China Sourcing Agent FAQ

China Sourcing Agent FAQ Straight answers to the questions importers ask most — fees, factories, quality control and shipping. Can't find your answer? Ask us directly. New to China sourcing? Read our Guangzhou sourcing agent guide first. What does a China sourcing agent actually do? A sourcing agent in China finds reliable factories, negotiates prices and payment terms, conducts factory audits, supervises production, performs quality inspections and arranges international shipping on your behalf. You get a local team in Guangzhou working to protect your interests — without having to travel or speak Chinese. How much does a sourcing agent charge in China? We charge 5-8% commission on the factory invoice price. You see every factory invoice directly (full transparency). There are no hidden fees and no markup on shipping or QC services. For large volume projects we can also discuss a flat project fee. What is the difference between a sourcing agent and a trading company? A trading company buys from factories and resells to you — adding their own margin on top. A sourcing agent works for you, negotiates with factories on your behalf, and only earns commission from you. The agent's interest is aligned with yours: lower prices, better quality, fewer problems. How do I know if a Chinese supplier is reliable? We run a multi-step verification: check business license and factory registration, conduct on-site factory audits (equipment, staff, capacity, real production lines), cross-check export records and client references, and test product samples independently. For serious suppliers we also verify their actual production capacity against claimed volumes. Do I need to visit China to check the factory? No, it's optional. If you visit, we provide full business escort and translation. If not, we conduct all factory tours, negotiations and inspections on your behalf — sending you photo and video reports throughout the process. Most of our clients have never been to China. What information do I need to provide to get started? At minimum: product description (photos or links help greatly), target quantity, target price range and your destination country. More details = more accurate supplier matching and quotes. You can also send us a sample product if you have one. How long does the sourcing process take? Sourcing and quoting takes 48 hours. Factory visits and sampling take 1-2 weeks. Production takes 15-45 days depending on order size. Shipping: sea freight 15-40 days, air freight 3-7 days. Most clients receive their first order within 6-8 weeks from start. What is the typical MOQ for private label production in China? MOQ depends on the product category. Standard products (electronics, hardware, packaging) typically start from 100-500 pieces. Custom molded products (plastics, injection molding) may require 1000+ pieces. We negotiate the lowest possible MOQ for your specific product and budget. How do you protect my design or intellectual property? We only work with factories that respect IP. We sign NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements) with suppliers before sharing your designs, avoid sending full product documentation until agreements are signed, and never share your product with competing clients. For registered designs we also advise on China IP registration. Which AQL level do you use for quality inspections? Standard inspections use AQL 2.5 (general inspection level II) for critical and major defects — the industry benchmark for consumer goods. For electronics and safety-critical products we can use AQL 1.0 or 1.5. We follow the ISO 2859-1 sampling standard. What happens if quality issues are found during QC? Our QC process catches most issues before shipment. If defects are found, we immediately notify you with photos and options: request factory rework, negotiate a discount, or reject the batch. We manage the rework and re-inspection until the goods pass — at no extra cost to you. How do I choose between sea, air and express shipping? Sea freight (FCL or LCL) is cheapest for large/heavy orders — 15-40 days. Air freight suits medium orders needing speed — 3-7 days. Express (DHL/FedEx/UPS) works best for samples and small parcels — 2-5 days. We quote all three options with real-time rates so you can decide by cost vs. speed. Do you handle customs clearance and taxes? We handle China export customs clearance as part of our service. For destination country import customs, we provide complete documentation (commercial invoice, packing list, certificates of origin) and coordinate with your freight forwarder or customs broker. For DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) shipments we can manage full import clearance to your door. Can you help with Amazon FBA shipping? Yes. We frequently ship directly to Amazon FBA warehouses in the US, EU and UK. We handle: poly bagging and FBA-compliant packaging, barcode labels (FNSKU), prep services, and consolidated shipping to avoid split deliveries. We know each marketplace's current packaging requirements. Is it safe to pay a deposit to a Chinese factory? Yes, when done correctly. Standard terms are 30% deposit / 70% balance before shipment. We mitigate risk by: verifying the factory's real business license and production capability first, using a formal Chinese purchase contract, and supervising production so the deposit is never at risk. Never pay 100% upfront — and never pay to a personal account. How much does it cost to ship from China