Pricing & Fees:
5–8% Commission, Everything Else at Cost
No retainer to start, no listing fee, no margin added to your freight. You see the factory invoice and the forwarder invoice; our income is the sourcing commission on the factory price — stated in writing before any work begins.
Four lines. That's the pricing model.
The commission is one scale, not three prices: standard projects sit in the middle at 5–8%, volume moves the rate down to 3–5%, and complexity moves it up to 8–10%. You get your own rate in writing before any work starts. Every sourcing enquiry turns into these four components — anything outside them is a third-party cost that we pass through with the invoice attached.
| Line item | What you pay | Charged on |
|---|---|---|
| Standard sourcing project (typical) | 5–8% | Typical order, one or a few product lines, factory audit and inspection coordinated by us. This is the rate most clients get. |
| Large volume orders (lower end of the same scale) | 3–5% | Repeat or high-volume programs where the same suppliers keep running — the rate for your project is confirmed in the quote. |
| Complex or highly technical projects (upper end of the same scale) | 8–10% | Multi-supplier BOMs, system integration, custom moulds, spec development and datasheet verification — the rate for your project is confirmed in the quote. |
| Freight, inspection and lab tests | At cost | No markup. You see the forwarder invoice and the inspection quotation we received. |
| Separate export declaration | RMB 250 (sea) / RMB 350 (rail) | Per shipment, from 100 kg, when a factory cannot export in its own name |
What the commission covers — and what it doesn't
The fastest way to compare agencies is to ask this question and watch whether the answer is specific. Here is ours.
Included in the 5–8%
- Supplier search, screening and shortlisting against your spec
- Quotation comparison on one specification, not five different ones
- Price, MOQ, tooling and payment-term negotiation in Chinese
- Order placement, production follow-up and schedule chasing
- Coordination of factory audits, sampling and inspections
- Consolidation, packing instructions and shipping documents
- Photo and video reporting throughout, in English
Billed separately (at cost)
- Freight, insurance, import duty and VAT
- Third-party laboratory testing and certification fees
- Inspection and audit man-days, when you order them
- Document legalisation, notarisation and consular fees
- Bank charges and currency conversion costs
- Travel outside our normal operating area, if you request it
How inspection pricing actually works
Inspection companies bill in four different ways, which is why two quotes for the same job can differ by a factor of three. We will always tell you which one you are getting:
Per man-day
Standard for large or multi-SKU orders. Market range in China: RMB 900–1,999 per man-day, some firms billing USD 159–299 per man-day.
Per inspection job
Best for single-SKU carton orders: one fixed price for the visit, the AQL sampling and the written report with photos.
Per audit
Factory audit with licence verification, capacity and process check, and a photo-documented report you can forward to your own customer.
Monthly retainer
For buyers shipping every month: an agreed inspection quota at a lower unit price, with a named inspector on your account.
What drives the price is honest and predictable: how many SKUs, how technical the acceptance criteria are, how far the factory is from Guangzhou, whether the goods need burn-in testing or a lab sample, and how deep the report has to be. You get the quotation in writing before anyone travels.
Check the numbers yourself
The free cost guide and savings calculator show the full commission, inspection and freight structure with the arithmetic open — including what a 5% vs 8% commission means on your order value.
Freight at cost — with the rate card published
Most agents quote one "all-in" number per kilo and keep the difference. We pass the forwarder's price through and show you the tier it came from, which is why our China–Europe calculator can price your shipment from a real card.
Sea freight, DDP door-to-door
To Poland, from the 201 kg tier upward. 40HQ container to Warsaw: RMB 73,500.
Rail freight, DDP door-to-door
From the 2,001 kg tier to Poland; 16–18 days after train departure.
Air freight, economy line
8–10 working days after cargo receipt; 6–8 working days on the time-definite line.
