What does a sourcing agent cost?
How agents get paid, what the money should cover, and how to compare two quotes that look nothing alike.
Short answer: a straight-fee sourcing agent in China typically charges a flat service fee or 5–10% of the order value. Anything below that usually means the margin is hidden inside the factory price — and that is the number you cannot audit.
| Payment model | What you see | Can you audit it? |
|---|---|---|
| Stated service fee | Fee shown as a line on the quotation | Yes — factory price and fee are both visible |
| Factory rebate | Only the factory price is shown | No — 3–15% is already inside your unit price |
| Undisclosed mark-up | One blended price, no breakdown | No — you cannot tell fair price from margin |
The three ways agents get paid
1. A stated service fee. A fixed amount per project or a percentage of order value, written on the quotation. You know exactly what the agent earns, so every recommendation can be checked against the factory's own price.
2. A factory rebate. The agent quotes you the factory price, and the factory quietly returns 3–15% to the agent. Your unit price is inflated by exactly that amount, and the agent will always steer you toward whichever factory pays the most.
3. A hidden mark-up. The agent buys from the factory and resells to you. Sometimes this is legitimate distribution; when it is not disclosed, you cannot tell whether you are paying a fair price or funding the agent's margin.
What a realistic fee covers
A 5–10% fee on a first order is not expensive once you list what it buys: supplier identification and vetting, sample coordination, price negotiation against real factory cost structures, production milestones with dated photos, pre-shipment inspection, and loading supervision. On a US$20,000 order, a 7% fee is US$1,400 — roughly one percentage point of what a single rejected container or an unsellable quality defect costs.
Below roughly US$5,000 of order value, percentage fees stop making sense for either side; a fixed project fee is the honest structure at small volumes.
How to compare two agent quotes
Put them side by side and check five lines: the factory price and the factory's name; the tooling and sampling cost, and who owns the tooling; the agent's fee, stated as a number; the freight term and the forwarder's identity; and what happens on a quality claim. A quote that hides any of these is not cheaper — it is just unread.
The most reliable comparison test: ask both agents to quote the same specification from the same factory shortlist. If one price is dramatically lower with no explanation, the difference is somewhere you will find it later.
Common questions
Is 10% too much to pay a sourcing agent?
+For a small first order in a custom category, 10% is defensible because the fixed work — vetting, sampling, specification — does not scale down. For repeat orders of the same specification, the fee should step down, because the discovery work is already done. Ask for a declining schedule: for example 8% on the first order, 5% on repeats.
Can I just go to the factory directly and skip the fee?
+You can, and for a standard catalogue product you sometimes should. The fee buys judgement on non-standard goods: which factory can actually hold the tolerance, whether the certificate matches the goods, what the price should be. If you can verify those things yourself — or the order is too small for anyone to care — go direct.
How do I check whether my agent is taking a hidden rebate?
+Ask the factory directly, in Chinese, what their price is for your specification. One phone call. If the agent forbids direct factory contact in the contract, that clause exists for a reason.
Read next
一句话结论：明码收费的中国采购代理，通常是固定服务费或订单金额的 5–10%。低于这个区间的报价，佣金多半藏在工厂价里——而那恰恰是您查不到的那笔钱。
| 收费方式 | 您能看到什么 | 能不能查 |
|---|---|---|
| 明示服务费 | 报价单上单列一行服务费 | 能——工厂价和服务费都看得见 |
| 工厂返点 | 只看到工厂价 | 不能——3–15% 已经含在您的单价里 |
| 隐形加价 | 只有一个打包价，没有拆分 | 不能——分不清是合理价还是利润 |
代理赚钱的三种方式
1. 明示服务费。按项目收固定费用，或按订单金额收百分比，写在报价单上。您知道代理赚多少，每一项推荐都能拿工厂原始报价来核对。
2. 工厂返点。代理报给您的是工厂价，工厂私下返 3–15% 给代理。您的单价被抬高了正好这么多，而且代理永远会把您往给返点最多的工厂那边带。
3. 隐形加价。代理从工厂买断再卖给您。有时这是正常的贸易行为；但不说明的情况下，您没法判断付的是合理价格，还是替代理养着利润。
一笔合理的服务费买到什么
第一单收 5–10%，把内容列出来就不算贵：供应商筛选与实地考察、打样协调、对照真实成本结构的议价、带日期照片的生产节点跟进、发货前验货、装柜监装。一张 2 万美元的订单，7% 服务费是 1400 美元——大约是一个被拒收集装箱、或一批卖不掉的次品成本的百分之一。
订单金额低于 5000 美元时，按比例收费对双方都不划算，小单用固定项目费更诚实。
两份代理报价怎么对比
并排放好，查五行：工厂价和工厂名称；模具打样费以及模具归谁；代理服务费，要写明具体数字；运费条款和货代是谁；出了质量问题怎么处理。任何一行含糊的报价不是更便宜——只是您还没看懂。
最可靠的对比方法：让两家代理按同一份规格、同一批候选工厂报价。如果一家明显低很多又解释不出原因，差价一定藏在您以后会撞上的地方。
常见问题
付 10% 的服务费是不是太贵？
+对定制品类的小额首单来说说得过去：找厂、打样、定规格这些固定工作量不会因为单小而减少。同一个规格的返单，费率应该递减，因为前期工作已经做完。可以直接要一个阶梯：比如首单 8%，返单 5%。
能不能绕开代理直接找工厂，省下这笔钱？
+可以，标准目录产品有时也应该直采。服务费买的是非标品的判断力：哪家工厂真能做到这个公差、检测报告和货是否一致、价格应该是多少。这些您自己能核，或者单子小到没人上心，就直接找工厂。
怎么查代理有没有吃暗返点？
+用中文直接问工厂：这个规格你们的出厂价是多少。一通电话的事。如果代理在合同里禁止您和工厂直接联系——这个条款存在本身就说明了问题。