Can I negotiate a minimum order quantity?

Hey SaleHoo staff,

I was wondering if you can please tell me, what is the best way to get a sample from Chinese suppliers without paying full retail price? I want to try their item out, but they want me to pay full retail for trying it. Or how do i get the MOQ down from say 100 units to 10? I have found a heap of things I like, but these guys all want you to buy 100 pieces.

1 - I don't know if its going to sell, so can't buy that much.
2 - I don't have the money.

Thanks a lot!

It really comes down to the individual supplier as to what sort of deal they are prepared to do for you. Some may be willing to nego a price on a lower MOQ purchase, but I doubt any will actually sell you a one off product at anything less than their list price, despite the offer of coming back to purchase more if the product is as they promise.

The problem is of course that they don't know if you're genuine or not, you could well just be someone looking to buy the product for yourself at a bargain cut rate price. Perhaps if you had a solid trading record you could show them, then they would perhaps see the benefit in providing a free or at least cut price test product.

I'm afraid that you're quite limited in your options on this one.

For what it's worth, I think it's actually smart buying a test item yourself first before taking a wholesale order and openly marketing it.

fuddj:

For what it's worth, I think it's actually smart buying a test item yourself first before taking a wholesale order and openly marketing it.

Yep -- this is absolutely a necessary step for dealing with an overseas supplier, no idea why people skip it so often. If you have no idea how good the product is, how fast it ships, what the packaging/labeling looks like (if you're dropshipping) etc. then how on earth can you market any supplier or product? It's a fundamental part of serious research.

As far as the question of negotiating samples, your better bet would be to find a trade show near you and attend. There are wholesale shows all year round; most advertise pretty heavily, and many showcase a huee variety of foreign importers who otherwise are hard to find and connect with. There, you can handle the product, meet and greet with sales reps, and in all likelihood negotiate a good sample order (assuming they aren't running a sample special for the show, which is pretty common.)


Frank

ok thanks guys