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A first order from China, in the smallest number of steps that still works.

Most first-order advice is a list of forty things. This is the short version: the smallest set of steps that still protects you, and the parts that can wait.

Most first-order advice is a list of forty things. This is the short version: the smallest set of steps that still protects you, and the parts that can wait.

Five steps

The smallest workflow that still works for a first China order Verify the supplier, order a sample, approve a written specification, run an inspection before paying the balance, then ship. Five steps. Everything else can wait until order two 1 Verify 2 Sample 3 Spec in writing 4 Inspect 5 Ship Step 4 is the one buyers drop and the one that pays for itself first. Pay the balance after it, not before. Skipping step 3 is the most common cause of a "failed" inspection: nothing failed, it was never specified.

Verify means check the licence, the export record and whether the seller is a factory at all. Sample means buy one and look at it. Spec in writing means a document with measurements, material, colour and packaging, not a chat message. Inspect means somebody looks at the goods before the balance leaves. Ship is the easy part.

Notice that four of the five happen before any money moves for goods, and all four cost less than a mistake.

Where the money goes, and which slice matters

Where the money goes on a typical first order Of a landed cost, roughly 60 percent is goods value, 20 percent duty and fees, 15 percent freight and insurance, and 5 percent sample and inspection. A landed cost of $10,000, split Goods $6,000 Duty $2,000 freight + insurance $1,500 sample + inspection $500 The smallest slice is the one that tells you whether the other 95% was worth spending. Cutting $500 of verification off a $10,000 order is not a saving. It is a bet at 20:1. Illustrative split for a China-origin consumer good under current tariff treatment. Your HTS code decides the orange slice.

Verification is about five percent of a first order. It is also the only five percent that tells you whether the other ninety-five was spent on something you can sell. Buyers who cut it are not saving money — they are taking a large bet to avoid a small fee.

What you can safely skip on order one

What not to skip, ever

The written specification. Most failed inspections are not failures of production; they are failures of specification. If the document does not say the wall thickness, the colour reference, the material grade and the carton dimensions, the factory will choose reasonable values, and you will disagree with them afterwards with no basis to resolve it.

Your own eyes on the first units. Photos from a phone at an angle hide exactly the things that matter — flash, sink marks, colour drift, print registration. Inspect in person or pay somebody who will.

What changes on order two

Almost everything. With one completed order you know how this factory communicates, whether it meets dates, and which of its promises it keeps. The controls do not disappear, but they thin out: in-line inspection becomes optional, first-article approval becomes a formality, and the sample you already hold becomes the reference for everything after.

That is the real reason to keep the first order small. It is not about the unit price. It is about buying information cheaply, once, before you commit to a relationship you cannot yet evaluate.

Start with the supplier you already have

A remote check is $149 and covers the first of the five steps, before you spend anything on goods.

Send a supplier to check