What freight quotes exclude — say this out loud before you book
Customs inspection at either end (and any container detention, demurrage or port storage it causes), devanning and handling, palletising, second delivery attempts, remote-area surcharges, oversize and long-item surcharges, and insurance. All billed at cost with the supporting invoice. Container rates are valid 7 days because space and freight follow the carrier's latest prices. See the full Poland rate and included/excluded list →
Who you pay, and in what order
Money flow is where trust is either built or lost. Ours is deliberately split so you can audit it.
1. Goods — paid to the factory
You pay the factory directly against their proforma invoice. We never sit in the middle of your goods payment, so there is no hidden spread. Standard Chinese structure: 30% deposit before production, balance before shipment (used in over 90% of B2B orders).
2. Commission — paid to us
Invoiced separately against the factory invoice, at the rate agreed in writing. Because you hold both documents, the commission is verifiable to the cent.
3. Services — paid as they happen
Freight, inspections, lab tests and export declarations are invoiced when the service is ordered, at cost, with the supporting quotation attached.
Where the supplier accepts it, we recommend 30% deposit and the balance after the pre-shipment inspection passes — that ties the last payment to your acceptance criteria instead of to a departure date. Read how to pay Chinese suppliers safely →
Fees, commission and billing — answered
What is your commission on a sourcing order?
One scale, with your rate confirmed in writing: 5–8% of the factory invoice price for standard projects (the typical case), 3–5% for very large volume orders and 8–10% for complex or highly technical projects. You see the actual factory invoice, so you know exactly what the factory charged and what our commission is. There is no markup added on top of the factory price, no listing fee and no retainer to start.
Do you add margin on freight, inspection or lab testing?
No. Freight is billed at our contracted forwarder's cost, and pre-shipment inspections and third-party lab tests are billed at the price we are charged. Our income is the sourcing commission. This is why we publish the freight rate card behind our China–Europe calculator instead of hiding it in a single "all-in" number — you can check the tiers yourself.
How are quality inspections and factory audits priced?
Billing follows the work: inspections are usually quoted per inspection job (per man-day on site for larger or multi-SKU orders), factory audits per audit, and buyers with continuous volume often agree a monthly retainer. On the open Chinese market, third-party firms commonly run RMB 900–1,999 per man-day, some billing in USD at roughly USD 159–299 per man-day. We quote your specific job in writing before any work starts, so you never receive an invoice for something you did not approve.
What is included in the commission and what is billed separately?
Included: supplier search and shortlisting, quoting against one specification, price and MOQ negotiation, order placement and follow-up, coordinating factory audits and inspections, consolidation and shipping documentation. Billed separately at cost: freight and insurance, import duty and VAT, third-party lab testing, translation notarisation or legalised documents, and travel costs if you ask us to attend a site outside our normal area of operation.
Who do I pay, and how do payment terms work?
You pay the factory directly for the goods and us separately for the commission. That structure is what keeps the commission visible. The most common factory structure in China is 30% deposit before production and 70% before shipment, used in over 90% of B2B orders; where the supplier agrees, we prefer 30% deposit and the balance after the pre-shipment inspection passes, so the final payment is tied to your inspection result rather than to a shipping deadline.
What does an export declaration cost if my supplier cannot export?
RMB 250 per shipment by sea and RMB 350 per shipment by rail, from 100 kg, when a separate export declaration is filed in our name. This is common with small factories that have no export licence of their own — without it, your goods cannot legally leave China with a valid customs declaration, and you cannot claim the import VAT properly on the other side.
Why do you publish rates with a validity date?
Because freight is a market, not a price list. Our rate card is dated 9 September 2026, container prices in it are valid 7 days, and space and freight follow the carrier's latest prices — so we re-confirm before booking instead of quoting a number that quietly changes at the port. Any figure we give you for freight comes with the date and the included/excluded list attached.
Send your product list — get the numbers in writing
You get the commission rate for your project, the inspection scope and price, and the freight tier for your volume — free, itemised, within 48 hours.