Why the supplier decides the outcome
Most problems with a China order trace back to the choice of supplier. Price, quality, lead time and how a factory behaves when something goes wrong all follow from who makes your product. A marketplace listing tells you very little about that. The same photo can sit on twenty listings run by trading companies, each adding a margin to the same factory, and each quoting a different quality grade without saying so.
Our job is to get you to the right factory, with prices you can compare, before you commit money. If you are comparing agents, our guide to choosing a China sourcing agent lists the questions to ask, including of us.
Where we look
China’s manufacturing is clustered by product. Electronics and accessories concentrate around Shenzhen and Dongguan, furniture around Foshan, small household goods around Yiwu and Ningbo, kitchen knives and tools in Yangjiang, footwear and sportswear in Quanzhou and Jinjiang, garments and cosmetics around Guangzhou. Starting in the right cluster shortens the search and gives you more factories that make your product every day, not occasionally.
We search our own supplier network, domestic platforms such as 1688 that most overseas buyers can’t use, trade fairs and direct visits. Our offices in Shenzhen, Changsha and Zhengzhou mean we can visit suppliers across southern and central China rather than judging them from a website.
What we check before a supplier makes your shortlist
- Business licence: the company is registered, active, and licensed for your product category.
- Factory or trader: whether they run the production line themselves or pass your order on.
- Relevant experience: whether they already make similar products, and for which markets. A factory that supplies Europe will know CE marking and REACH; one that only sells domestically may not.
- Capacity: whether your order size is a good fit. Too small and you will wait behind bigger customers. Too large and they may subcontract.
- Communication: whether they answer specific questions with specific answers.
Suppliers that fail these checks don’t reach you. The ones that pass come with notes explaining why.
Quotes you can compare
Factories quote in different ways: some include packaging, some quote ex-works, some leave out tooling or sample costs. We ask every shortlisted supplier to quote against the same specification, quantity breaks, Incoterm (usually FOB), packaging, payment terms, sample cost, tooling and lead time. You then compare the real cost of your first order, not just a unit price.
Samples
Samples are where you find out whether the factory understood your brief. We order them, check them against your specification, photograph and measure them, then send them on to you. Expect one to three rounds for a custom or private-label product. The sample you approve becomes the reference (the “golden sample”) that production and inspection are checked against.
Typical timeline
- Shortlist and quotes: usually one to three weeks, depending on how specialised the product is.
- Samples: about one to four weeks per round, longer if new tooling is needed.
- Production: often 25 to 45 days for standard goods after the deposit and approved sample.
These are typical ranges, not promises. We give you a dated plan for your project once we have quotes in hand.
What affects the price you pay
Materials and specification have the biggest effect, followed by order quantity, customisation (printing, colours, moulds), packaging and certification requirements. Asking for UK or EU certification documents at the quoting stage avoids a surprise cost later.
UK and EU buyers: decide on compliance early
Tell us where you will sell. Products for the UK and EU may need CE or UKCA marking, REACH chemical compliance, toy safety testing (EN 71) or specific labelling. Factories that know this up front quote correctly and plan the tests into the schedule.
