you’re serious, worth reading through the Importing Fireworks guide on the site, it breaks down FCL vs LCL and what a broker actually charges. It’s a legit way to save money but only at container scale, tbh most hobbyists are better off with a US distributor for anything under like half a container.
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