How a China Dropshipping Agent Prices an Order, Line by Line

Two recent enquiries asked almost the same question in different words. One wanted to know whether we charge upfront sourcing fees and what our fulfilment conditions are. The other asked for our pricing structure including product sourcing, handling, packaging and shipping, whether there are minimum order requirements or additional charges, and for purchase prices plus an estimated total cost per order delivered to their market. Both were asking for something a public price list cannot honestly give them: a number that depends on their SKU, their destination and their volume.

This article explains how a China dropshipping agent quotation is actually assembled, so you can compare three of them without fooling yourself. It is deliberately about structure rather than amounts. We do not publish a rate card, and we would be suspicious of one that claims to cover every product and every destination with a single per-order fee.

1. Why there is no price list on this site

A unit price is an output of a specification. Change the finish, the packaging, the destination, the declaration type or the number of orders in a week, and the same physical product produces a different delivered cost. A rate card that ignores those variables is either averaging across customers who are nothing like you, or excluding the lines that will later appear as surcharges.

There is a second reason. In 2026 both the US and the EU have changed how low-value parcels are treated. A quote that folded duty and clearance into a single “shipping” line under the old rules is not comparable with a quote that itemises them under the new ones. The only fair comparison is line by line, with the same assumptions on both sides. Our guide to sourcing agent fees covers charging models across the industry; this article covers the mechanics of a single order quote.

2. The six lines in a quote

Line	What it pays for	Behaviour as you scale
Product	The unit bought from the factory or market, at the quoted revision	Usually falls with batch size, but not for stock purchases of one
Sourcing and sampling	Supplier verification, comparable quotations, sample procurement and approval handling	Largely one-off per SKU, not per order
Quality control	Pre-dispatch check on single orders; an AQL-based inspection with a report on batches	Changes method rather than disappearing
Packing and branding	Repack, labels, inserts, printed packaging, artwork setup and storage of artwork files	Setup is one-off; materials scale with units and have their own minimums
Fulfilment handling	Receiving, pick and pack, order processing, tracking handover, returns handling	Fixed per order, so it dominates at low volumes
Freight, duty and clearance	The lane, the declaration, and duties or taxes where prepaid under DDP	Fixed per parcel in phase one; one entry for a batch in phase two

The most important column is the last one. Two of these lines are essentially fixed per order, and two are one-off per SKU. At a handful of orders a week, the fixed lines dominate; at a steady batch, the unit lines dominate. That is the entire economic argument for moving from testing to stock, and it is invisible in an all-in figure.

3. What may be paid upfront, and what should not be

Anything that must exist before your order exists may need funding in advance: samples, stock bought specifically for you, printed packaging, tooling or a mould. Those are purchases, and a written quotation should say whether each is refundable, credited against a later batch, or a one-off cost retained by the supplier. A standing monthly retainer is a different arrangement, and a project-based sourcing fee is different again. All three are legitimate; describing all of them as “free sourcing” is not.

What should never be vague is the treatment of your money. Ask for four sentences in writing: which amounts are due before work starts, what triggers each further payment, what happens to a prepayment if the sample fails approval, and whether any service charge is embedded in a unit price. If an agent cannot answer those four questions in one email, the issue is not the amount. It is the transparency.

4. MOQ is not one number

Confusion about minimums causes more failed negotiations than price does. There are at least three separate minimums, and they apply to different things:

• Factory production MOQ: the smallest batch a workshop will run. Applies to making goods, not to buying from existing stock.
• Customisation MOQ: the smallest run for a printed box, a moulded part, a changed finish or a custom colour. Often higher than buyers expect because it is set by a print or tooling process.
• Fulfilment minimum: whether a warehouse or an agent requires a monthly order count or a monthly fee. This is a commercial policy, not a manufacturing constraint.

A single-unit test order from existing stock can bypass the first two. It cannot bypass the third, which is why you should ask about monthly commitments before you build a store around a supplier. Our low MOQ sourcing guide explains how workshops think about small runs, and our sourcing FAQ answers the short version of the payment and minimum questions.

