Start with a specification, not a photo
A photo tells a factory almost nothing. Material, weight, dimensions, tolerance, packaging, certification, and the target price are what turn a picture into a quotation you can compare. Write those down before you contact anyone.
The discipline pays twice: it filters out suppliers who cannot make what you need, and it stops the quiet substitutions that show up three months later in a container.
Find factories, not middlemen
Most listings you find online belong to trading companies. They are not automatically a bad deal (a good trader adds service), but you should know which one you are talking to, because it changes the price and who actually controls quality.
- Ask for the business licence and check the registered scope of activity
- Ask which machines make the part, and how many they run
- Ask for photos of the line with today's production on it
- Compare the address on the licence with the address on the samples
Get three quotations, then negotiate
One quotation is a number; three quotations are a market. Ask each supplier for price at two or three quantities, tooling cost, lead time, and payment terms in the same message, so the answers line up in a table.
Negotiate the whole package, not only the unit price. Longer payment terms, a lower first-order MOQ, or free tooling amortised over the second order are often easier to win than a discount.
Sample before you commit
Never move to mass production on a promise. Order a sample, write down every correction, and send the corrections back in writing with photos. A second sample costs a few dollars; a wrong container costs your season.
Inspect before you pay the balance
The standard payment structure, a deposit up front and the balance before shipping, exists to give you one moment of leverage. Use it: inspect the goods before the balance leaves your account, not after.
A pre-shipment inspection with a photo report costs a fraction of the order and is the single highest-return step in the whole process.