to Poland? From our contracted forwarder's September 2026 rate card, door-to-door DDP rates to Poland are: sea freight by courier RMB 11-13 per kg (21 kg to 1,001 kg+), sea freight by truck from RMB 9 per kg (201 kg+), China-Europe rail RMB 14.92-22.25 per kg by weight tier, and air freight RMB 36.5-45 per kg. A 40HQ container DDP to Warsaw, Łódź or Poznań is RMB 73,500. Full tables are on our shipping from China to Poland page. How long does shipping from China to Poland take? Sea freight: pickup 38-45 days after the vessel departs (fast-vessel service 38-42 days). China-Europe rail: 16-18 days after the train departs. Air freight: 6-8 working days after we receive the cargo from your suppliers (economy line 8-10 working days). Add 3-7 days in China for consolidation, inspection and export paperwork. Do you quote LCL per cubic metre to Gdańsk, or rail per cubic metre to Warsaw? Per-CBM LCL and rail block-train space are priced per shipment by the carrier and change with the market, so we do not publish a fixed per-CBM number — and we would not trust one that claims to be fixed. What we publish are fixed per-kilo door-to-door DDP tiers and 40HQ container rates. For port-to-port LCL or rail space to Gdańsk or Warsaw we request the current rate from our forwarder for your exact volume and sailing, usually within one working day, and send it with the surcharge list attached so you can compare it against the per-kilo option. How is the chargeable weight calculated? Chargeable weight is the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight, where volumetric weight = length × width × height in centimetres ÷ 6,000. Courier-served services bill a minimum of 12 kg per piece, and air courier shipments apply a bubble-split rule from 12 kg at 50%. On Poland truck services, pallet positions are counted at 120 × 80 cm: pieces between 1,200 kg and 2,000 kg take two positions, and shipments over eight positions must be split. Can you clear customs in Poland, or should we use our own customs broker? Both work, and the choice is usually a VAT decision. On DDP we clear in Poland through our forwarder with duty and VAT included in the price you see. If you prefer to clear in your own name — common for Polish logistics companies and Amazon sellers that recover VAT — we quote DAP, DDU or PVA: you supply a valid VAT number and EORI number, your broker files the entry, and the freight price drops by roughly RMB 1-2 per kilo with a clearance handling fee of RMB 50-350 per shipment. Can you deliver to our warehouse or a partner warehouse in Poland? Yes. Delivery is to any commercial address you nominate: your own warehouse, a third-party logistics partner, your customer, or an Amazon FBA warehouse (FBA-specific services with PVA or DDP clearing are available). We are the China-side partner and do not operate our own warehouse in Poland, so the goods are delivered to your nominated address or collected there by your own truck. We are a freight forwarder — can we buy on EXW or FOB terms? Yes, and it is a common arrangement. EXW: we collect from each factory, consolidate, label and palletise at our Guangzhou warehouse, and your nominated trucker or forwarder takes over. FOB: we deliver the consolidated shipment to Shenzhen, Guangzhou/Nansha, Ningbo, Shanghai or Yiwu and complete the China export clearance in our name, with freight booked under your master bill. You keep the customer relationship and the last-mile margin. What is included in a freight rate and what is billed extra? Included in DDP: international freight, delivery to your address, import clearance with duty and VAT paid, China export clearance and export documents. Billed extra at cost: customs inspection at either end plus any container detention, demurrage, port storage, devanning, handling, palletising, second delivery attempts and remote-area or oversize surcharges. A separate export declaration (when your supplier cannot export in its own name) is RMB 250 per shipment by sea and RMB 350 by rail, from 100 kg. Container rates are valid 7 days. Can you check EU compliance — CE marking, DoC and test reports — before shipment? Yes. We audit your supplier's documents per SKU before the goods leave China: which directive or regulation applies, whether the Declaration of Conformity names the right manufacturer, product and current standards, whether the test reports cover the exact model and configuration you are buying, and whether the lab was accredited for those standards. You get a gap list naming the standard, the missing item and the fix, and we follow up with the factory. We do not issue CE certificates or act as your EU authorised representative — that role stays with the manufacturer or with you as importer under EU law. Which EU rules apply to products imported from China? Electrical and electronic goods: LVD 2014/35/EU, EMC 2014/30/EU, RED 2014/53/EU for anything transmitting, plus RoHS 2011/65/EU and WEEE 2012/19/EU. Machinery: Directive 2006/42/EC until 19 January 2027, then Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies from 20 January 2027 with no transition window. Construction products: Regulation (EU) 305/2011. Consumer products generally: GPSR (EU) 2023/988, in application since 13 December 2024, plus REACH and packaging EPR registration in the destination country. Still Have Questions? Ask us anything about sourcing in China Get a free consultation from our Guangzhou team within 12 hours (weekends included). No obligation, no pressure. Get a Free Quote WhatsApp Us