No fixed minimum on our side. The practical limit is the factory's MOQ, which varies by category: a container of panels, a few hundred pieces of sanitary ware, a few thousand pieces of hardware. For a first order we would rather run a smaller, well-inspected shipment than a large one nobody has checked. Below roughly one pallet, the per-unit service cost usually stops making sense — we will say so when it does.

Three separate lines, always: the factory price, any tooling or sampling cost, and our service fee. Freight is quoted separately with the forwarder's number visible. We do not add a hidden percentage to the unit price — that is the most common way a sourcing agent gets paid, and it makes every recommendation they give you impossible to audit. Service fees are stated before work starts, so you can decline before spending.

Before any drawing is released to a factory, we agree in writing: the factory may not produce your item for anyone else, may not keep the tooling, and may not use your artwork or packaging. Tooling is owned by you and can be moved. This is a contractual protection, not a technical one — no agreement stops a determined copyist, which is why we also keep the number of factories that see your full design as small as possible, and prefer factories whose own business is not competing with yours.

Chinese factories almost universally require a deposit (typically 30%) and the balance before shipment. That balance is the point of maximum leverage, and the reason our inspection happens before it moves. We structure payment around milestones: deposit to start, balance after inspection passes. We do not offer credit, and we would be cautious of any agent who does — it usually means the margin is somewhere you cannot see. Escrow services can be arranged if your volume justifies the fee.

If we catch it at inspection, before the balance: you have leverage. Options are rework, sorting, a price adjustment, or holding the goods — you decide, we stay in the room until it is resolved. If it is discovered after arrival, we handle the claim with the factory on your behalf, based on the inspection record and the sealed sample. We cannot guarantee a factory will pay a claim, and any agent who promises that is overselling. What we can guarantee is a written record that makes the claim arguable.

Typical sequence: one week to agree the specification and shortlist, one to two weeks for samples and quotes, then production lead time (often 20–45 days depending on the product). A first order realistically runs eight to twelve weeks from a clear brief to goods at the port. Custom tooling adds three to six weeks and should be planned as a separate phase, not squeezed into the same schedule.

We collect and check certificates, test reports and declarations, and we verify that the model, batch and date match the goods actually being shipped. Where a standard test is needed and the factory does not hold a current report, we can arrange testing through a third-party lab at cost. What we cannot do is make an untested product compliant — and if the paperwork cannot be made to match, we will tell you before the order is placed rather than after.

Yes — the buyer's location does not matter, the factory's does. We work with importers in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Australia. What we do not do is pretend to cover factories in regions we cannot reach in a day. If your product is made in Zhejiang or Shandong and we have no presence there, we will say so and either travel for a key visit or decline.

Ask anyway. Adjacent categories — sealants, insulation, door hardware, stone, lighting — we can usually handle through the same factories and the same discipline. What we will not do is accept a brief in a category where we cannot judge the sample ourselves, because at that point we are just a postbox with a mark-up.

Yes, and we will send ours if you prefer. Do not send full technical drawings or brand artwork before an NDA is in place — for either of us, the discipline is the same.

A sourcing agent acts for the buyer, not the factory: finding suppliers, checking them, getting quotes, monitoring production, inspecting, and arranging shipping. You need one when the gap between what you can verify and what you are being told is expensive — which is most of the time for a first order in an unfamiliar category. You do not need one when you already have a trusted factory and only want someone to stand at the loading dock; that is a narrower, cheaper service.

Four things, in this order: can they judge your product themselves (ask a technical question and see whether the answer is specific), who answers when something goes wrong (a person, or an inbox), where their money comes from (a stated fee, or a hidden margin), and what they refuse to do. The last one is the most revealing — an agent who accepts every brief is not screening for your benefit.

You should use whoever will do the work properly — and you should be sceptical of age as a qualification, in both directions. What being new changes here: the person who reads your brief is the person at the factory, there is no inherited supplier list or old commission arrangement steering the recommendation, and a bad first order would hurt us more than it would hurt a firm with hundreds of clients. What it does not change: we cannot show you ten years of case studies, and you should weigh that. Ask us for the project that went wrong; the answer tells you more than the ones that went right.

Both, and either on its own. Freight is quoted separately and transparently — sea FCL or LCL, air, or rail to inland Europe — with the forwarder's cost visible next to ours. If you already have a forwarder you trust, we will work with them and simply make sure the documents and the packing are right at our end.

Yes. Private label means your artwork and packaging applied at the factory, with proofs checked before the run. FBA prep means carton labels, poly bagging, kitting and pallet configuration to your platform's current requirements — done at source so it is not re-done at a prep centre at three dollars a unit. Tell us the marketplace and we will work from its spec sheet, not from memory.