5. Comparing three quotes without fooling yourself

Put the quotes side by side and normalise them before looking at the total. The traps repeat across the industry:

• One combined “shipping” line. It may or may not include duty, clearance, a fuel surcharge or a DDP fee. Ask which.
• Different Incoterms. A DAP quote and a DDP quote are not comparable until the duty and the buyer-side charge are made explicit.
• Missing compliance lines. Product documents, labelling and any destination registration are real costs even when the agent does not perform them.
• Different QC assumptions. A photograph of a finished carton is not an inspection with a written report.
• Different return assumptions. If one quote assumes returns are disposed of locally and another assumes they are shipped back, the cheaper quote may be the more expensive one after a month of real orders.
• Different packaging assumptions. A plain factory carton and your own printed box are not the same line item.

Then ask each agent the same question: which lines are fixed per order, which scale with units, and what would cause a re-quote. The answer tells you more about the reliability of the number than the number itself.

6. Tracking, returns and who absorbs the cost

Tracking is a baseline for any end-customer parcel, and the tracking number should be returned to your store automatically or on an agreed schedule. Ask what happens when a parcel is refused, damaged, delayed at the border or returned under a statutory withdrawal right. Who receives it, who inspects it, who decides whether it is resalable, and how the cost appears on your next statement. These are not edge cases in a low-volume test; a small number of them can erase a month of margin.

We agree the returns path in writing before the first parcel ships and we state which costs are ours, which are the carrier’s and which remain with the seller. That is also why we do not quote a delivered cost per order before we know your returns policy.

7. A quote request you can copy

You can send the following to any agent, including us. It forces the six lines into the open and makes the replies comparable:

Destination market: [country]. Customer type: [consumer or business]. Product: [link, photo or specification]. Must-match requirements: [list]. Expected orders per week during testing: [number]. Expected batch size for scaling: [number]. Branding: [plain repack / label and insert / printed box / product change]. Documents or registrations I already hold: [list]. Please quote as separate lines for product, sourcing and sampling, QC, packing and branding, fulfilment handling, and freight with duty and clearance. State which lines are fixed per order, which scale with units, which amounts are due upfront and their refund or credit treatment, the processing window, the tracked service, the returns path, and what would trigger a re-quote.

A serious partner will answer with a quote and a short list of follow-up questions. A partner who replies with a single number and no questions is either guessing or planning to add charges later.

8. What we do differently, and what we will not claim

We verify the workshop before a deposit moves, keep the approved sample, artwork and QC plan on file so a batch matches the test unit, and show the quotation as separate lines. Our services page lists the full operational scope, and our dropshipping agent page explains how a test phase connects to a scale phase.

We will not publish a rate card, promise a duty amount or a delivery window without your SKU and destination, describe a prepayment as free, or hide a service charge in a unit price. We also will not act as your customs, tax or legal adviser. Those determinations belong to licensed professionals in your destination market.

9. Frequently asked questions

Do you charge upfront sourcing fees?

Some projects involve prepayment for samples, stock, packaging or tooling; a standing retainer is a separate arrangement. The written quotation states which applies to your project and how a prepayment is treated if a sample fails approval.

Are there minimum order requirements or additional charges?

Test orders from existing stock do not carry a factory MOQ. Custom packaging, tooling and changed finishes can carry their own minimums. Anything not listed in the quotation should be queried before you commit.

Can you give a purchase price and a total delivered cost per order?

Yes, as a written quotation built from your SKU, destination, volume and compliance position. A generic per-order figure would be wrong for most readers, which is why we do not print one here.

How do I know whether a quote includes duty?

Ask whether it is DDP or DAP and which line carries the duty and clearance. If the answer is a single combined shipping figure, ask for the breakdown before comparing it with another quote.

What should I compare between agents?

The six lines, the per-order versus per-unit behaviour, the prepayment treatment, the QC method, the tracked service and the returns path. Not just the total at the bottom.

Send the template above through the WhatsApp or quote button below, with your destination and product link, and we will come back with a written quotation and the questions that remain.

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