China sourcing agents: what they do, what they cost and how to choose one

A sourcing agent is your buyer on the ground in China. You tell them what you want to buy, and they find the factories that can make it, ask for quotes, check that the suppliers are real, and keep an eye on the order until it ships.

They're useful because buying from China from the outside is hard. Most factories don't speak much English, a lot of marketplace sellers are traders rather than manufacturers, and problems with quality usually only show up once the goods arrive. An agent closes that gap. They speak the language, they can visit the factory, and they can catch problems while they're still cheap to fix.

Agents range from one-person freelancers to agencies with offices and inspection teams. Some only find suppliers. Others manage the whole order from the first quote to delivery at your door.

The exact work depends on what you agree, but a full-service agent usually covers these steps.

1. 1Agree your specification. This is the written description of what you want: material, size, colours, packaging, the certificates your market needs, your target price and quantity.
2. 2Find suppliers. A good agent searches well beyond Alibaba, including Chinese platforms like 1688, the industrial areas that specialise in your product, trade fairs and factories they already know.
3. 3Screen them. They check business registrations, find out who's a real factory and who's a trader, and drop the ones that don't fit.
4. 4Get comparable quotes. Every supplier quotes against the same specification, so you can compare unit price, MOQ, tooling, lead time and payment terms side by side.
5. 5Collect samples. The agent gathers samples from the shortlist, checks them and sends them to you together.
6. 6Negotiate and place the order. That includes the price, payment terms, and what happens if the goods are late or faulty.
7. 7Follow production. They stay in touch with the factory, check progress, and tell you early if something's slipping.
8. 8Inspect the goods. Before you pay the balance, someone checks a random sample of the finished goods against your approved sample.
9. 9Arrange shipping. Many agents book freight through forwarders, or hand over to your own forwarder.

We cover each of these in more detail on our pages for product sourcing, factory audits, production follow-up, quality inspection and shipping.

These three get mixed up a lot, but they work very differently. The key question is who the middleman is working for.

Trading companies aren't bad. For a small order of several different products, a good trader can be the simplest option. The point is to know which one you're dealing with, because the price and the responsibility change with it.

An agent tends to pay for itself when:

• You don't have a supplier yet, or you're not sure the one you have is reliable.
• You can't travel to China to visit factories yourself.
• The product is custom, technical, or quality really matters to your customers.
• You're buying from several suppliers and want one person to coordinate them.
• You've had a bad order before and don't want to repeat it.

You may not need one when you're reordering a simple product from a supplier you already trust. In that case, a pre-shipment inspection before you pay the balance may be all you need.

Most agents use one of four ways to charge: a commission on the order value, a flat fee per project, a day rate for on-site work, or a monthly retainer. Commission is the most common.

Published figures are fairly consistent. Epic Sourcing's 2026 UK pricing guide, for example, says agents charge between 5% and 15%, with most reputable agents in the 5 to 10% range, rising to 8 to 12% on orders under £10,000 and dropping to 3 to 6% on orders above £50,000. Inspection companies usually charge per inspector per day. V-Trust, for example, advertises an all-inclusive rate of US$268 per man-day.

Freight, duties, samples and bank fees come on top, whichever agent you use. Our full guide to sourcing agent costs has a worked example for a US$10,000 order.

Most of what you need to know comes out in a short call. Ask these and listen to how directly they answer.

1. 1How are you paid, by whom, and will you put that in writing?
2. 2Will you tell me the name of every factory, and let me see their business licences?
3. 3Which products and industries do you know best? Can you show me similar work?
4. 4Do you visit factories in person? Who does the visits?
5. 5What does your inspection report look like? Can I see a sample, with names removed?
6. 6Who will I deal with day to day, and how quickly do you usually reply?
7. 7What's included in your fee, and what's charged separately?
8. 8How do you handle a failed inspection or a late order?
9. 9Can I pay the factory directly?
10. 10What's your company's registered name, so I can check it?

• They won't say how they're paid, or their fee seems too good to be true. "Free" sourcing almost always means the factory is paying them, through a hidden markup in your price.
• They won't name the factory, or say it's "confidential". You then can't check who's making your goods, and you lose the supplier if you stop using the agent.
• Every payment has to go through their account, with no invoice from the factory.
• Their inspection reports just say "passed", with no photos, measurements or defect counts.
• They push you to decide fast, or to skip samples to save time.
• There's no written agreement, or it doesn't say what they're responsible for.

Treat a sourcing agent like any other supplier and check them out before you pay anything.

• Ask for their registered company name in Chinese and look it up on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System at gsxt.gov.cn. It shows whether the company is registered, its address and whether it's still operating.
• Make sure the company name on their invoices and bank account matches the registration.
• Ask for references from buyers in your country, and actually call one or two.
• Ask to join a video call from a factory they work with.
• If you can, visit them. A real agent will be glad to show you around.

We explain how to check us on our About page, and our factory audit checklist covers the same kind of checks for factories.

• Exactly what the agent will do, and what they won't.
• The fee, how it's worked out (on product value only, or including freight), and when it's paid.
• Who owns the supplier relationship if you stop working together.
• That the agent won't take money from your suppliers.
• How inspections are done, and what standard the goods are judged against.
• Confidentiality for your designs and product details.

Even the best agent can only work with what you give them. A few habits make a big difference.

• Write your specification down in full, with photos or drawings, and keep it updated.
• Approve a physical sample and treat it as the standard for production.
• Agree payment terms that leave the balance until after inspection.
• Reply quickly when the agent asks a question. Delays on your side become delays at the factory.
• Plan around Chinese New Year, when most factories close for two to four weeks.

Put together, a first order often takes two to four months from first contact to goods at your door. Repeat orders are much quicker because the supplier and the sample are already approved.

• Choosing the cheapest quote without checking what was assumed in it.
• Paying 100% up front, which leaves no leverage if something goes wrong.
• Skipping the inspection to save a few hundred dollars on an order worth thousands.
• Agreeing details by chat and never putting them in the purchase order.
• Forgetting about duties, taxes and product rules in their own country until the goods arrive.

We're a sourcing agent based in Suzhou, close to Shanghai and the factories of the Yangtze River Delta. We charge a commission on the order value, confirmed in writing before we start. Our shortlists name every supplier, our inspection reports come with photos and defect counts, and we recommend you only pay the factory's balance once you've seen them.

If you'd like to see how we'd approach your product, send us the details and we'll reply within 24 hours.