SHANHUHow to source fans and air purifiers from China without losing a season
Most first orders do not fail on price. They fail on a specification that was never written down, a certification discovered too late, or a schedule that assumed the factory already builds what you are asking for.
What to put in the first email
A factory can quote anything within a day if it is allowed to guess. The quote is only useful if it is quotable, which means the message carries five things: the market you sell into, the model or a close equivalent, the volume you expect in the first year, the certification that has to appear on the label, and whether the product ships under your brand or ours.
Volume is the part buyers hesitate over, because nobody wants to commit before seeing a price. Send a range instead: a trial quantity and a seasonal forecast. Unit cost is quoted against quantity, and a range lets the supplier show you the curve rather than one number that will not survive the second order.
- Destination market and the regulation that applies there
- Model, or the reference product you want matched
- First order quantity and a rough annual forecast
- Who owns the brand: yours, ours, or still undecided
- Packaging type: retail-ready, e-commerce, or bulk master carton
Reading the quotation: three numbers, not one
A unit price on its own tells you nothing. Ask for it split into product, packaging and tooling, and for the trade term attached to it. The difference between EXW and FOB is inland haulage and export clearance; the difference between FOB and CIF is freight and insurance, which move weekly and are often cheaper bought on your own freight account.
Tooling is the number that decides whether a custom design is viable. It is a one-off, it should be quoted separately so that two suppliers can be compared on the same basis, and it should be clear who owns it once it is paid for. If a supplier folds tooling into the unit price, ask what happens when you reorder at half the volume.
Sampling, then production
A sample proves that the factory can build what you described. It does not prove that the line can build it consistently, so agree on what the sample locks: the motor, the blade geometry, the plastics, the packaging and the language of the manual. A signed sample that nobody can reproduce is decoration.
Before the container is sealed, agree on the inspection: who attends, whether it is third party, what the sampling level is, and which defects stop the shipment. A pre-shipment inspection costs little next to a season of returns, and it is the only stage where a problem is still cheap to fix.
Buying questions
How long does a first order take from enquiry to container?
It depends on whether the model exists. An existing model needs sampling, packaging artwork and a production slot; a new design adds tooling and a trial run. We put both dates in the quotation, so the schedule is agreed before tooling starts instead of being discovered at the end.
Can we start with a small trial order?
For models already in production, yes: a mixed trial quantity is a normal first shipment. A new tooling project cannot start below the quantity that pays for the tool, which is why tooling is quoted separately from the unit price.
Who owns the mould and the drawings?
The buyer, once the tooling is paid for. Your mould is not run for another customer and your design does not appear in a catalogue. This is written into the quotation rather than left as an understanding.