29 questions importers actually ask

MOQ starts at 80 sets for bamboo drawer dividers and 100 pcs for glass spice jars. Silicone utensils and cleaning consumables start at 500 pcs, and dense items such as scouring pads can start higher. Below those quantities we quote a short-run price with the setup cost shown as a separate line, so you can see exactly what the small order costs.

Yes, within a category, and often across categories for a container-volume order. Mixing shares the setup cost across the order instead of repeating it per item, which is usually the cheapest way to buy a broad range at a small quantity.

For stock items, yes, at a stated short-run premium. What we will not do is quote a sub-minimum price that quietly assumes a lower specification — if the quantity makes the item uneconomic, we will say so and show you the three-quantity price curve instead.

Not as general inventory — we are not a distributor. For proven lines we can arrange a stocking position against a forecast, and we will tell you honestly which items are viable for that and which are not.

Normally 30 days. Our quotes are in USD against a CNY cost base, so for orders further out we either price a validity window or split the quote into a goods component and a freight component and let only the component that moves be adjusted.

Food-contact items are tested to FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 and to German LFGB / BfR XV by ISO 17025 accredited laboratories, and the reports are available on request with the certificate number you can verify. Non-food-contact items such as drawer dividers and racks need no food-contact report, only chemical compliance such as REACH.

Spice jars, airtight containers, lids, gaskets and silicone utensils do. Drawer dividers, racks, sponges, scrubbers and brushes do not. A mixed-material item is decided per layer: a glass jar with a bamboo lid and a silicone gasket has three surfaces to consider, and the gasket is usually the one that decides the result.

We specify platinum-cured silicone as standard. Under REACH Annex XVII entry 70 as amended, D4, D5 and D6 are restricted to 0.1% w/w for defined uses with the main consumer-article dates running to 6 June 2026. Platinum curing does not use peroxides and meets the limit; peroxide curing can leave residual cyclic siloxanes, which is why we treat it as the default rather than an upgrade.

Yes, against reports we actually hold for that material and construction. Send your template with the enquiry and we will either sign it or tell you precisely which clause we cannot support and why. We do not sign declarations against untested materials.

Normally you, the importer. We supply the test reports, declarations, material data and packaging weights you need to file and to answer your customs broker or retailer. Registration duties such as packaging EPR sit with the party that first places the goods on that market, which is your company rather than a Chinese supplier.

FOB Ningbo, China, by default. Ningbo handles the highest volume of houseware exports in China with frequent sailings to Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the Gulf. We also quote CIF on request and DDP for trial shipments where you would rather see one landed number.

Both. Trial orders ship as LCL from about 1 CBM, and repeat orders load mixed containers across categories. Below roughly 12–15 CBM, LCL is usually correct; above it, a 20′ container normally wins once the fixed charges at both ends are counted. Run both numbers with your forwarder before booking.

Production runs 12–30 days depending on category and customisation, plus sea transit. Indicative sea transit from Ningbo is roughly 14–22 days to Sydney or Melbourne, 18–26 days to Auckland, 18–26 days to Jebel Ali, and 7–14 days to Singapore, Port Klang, Laem Chabang or Ho Chi Minh. Confirm current schedules and rates with your forwarder — they move weekly.

Because for light bulky goods the freight is priced on volume, not weight, and the carton therefore is a price decision. Two suppliers can quote the same item 8% apart on goods price and arrive 30% apart on landed cost. Publishing CBM lets you run that comparison before you order rather than on the invoice.

We can consolidate across the categories we supply. If you have a third-party supplier you want in the same container, it can usually be arranged through the same forwarder, and we will tell you upfront what that adds in handling and whose documents are needed.

Standard terms are T/T 30% deposit with the balance before shipment. Production starts after the deposit clears in our bank account. For larger confirmed programmes we can discuss a letter of credit at sight, or a rolling deposit arrangement once a payment history exists.

Because the cost base moves. Raw material, the exchange rate, and above all freight are volatile. Rather than pretend a fixed price holds indefinitely, we quote a band with the components stated, so only the component that actually moved gets adjusted.

No. Compare landed cost per unit, not goods price. A slightly higher unit price in a better carton can arrive cheaper, and it does not get renegotiated next quarter. Freight efficiency is more durable than a price concession.

Yes, at a sample price covering the item and the courier, normally credited against your first bulk order. Free samples are usually items made specially for a photograph, which is not what production will look like.

Yes, and we recommend it. Samples ship in 5–10 days and the cost is normally refundable against your first bulk order. Ask for a production-run sample rather than a showroom piece, so your photographs and your customer’s expectations match what arrives.

Yes. Pad and silk-screen printing is available with no tooling cost beyond a one-off plate, and custom colours, retail packaging and own-brand programmes are supported. Our advice for a first own-brand order is to customise marking, colour and packaging, and keep the existing product form — that is where the brand value sits without the tooling risk.

You do, if you paid for it, and we state that in writing along with where it is held and the conditions for transferring or retiring it. Ambiguity on tooling ownership causes real disputes, so it is settled in the order confirmation rather than verbally.

Yes, before you send artwork, sketches or a specification you consider confidential. Send yours or ask us for a simple mutual one. We will not share your design with another buyer, and we will not resell an exclusive mould.

For most items yes, using paperboard and moulded pulp. Glassware is the exception — some film or wrap is often needed to survive a mixed container, and we would rather quote a declared recycled LDPE film than send a broken shipment. We will tell you which items genuinely need it.

We are a sourcing and export partner — a trading company, and we say so. We work with manufacturing partners across Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian, matched to the category rather than pulled from one plant. That means we can offer a broader certified range and lower minimums than a single factory, and it is why we recommend independent inspection rather than asking you to trust our own word.

Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, with growing demand from West and East Africa for high-volume cleaning consumables. Our documentation and packing specifications are built around the requirements those markets commonly ask for.

Within 24 hours, Monday to Saturday. If a question needs a factory confirmation or a laboratory answer, we reply with a time estimate rather than going quiet and reappearing a week later.

No, and no supplier honestly can. We agree an inspection plan, supply the unedited report including failed lines, retain a sealed sample per order, and define a written remedy path before the goods move. A supplier promising zero defects is usually promising the absence of a report.

Defects found before loading are held, reworked or adjusted in writing, then re-inspected. After delivery, send photographs with carton marks and quantities, and claims on workmanship or quantity are resolved against the retained sealed sample — normally as a credit on your next order or a replacement shipment. Carrier damage goes through the forwarder’s claims route, and we supply the documents you need to file it.