A quote sheet is a starting position, not a price. Five lines hide three variables: the quantity tier the number belongs to, what the unit cost includes, and five lines that aren't on the page at all. Read it twice — once for the number, once for the gaps.
Five lines. A price, a quantity range, a lead time, a payment term — and one word I had to look up: amortized.
Most buyers read one line: the price. It's also the line that means the least on its own.
The number on top isn't the price
When a quote sheet says "$3.20," that number is rarely what you'll pay per unit in the end. Here's what sits behind it:
- Quantity. Almost every factory quotes in tiers — 500 units at one price, 2,000 at another, 10,000 at a third. If you're reading one number, you're reading one tier, usually the one you can't reach yet.
- What's included. The unit alone, or the unit in a box, in a carton, on a pallet? Every layer adds cost.
- What isn't. Tooling. Sampling. Packaging artwork. Inspection. Freight. The sheet has a total, but it doesn't have every line that gets you there.
Which is why the first number a factory gives you is almost never the one you pay.
Four words you'll see, and may not know
MOQ. Minimum order quantity — the smallest run a factory will take before starting the line stops being worth it. It isn't a negotiation tactic. It's arithmetic. Setup takes hours, and those hours cost the same whether you order 200 or 20,000.
Tier pricing. The rate drops as quantity rises. Normal, and it's why a factory will nudge you toward a bigger order. Sometimes that's good for you. Sometimes it's good for them.
Ex-works vs FOB. Ex-works means the price stops at their door — you arrange and pay for everything after. FOB means they get it onto the ship. Those two words can be a 10–15% difference in your landed cost, and buyers miss them constantly.
Neutral packaging. No logo, no branding, plain box. If you're selling under your own name, you want this specified. If you don't say it, you may get their box — with their brand on it.
What isn't on the sheet?
The most useful thing about a quote sheet is what it leaves out. Five things to look for, and ask about if you can't find them:
- Tooling cost. One-time, or amortized into the unit price? That's the word. It means the factory spread the cost of the mould across your order — cheaper per unit now, and it locks you in later. This changes everything about your first order.
- Samples — and who pays the freight. Samples are usually cheap. Shipping them usually isn't.
- Payment terms. 30/70, 50/50, or 100% before production? The split tells you how much risk the factory thinks it's carrying.
- Lead time — and lead time from when. From order, from deposit, or from artwork approval? Those are three different dates.
- What happens if it's wrong. Rework, replacement, refund, or silence? If it isn't written, it isn't agreed. And when it goes wrong, somebody has to pay for it.
What I do with a quote sheet
I read it twice. Once for the number, once for the gaps.
Then, before it goes to a client, I ask five questions:
- Is this price for my quantity, or a bigger one?
- What's in the unit cost, and what isn't?
- What's the tooling situation?
- What are the payment terms, and what does the split mean?
- If the units arrive wrong, what happens?
A good factory answers all five. A quote sheet answers none of them on its own.
Straight answers
Is a cheaper quote always a worse product?
No — but it's always a quote with fewer lines on it. Find out which line was removed before you decide anything.
Can MOQ be negotiated?
Sometimes, but not by arguing. It moves when the material is stock rather than made to order, or when your order shares a batch with someone else's.
Who should pay for tooling?
Whoever owns the mould. If you pay for it, get in writing that you own it and that it doesn't get used for another buyer's order.
Ex-works or FOB — which should I ask for?
FOB if you want one number you can compare across factories. Ex-works if you already have a forwarder you trust and want to control that cost yourself.
The honest part
A quote sheet isn't a price. It's a starting position.
Treat the number as the first line of a conversation, not the answer to it. And the factory that's easiest to work with usually isn't the cheapest — it's the one that wrote everything down.
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Send me the quote sheet and the quantity you asked for.
I'll tell you which lines are missing before you pay a deposit.
Whatsapp: +86 18617138192.
Email: [email protected].
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No quote required. Just the three things.
— Damon, Founder
