If you’re going to source from China, getting a sample BEFORE you go into production is the absolute one most important thing to ensure that you get what you pay for.  But sometimes it seems like a real struggle to make this happen.  Why?  There are some very concrete reasons why it’s difficult for a factory to provide you a sample of the product you’d like to source, which I have laid out below.  As a buyer, it’s important to consider these factors when communicating with your supplier:

1.  There may not be mold yet, or a mold yet in your supplier’s possession, for the piece you’re requesting – Factories put all sorts of photos up on sites like alibaba and global sources, but these images don’t always represent products that the supplier has actually made before, or has on hand.  Often, the companies on these websites will find any photo they can of an item that they believe they can produce, or that they believe they can source themselves.In some cases you may only be seeing a design or 3D computer generated image of something that has not actually been produced before. 

2.  If the supplier does in fact possess the mold for the item, they may not have a sample in stock – creating just one or two pieces of any generally mass produced item is not easy.  Take a stopwatch for instance… the item probably has about 6 or 7 small plastic components, possibly over 30 different internal electronic components.  Producing the plastic components involves at least a half day’s work per component to create a sample, as large and heavy steel molds must be installed into large injection molding machines, then tested and calibrated before a component can be stamped out.  Electrical components may come from many different suppliers, all who may need to be contacted and themselves challenged to produce a component or two (not what they are set up to do).

3.  Delay from their suppliers – Recognize that the factory has its own set of suppliers for materials; everything from plastic resin, to colorants, to transistors.  Many delays both for samples and production lots stem from a delay from the supplier’s suppliers.  Something which is sometimes out of your direct supplier’s control.

A factory may need to wait until they order components or materials in bulk for their current orders before they can reasonably be able to have on hand what they need to produce your sample.  It’s always a good idea to ask specifically why there is delay for samples if you are experiencing this.  Often the supplier feels shameful (as is Chinese culture) to advise you the specific reason for the delay, or is delaying for a reason that they shouldn’t be (i.e. they can only provide the sample in blue, and they think you need a red one, but actually you don’t care what color it is).  Ask.