Guides to sourcing from China

All guides

• China factory audit checklist: what to look at, and what the answers mean

  A factory audit checklist for China, area by area: what to look at on the floor, what a good answer looks like, and which findings should…

• What a China sourcing agent costs, and what the percentage hides

  What a China sourcing agent costs: commission, flat fees and day rates compared, what the percentage is charged on, and where the margin hides.

• How to buy from 1688 from outside China

  1688 has two entrances for overseas buyers. Which one you use decides your catalogue, your payment trail and who is responsible for exporting the goods.

• China supplier scams: which check actually stops which

  The expensive failures are not a vanishing deposit but the golden sample, quality fade and the certificate nobody verified. Which check stops which.

• How to pay Chinese suppliers: what each method actually protects

  Bank transfer, Trade Assurance, letters of credit and cards compared by what each gives you when the order goes wrong, not by which one sounds safest.

• When to inspect a China order, and which inspection to buy

  Four inspection stages, and the question that decides which to buy: at this point in production, what can still be changed and what does changing it…

• Pre-shipment inspection checklist: the half you have to write

  The checks an inspector cannot make unless you specify them first: counting method, tolerances, barcode grade and a named packaging test.

• AQL sampling: what a passed inspection report actually tells you

  What the AQL numbers on an inspection report mean, why a passed lot can still ship defects, and the one decision that causes most inspection disputes.

• DDP or FOB from China: who is the importer of record?

  A cheap DDP quote moves the customs paperwork out of your sight, not out of your liability. How to check who cleared the goods and what…

• Sea freight transit times from China: what the clock is made of

  Why a quoted eighteen-day sailing becomes a five-week wait: the six segments of the clock from cargo ready to your door, with dated market readings.

• LCL or FCL? How to work out your own break-even

  When a full container beats consolidated freight, worked as a division rather than a rule of thumb, plus the charges an LCL quote leaves out.

• Import duty: how classification works and who is responsible for it

  Duty depends on how your product is classified, and classification is your responsibility, not your supplier's. How to find the right code and confirm it.

• Sample approval: why the sample was perfect and production was not

  Why an approved sample so often fails to predict production, what a golden sample is for, and the checkpoint most importers skip between the two.

• Payment terms for Chinese suppliers: what protects you and what does not

  Deposits, balance on documents, letters of credit and escrow — what each protects and what it does not. Plus the fraud that costs importers the most.

• Do you actually need a sourcing agent?

  An honest look at when buying direct from China works fine, when an agent earns their fee, and the situations where hiring one is simply wasted…

• Alibaba, 1688 or the Canton Fair: where to actually find suppliers

  Three ways to find Chinese suppliers, and who each one actually suits. What 1688 gives you that Alibaba does not, and what it costs you to…

• How to write a product specification a Chinese factory will actually follow

  Most quality disputes trace back to a specification that never said what was required. What to write down, and how a golden sample makes it enforceable.

• Planning production around Chinese New Year

  Chinese New Year stops production for weeks and degrades quality on either side of it. A countdown-based plan that stays correct whatever the date.

• Incoterms for China imports: EXW, FOB, CIF and DDP in plain terms

  EXW, FOB, CIF and DDP explained for China importers, including why FOB is the wrong term for most container shipments and what DDP quietly hides.

• Factory or trading company? How to tell who you are actually buying from

  How to work out whether your Chinese supplier actually manufactures, using business licence data and questions that are hard to answer from a rented office.

• China Sourcing Best Practices: How to Source Products from China Successfully

  Sourcing from China end to end: finding reliable suppliers, agent fees and hidden costs, common mistakes, agent vs direct sourcing, and how to avoid scams.