From our Guangzhou office: the ten mistakes we see repeated most often, and why each costs more than it appears to.
This is not a theoretical list. Every mistake here is one we watch repeat in practice at our Guangzhou office, and each carries a price paid later.
A price 30% below market is not a deal — it is a signal. It usually means lower-grade material, lighter weight, or a trader selling you a lesser specification under the same name. Always ask for detail: which material? what thickness? what unit weight?
Transferring to an account in an individual's name rather than the company's costs you your most important evidence in a dispute. Insist on payment to an account in the name of the same company shown on the licence and invoice.
Translation and cultural assumptions create large gaps. Anything important must be written as a number or an approved photo, not a general description.
"The product is clear from the photos" — no, it is not. A photo does not show weight, texture, material smell or stitching quality. A sample costs a few dollars; skipping it costs a shipment.
Pricing your sale off the factory price alone is the fastest route to a loss. Calculate freight, duty, VAT, storage and damage before you set your selling price.
Chinese New Year halts production for two to three weeks, and the weeks before it congest factories and ports. Anyone ordering in January for goods needed in February will most likely receive them in March.
Packaging suited to transport inside China is not necessarily suited to a 35-day sea journey in high humidity. Specify the carton type, its thickness and how it is secured inside the container.
SABER and authority approvals are not a final step — they run in parallel with production. Delaying them means goods sitting at port and storage charges accumulating daily.
The desire for a better price pushes many to order more than they can sell. Dead stock freezes your capital and eats your margin in storage. Start with a test quantity even at a higher price.
A scattered WhatsApp conversation is not a contract. Document the specification, quantity, price, Incoterm, production lead time, payment terms and quality acceptance criteria — in one signed document or a clear, preserved message thread.
Look at the ten mistakes and you will find nine of them are caused by haste: haste in choosing a supplier, in skipping the sample, in postponing paperwork. Successful importing is slow in preparation and fast in execution — the reverse is the usual recipe for a loss.
MOQ is not an arbitrary number — it has an economic reason inside the factory. Once you understand the reason, you can negotiate it intelligently instead of rejecting it or surrendering to it.
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