Service scope

China sourcing agent

China sourcing agent for B2B buyers: find factories, compare quotes, manage samples and follow production. You pay the factory. We never hold your order money.

The full engagement: from a requirement that a factory can quote against, through supplier selection and sampling, to goods handed to your forwarder. You pay the factory directly throughout — we hold none of your order money, so our fee and the factory's price stay two numbers you can see separately.

Last reviewed 15 September 2026

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How does a China sourcing agent engagement work?

Turn the requirement into a brief

Function, critical dimensions and tolerances, materials, finish, packaging and the annual volume you are planning for — with the open items listed as open and dated rather than silently assumed.

Find, verify and compare

Candidates shortlisted against your actual specification, entities verified before anyone quotes seriously, and quotations normalised so that terms, inclusions and lead-time starting points are comparable rather than five different formats.

Sampling and specification alignment

Sampling rounds run against your requirement, with the properties that decide accept or reject written down, and a sealed reference sample and specification held here for every later order to be checked against.

Commercial terms and production follow-up

Terms agreed in writing with verbal assurances converted into dated milestones, then production followed through those milestones rather than through weekly reassurance.

Inspection and shipment coordination

Inspection at the agreed points and the report read before the balance moves. Then the handover: collection booked to your timing, verified carton counts, dimensions and weights passed to your forwarder rather than the supplier's estimates, documents chased and checked against the inspection result. If you do not have a forwarder we can introduce one, and you contract and pay them directly.

What do you provide a China sourcing agent?

The product requirement and the market it is going to
Quantity for a first order and the annual picture, because the commission band follows order value
Your decision criteria and any constraint that is not negotiable
Whoever signs off internally, and by when

What do you get back from a China sourcing agent?

Comparable quotations, with terms and lead-time starting points normalised
Verified supplier records, and a plain answer on manufacturer or reseller
Samples, and a sealed reference plus written specification held for later orders
Inspection reports at the agreed points, before payments are released
One named person on the account rather than a shared inbox

How are China sourcing agent fees charged?

Commission: 10% up to USD 30,000 · 8% to USD 200,000 · 7% above
Included: Everything from order to delivery, including the checks priced separately elsewhere and coordination of the handover to your forwarder
Or by the month: USD 300–1,000 for continuous requirements; new supplier searches during the month and one product inspection each month are included, further checks at the published rates
Paid: Half when work starts, half when the inspection report is delivered and accepted. Orders below USD 5,000 in full up front.
Goods: Paid by you directly to the factory. We hold none of it.

What a China sourcing agent does not do

Not freight forwarding or customs clearance. We coordinate the handover and pass verified figures and documents on, but the booking contract, the clearance, the importer of record and the liability for the goods in transit sit with your forwarder, who you engage directly. Keeping those separate is deliberate: the party judging whether goods are acceptable should not be the party whose schedule benefits from them shipping.
Not tariff classification, duty or tax advice. We describe goods accurately and pass supplier documents to you or your broker; the classification is your broker's determination.
Not legal advice. Tooling ownership and contract terms go to a qualified lawyer; we verify facts, not terms.
Not a transfer of your decision. We supply the evidence and the coordination; approving a supplier, a sample and a commitment stays with you.

Common questions

How is the commission calculated?

By order value: 10% up to USD 30,000, 8% from USD 30,000 to USD 200,000, and 7% above USD 200,000. The band is known before work starts rather than negotiated afterwards. Verification, inspection and audit work is included rather than billed again on top.

Who pays the factory?

You do, directly, at every stage. We never receive or hold money for your goods, so our fee and the factory's price stay two numbers you can check separately rather than one delivered figure with a margin somewhere inside it. It also means that if this arrangement ever ended, your supplier relationship and your money would both be exactly where they already are.

Is there a minimum order value?

A full sourcing engagement on commission makes sense from about USD 5,000 of order value; below that the commission does not cover the work, and we will say so and suggest a scoped check instead of taking the engagement. Standalone checks have no minimum — they are priced per job.

Do you handle freight and customs clearance?

No, and the separation is deliberate. We coordinate the handover — collection booked to your timing, verified carton counts and weights passed on rather than the supplier's estimates, documents checked against the inspection result — and we can introduce a forwarder you contract with directly. The booking, the clearance, the importer of record and the liability in transit stay with them, because the party judging whether goods are acceptable should not be the party whose schedule benefits from them shipping.