Why is it that we hear so many stories about the differences between approved production samples and the final bulk product? I have heard so many excuses over the years blaming raw materials, real large scale production, ambient temperature, extra chemicals, original sample degradation over time, etc. It’s a real minefield and a drag on your resources to be embroiled in an argument about why your final products are nothing like the...

Locking clients in with ‘special order’ items and MOQ stock purchase A regular and effective business trick of Chinese manufacturers is to convince the purchaser that a material used is a ‘special’ one and needs to be ordered in advance and more often than not, the minimum order quantity (MOQ) is above your required amount, prompting them to explain that they need to order more, but they can use this on the next order. It is also...

Smaller Chinese factories commonly outsource orders that are too large or are stretching their capacity. These factories would generally not tell you this and so without proper representation on the ground you will most likely not know this. The outsourced factory may be producing highly inferior quality to the standards that you thought you were getting, based on the initial provided samples. A factory may buy the whole order’s worth of...

Protecting your IPR with small and large factories alike is always an issue in China. You can be assured that most of these factories only do business with foreign entities and foreign markets but a sample of your product will more than likely end up in their showroom as an example of their work. There are no strong legal frameworks as yet in China to protect your brand from being picked up by others and produced by the factory for sale in...

Small Chinese factories offer lots of pros and cons, and it is important to weigh these up before taking a leap with a supplier. They can give you the attention that a large factory can’t. They can spend extra attention to detail on your products, but smaller factories cannot turn an order around as fast as a large factory and they cannot produce very large orders in a short time. They will also have a higher overhead overall and their...