Resources
Guides on suppliers, costs, compliance and shipping - written from the questions buyers actually send us.
What buyers ask us, written down.
These are the questions that arrive before an order does: who is really behind a
supplier, what a minimum order actually commits you to, which certificate applies
to your product and your market, and who pays what once the goods leave the factory.
We answer them here in the order buyers usually hit them.
How these pages are written: every number carries its source and
its scope. Where we index company records, we say how many records and what the count
describes. Where we do not know something yet, we say so rather than estimate it.
Sourcing basics
How buying from China actually works: finding a factory, checking who you are
talking to, comparing an agent with a marketplace, and where the risk sits.
Product sourcing notes
One product at a time: what it is made of, where it is made in China, what the
minimum order really means and what buyers get wrong on the first run.
Costs & fees
What a sourcing partner charges, what a factory charges, what sampling and tooling
cost, and which of those numbers are negotiable.
Compliance & certification
CE, FCC, UL, CPSIA, REACH and EN71: who needs it, who issues it, and what has to be
decided before production starts.
Shipping & logistics
Getting goods out of China: Incoterms, consolidation, inspection before the balance
is paid, and what happens at the destination.
Where China makes things
The data side: which provinces and cities the manufacturing clusters sit in,
counted from the company records we index.
Send the item, the quantity and the destination.
If your question is specific to a product we have not written
about yet, send it. The reply comes with the questions still open and what each
one changes.