我们这边没有硬性门槛。实际限制是工厂的起订量，各品类不同：板材可能是一个柜，卫浴几百件，五金几千件。第一单，我们宁愿做一票量小但验得仔细的货，也不愿做一大票没人看过的货。低于大约一个托盘，单件摊下来的服务成本通常就不划算了——到那个点我们会直说。

三行，永远分开：工厂价、模具或打样成本、我们的服务费。运费单独报，货代的价格是看得见的。我们不在单价里加一个看不见的百分比——那是采购代理最常见的收费方式，也是让他们的每一条建议都无法被您审核的原因。服务费在开工前说定，您可以在花钱之前拒绝。

在图纸交给工厂之前，书面约定：工厂不得为您以外的人生产此产品，不得保留模具，不得使用您的图样或包装。模具归您，可以转移。这是合同层面的保护，不是技术层面的——没有任何协议能拦住一个铁了心的仿制者，所以我们同时把看到您完整设计方案的工厂数量压到最低，并且优先选择主业不与您冲突的工厂。

中国工厂几乎全部要求定金（通常 30%）加发货前付清尾款。尾款那一刻是您手里筹码最大的时候，也是我们把验货放在尾款之前的原因。我们按节点组织付款：定金开工，验货通过付尾款。我们不放账期，也会提醒您警惕任何提供账期的代理——那通常意味着差价藏在您看不见的地方。如果您的量足够，可以安排第三方托管，费用另计。

如果是在验货时、尾款前发现：您有筹码。选项是返工、挑选、调价或暂缓——您来选，我们留在现场直到解决。如果是到货之后发现，我们代表您向工厂索赔，依据是验货记录和封样。我们不能保证工厂一定会赔，任何承诺这一点的代理都在过度推销。我们能保证的是：有一份写得清楚的记录，让索赔站得住。

典型节奏：一周确认规格和短名单，一到两周打样和报价，然后进入生产周期（视产品通常 20–45 天）。第一单从清晰需求到货物抵港，现实一点是八到十二周。开新模再加三到六周，应该当成独立阶段来排，不要硬塞进同一张时间表。

我们收集并核对证书、检测报告和声明，核实型号、批次、日期是否与实际出运的货一致。需要某项标准检测而工厂手里没有现行报告时，我们可以按成本价安排第三方实验室检测。我们做不到的是让一个没被检测过的产品变合规——如果文件就是做不成对得上的，我们会在下单之前说，不是之后。

接——买家在哪里不影响，工厂在哪里才影响。我们和欧洲、北美、中东、澳洲的进口商合作。我们不做的是假装能覆盖一天之内到不了的产区。如果您的产品在浙江或山东而我们在那边没有落脚点，我们会直说，要么为关键节点专程去一趟，要么推掉。

照样问。相邻品类——密封胶、保温材料、门窗五金、石材、灯具——通常可以用同一批工厂、同一套方法来做。我们不会接的是：一个我们自己判断不了样品的品类。那种情况下我们只是一个带加价的信箱。

签，您也可以发您自己的版本过来。在签之前不要发完整的技术图纸和品牌图样——对双方来说，这条纪律是一样的。

采购代理站在买方这一边，不是工厂那一边：找供应商、核查、询价、盯生产、验货、安排出运。当「您能核实的东西」和「别人告诉您的东西」之间的差距很贵的时候——第一次做陌生品类，基本都属于这种情况——就需要。如果您已经有信得过的工厂，只需要有人在装柜时站一下现场，那是一项更窄、更便宜的服务，也能单独委托。

四件事，按这个顺序看：他们自己判断得了您的产品吗（问一个技术问题，看回答具体不具体）；出问题时是谁回您（一个人，还是一个收件箱）；他们的钱从哪里来（明说的服务费，还是藏在单价里的差价）；以及他们拒绝做什么。最后一条最能说明问题——什么都接的代理，不是在替您筛选。

您应该找那个真会把活干好的——并且对「年头」这种资历保持怀疑，两个方向都一样。新这件事改变的：读您需求的人就是站在工厂的人；没有沿用的供应商名单和旧返点安排来左右推荐；一个坏的第一单对我们，比对一家有几百个客户的公司，伤得更重。改变不了的：我们拿不出十年的案例库，这一点您该算进去。所以去问我们那个做砸了的项目——那个答案，比做对的更有信息量。

都做，也都可以单独做。运费分开报、看得见：海运整柜或拼箱、空运，或到欧洲内陆的铁路，货代的成本和我们的并排列出。如果您已经有信得过的货代，我们配合他们，只负责把我们这一端的货和单据做对。

能。贴牌是在工厂端做您的图样和包装，批量生产之前核对打样稿。FBA 备货是按您所在平台的现行要求做外箱标签、独立包装、套装和托盘配置——在源头做完，不必再在海外仓按每件三美元重做一遍。告诉我们站点，我们按它的规格书来，不靠记忆。