How do you enter the US market with a brand?
There are four ways into the US market: sell to a distributor, sell direct to a retailer, sell online under your own brand, or set up a US company and run it from there. The first two are fast but leave most of the margin with the intermediary. The last two keep the margin with you in exchange for company, tax and logistics work. The deciding question is this: do you want to sell your product, or build your brand? The first needs no company; the second makes one unavoidable.
- Realistic timeline
- 6 to 18 months
- Company setup
- 1 to 3 weeks
- Common structure
- LLC
- Trademark
- 8 to 14 months (USPTO)
The question to answer before setting up a company
Most manufacturers start with company formation, and that is usually the wrong order. A company is a tool; one set up before you know your sales model is just an expense.
Settle this first: who will you sell to in year one? If it is a distributor, you can invoice and export from Türkiye without a US entity. If it is a retail chain, you usually still do not need one, though payment and returns get easier with it. If you will sell online under your own brand or hold stock in the US, a company becomes unavoidable.
A practical rule: do not incorporate before the first real order. Once an order lands, a company can be set up in a few weeks; a company without orders just generates filing fees and accounting costs for months.
If you do incorporate: which structure, which state?
For foreign-owned trading companies the common choice is an LLC. Without a corporate tax layer it runs more simply for single-owner structures. A C-Corp may be needed if you plan to raise investment, but that is a reason about venture funding, not export.
State choice is usually overrated. Delaware and Wyoming are popular, but incorporating where you will have a physical presence generally creates less friction. A state where you use a warehouse creates tax obligations there anyway.
The order after formation: EIN (tax number), bank account, payment infrastructure, accountant. The step foreign owners get stuck on most is the bank account; some banks want an in-person meeting, others open remotely. Research this before incorporating, not after.
Is your product ready for the US?
A product that sells in Türkiye may not be sellable in the US as it is. Check three things.
Labelling and packaging. FDA nutrition labels for food, fibre content and care instructions for textiles, inches and ounces for measurements. Redesigning packaging is often a month of work and will stop a shipment if it was not planned for.
Certification. Depending on the product group you may need FDA registration, CPSC compliance or sector standards. Ask your exporter association or a compliance consultant; do not guess.
Sizing and preference. Size blocks, colour preferences and pack quantities differ in the US. A product that sells well in Türkiye can underperform there without a pattern change. This is product development work, not translation.
How do you choose a sales channel?
Distributor. The fastest route. The distributor takes on marketing, warehousing and collection, and takes 30 to 50 percent margin for it. Your control over the brand stays limited. A sensible start for year one.
Direct to retail. Better margin, but chain supplier terms are heavy: insurance, EDI systems, chargeback clauses, long payment terms. Small and mid-sized chains are more realistic to start with.
Online under your own brand. All the margin is yours, but so is the job of creating demand. Plans made without accounting for ad cost, return rates and customer service do not hold up here.
For most manufacturers the right order is: start with a distributor, learn the market, then build your own channel. Doing it the other way means trying to create demand in a market you do not yet know.
How do you set the price?
A US retail price usually lands at four to six times the ex-works price. The gap is freight, duty, distributor margin, retail margin and marketing spend.
So work backwards: decide what the shelf price needs to be, then reverse-engineer what the factory price has to be. Manufacturers who calculate forwards often discover the product cannot be competitive on the shelf only after the container has sailed.
Find your duty rate from the product's HS code in advance. Within the same product group a difference of a few points can decide the margin.
How long does it take and what does it cost?
From the first serious conversation to the first shipment, the realistic range is 6 to 18 months. Closer to the lower bound if product, packaging and certification are ready; closer to the upper one if the product line needs rebuilding.
Company formation is a small part of that: an LLC takes 1 to 3 weeks, an EIN a few weeks, a bank account varies. What actually consumes time is product compliance and finding the right buyer.
Start the trademark early. The USPTO process runs 8 to 14 months and you can sell while waiting; but a brand that grows unregistered faces a very expensive problem the day someone else registers the name.
TCM Global runs this process from both sides: production and product development in Türkiye, structure and buyer network in the USA. Brand development, adapting the product line and matching distributors move as links in the same chain. We take sales commission and trade margin on this work, which means the product performing on the shelf is our result too.
Let's discuss an opportunityCommon questions
Do you have to set up a US company to export to the USA?
No. If you sell to a distributor or a retailer you can invoice and export from Türkiye. A US entity becomes necessary when you want to sell online under your own brand, hold stock in the US or use local payment infrastructure.
LLC or C-Corp?
For trade and export the common choice is an LLC, which runs more simply without a corporate tax layer. A C-Corp makes sense for structures planning to raise venture capital. Choosing one for an export operation usually adds unnecessary complexity.
Which state should you incorporate in?
Delaware and Wyoming are popular but rarely decisive for exporters. Incorporating where you will have a physical presence such as a warehouse or office usually creates less friction, since tax obligations arise there anyway.
When should you file the trademark?
As early as possible. The USPTO process takes 8 to 14 months and you can sell while it runs. The real risk with an unregistered brand is someone else registering the name and leaving you unable to use your own.
Do you need a US company to sell on Amazon?
Not strictly; Amazon allows foreign sellers. But a US entity and a local bank account make payments, returns and tax handling considerably easier. If you are targeting serious volume, incorporating pays for itself in the medium term.
How many times the factory price is the US retail price?
Usually four to six times. The gap is freight, duty, distributor margin, retail margin and marketing spend. Working backwards from the shelf price is far safer than working forwards from the factory price.