From brief to cleared cargo, in six steps

The same six steps run on every order, whether it is three hundred rackets or a container of kitchenware. This page is the reference the rest of the site points at.

Nobody skips step four twice

Importers usually arrive having already lost money at one specific step, and it is almost never the one they expected. So each step below says three things: what happens, what lands in your inbox when it is done, and what it costs when it is skipped.

The process

Six steps, one team

One coordinator owns all six. You are not handed over between a sourcing agent, an inspection company and a forwarder, which is where most of the week normally goes.

Brief and specification

You send the product, the target landed cost, the destination market and the volume. If you have a tech pack we work from it. If you have a photo and a price, we write the specification with you, because a factory quotes what it reads, not what you meant. Materials, tolerances, finish, packaging and the certification your market asks for are decided here, before anyone quotes.

You receive A written specification and a sourcing plan, within two business days.

Skipped Three quotes arrive that cannot be compared, because each factory priced a different product.

Shortlist and factory audit

We shortlist manufacturers against the specification rather than against a directory. Business licence, export history, capacity and the line that would actually run your order all get checked, and we walk into the ones that survive the paperwork. You get the rejected names too, with the reason.

You receive A shortlist with audit notes, including the candidates we ruled out.

Skipped A trading company sold as a factory, discovered when the first technical problem needs a technical answer.

Quote, negotiate and sample

We negotiate in Mandarin and we split the number: unit price, tooling, payment structure and lead time are four figures, not one. Then samples are ordered. Two rounds is normal, and planning for one is how launch dates slip.

You receive Comparable quotes and a landed-cost sheet with freight and duty included.

Skipped A price that holds for the first order only, because the factory quoted a specification it does not intend to keep.

Golden sample and contract

One sample is approved, sealed and photographed, and every later measurement is taken against it. The contract is bilingual and says the things that matter when something goes wrong: who owns the mould, what a delay costs, and what happens if a material changes between the sample and the bulk run.

You receive The sealed golden sample record and a bilingual contract that names it.

Skipped A mould you paid for and the factory owns, which you find out the day you try to move production.

Production and inspection

Our inspector walks the line at roughly thirty per cent of output, while a tooling problem is still cheap, and again before shipment for the AQL. Defects are argued with the factory in China, where the leverage is, and where a rework still costs less than a claim. The balance is released after a clean report, not before.

You receive A during-production check and an AQL report: measurements, sample size, defect counts, photographs, pass or hold.

Skipped The sample was always good. The third production run is the one that needed an inspector.

Consolidation, freight and customs

We collect from every supplier, consolidate in our Guangzhou warehouse, book the space, cut the documents and follow the box until it clears at destination. The tariff code is proposed before the goods move rather than after customs asks, and we quote DDP when you want the price you approved to be the price you pay.

You receive A loading file, the export document set and tracking through to clearance.

Skipped Cargo rarely gets stuck at sea. It gets stuck on paper, at the destination, at your expense.

Container being stuffed at a warehouse dock with cartons stacked inside — Step six: loading supervised and photographed before the doors are sealed

Bilingual purchase contract on a desk with a red Chinese company seal and an inkpad

What you get

Clarity at every milestone

You always know where the order stands without chasing anyone for an update, and every claim we make about it arrives as a document you can check.

✓One coordinator and one plan from brief to delivery.
✓Milestone updates by email and WeChat, in your language.
✓Costs and dates in writing at every stage, including the ones that slipped.

How to engage us →

Ready to start at step one?

Send the product, the market and the volume. You get the written specification and an indicative landed cost before anything is committed.

Send a sourcing brief