Pricing
Sourcing agents who will not state their commission are usually charging it inside the factory price. Here is ours, and here is exactly what it does and does not cover.
The commission
Standard rate
Charged when you place an order. Nothing is due for sourcing, verification, quoting or samples.
What the 5% covers
- Factory identification, verification and shortlisting
- Quote collection and comparison
- Specification translation and clarification with the factory
- Production monitoring and status reporting
- Pre-shipment inspection with written report and photographs
- Consolidation handling and relabelling
- Export documentation preparation
- After-sales claim handling
What it does not cover
Billed separately, at cost, with the third-party receipt attached:
- Freight — booked through forwarders, invoiced at their rate
- Samples — sample cost and freight (credited against commission if a production order follows)
- Third-party laboratory testing — spectrometry, fatigue, certification
- Storage beyond 30 days — quoted per pallet per month
- Cargo insurance — at the insurer’s rate
We do not add a margin to any of these. If the forwarder charges US$2,400, you see US$2,400.
Worked example
A US$20,000 order of segmented blades, consolidated from two factories, shipped by rail to Germany:
| Line | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Product value (FOB) | US$20,000 | Factory quotes, shown to you |
| Sourcing commission | US$1,000 | 5% |
| Inspection | — | Included |
| Consolidation | — | Included |
| Rail freight, 1.2 t | ~US$1,850 | At forwarder cost |
| Cargo insurance | ~US$60 | At insurer rate |
| Total landed (pre-duty) | ~US$22,910 |
Compare this to a trading company quote, where the same goods arrive at a single “all-in” price with no breakdown. The all-in number is usually higher, and you never find out by how much.
Discounts
The 5% is the standard rate. It moves down for:
- Repeat programmes — annual volume commitments above US$100,000
- Multi-container orders — where consolidation economics improve
- Long-term exclusivity — where we commit capacity to a single buyer in a category
Discount is negotiated case by case, in writing, before the first order. We do not advertise a rate and then quietly change it.
Payment terms
- Commission: invoiced on shipment, payable within 14 days
- Product: paid to the factory per their terms, typically 30/70 deposit/balance
- Freight: invoiced at booking, payable before departure
We do not ask for a retainer. If a supplier asks you for one before they have quoted anything, that is worth noticing.
Why not a lower percentage
A 2% agent survives on volume and cannot afford to visit factories. A 10% agent is usually a trading company with a commission label. Five percent is roughly the level at which a small team can do the verification work properly and still be worth hiring against doing it yourself.
If your order is large enough that 5% is a meaningful number, that is exactly the order where getting the specification wrong costs more than the commission. The maths usually favours doing it properly.
Want a written quote? Send the specification →