How We Work, and How We Get Paid
Most sourcing companies are vague about where their money comes from. Ours is simple enough to put on one page, so here it is.
If you only read one thing: buyers pay us nothing, manufacturers pay a fixed price for each project brief they choose to take, and we take no percentage of your order. That is the whole model.
In short
- Buyers payNothing, at any stage.
- Manufacturers payA fixed price per brief they take.
- We takeNo commission on your order, ever.
- We holdNo payments, no goods, no contract.
Why the model matters more than the promises
Every sourcing company says it works in your interest. The useful question is not what they say, it is what they are paid to do, because that is what they will end up doing.
Commission on your order
The agent takes a percentage of what you spend.
- The agent earns more when your order costs more
- The agent is inside the transaction, so the real factory price is hard to see
- Switching manufacturers later means losing the agent's income
Buyer pays a fee or retainer
You pay for sourcing work by the project or by the month.
- Incentives are cleaner, and the cost falls entirely on you
- Works well when you need managed sourcing rather than an introduction
- You pay whether or not the project ends in an order
What we do
Manufacturers pay a fixed price for briefs that fit them.
- Our income does not move with your order value
- We are outside the transaction, so you see the real price
- We are paid for a good match, not for a large order
None of the three is dishonest. They simply pull in different directions, and you should know which direction the company you are talking to is being pulled.
What actually happens after you send a brief
Six steps, with the part we do and the part we do not.
We read it properly
A person reads the brief and the files. If something is missing that a manufacturer would need to quote, we come back to you before we match anyone. This is most of the work and it is why a vague brief takes longer.
We write an anonymous preview
Product type, processes, scope, quantity, destination market and timing. No name, no brand, no files. This is what a manufacturer sees before it decides.
We offer it to manufacturers that fit
Only those that run the processes and take the order size. Fit means the processes, the capacity and the tooling ownership match the brief, checked against the same criteria on how we judge turnkey capability, not just a category tag. They see the preview and the price, and they decide. Nobody bids and nobody outranks anybody by paying more.
They take it, or nobody does
If no suitable manufacturer takes the brief, we tell you that plainly rather than matching you with someone unsuitable. A bad match costs you weeks and costs us a manufacturer relationship.
You are introduced, directly
Contact details and files go to the manufacturers that took the brief, up to 3. They quote you directly. We are copied in only if you want us to be.
We stop
The negotiation, the contract, the tooling, the payments and the shipment are yours and theirs. We do not hold your money, we do not sit in the middle and we do not take a cut.
Things we will not do
A short list is more useful than a long list of promises, so this one is short and we mean all of it.
- Claim to own a factoryWe do not. Anyone who tells you they are both an independent matchmaker and the factory is one of the two.
- Send your files without consentManufacturers see an anonymous preview first. Ask for an NDA and nothing beyond the preview moves until it is signed.
- Blast your brief3 manufacturers at most, and only ones that fit.
- Take a margin on your goodsNo commission, no markup, no undisclosed spread between what you pay and what the manufacturer receives.
- Invent credentialsNo client logos we have not earned, no certification we do not hold, no headcount we do not have.
- Promise what a factory decidesPrice, lead time and capacity belong to the manufacturer. We will not quote them on their behalf.
For manufacturers, the same model from the other side
You see an anonymous preview of a project before you pay anything. You pay a fixed price only for the briefs you want, and you quote the buyer yourself. We take no commission on the order that follows, this one or any later one.
We are not a bidding platform and we do not run a reverse auction on your margin. Each brief goes to a small number of manufacturers that actually fit it, so the ones you see are ones you have a real chance of winning.
So the buyer really pays nothing?
Nothing. No fee, no retainer, no percentage of the order. Manufacturers pay us for the project briefs they choose to take. If you send a brief and never place an order, you owe us nothing and we have simply spent our time.
Does the manufacturer add your fee to my quote?
They price their own work and we have no visibility or control over their margin. What we can say is that a lead fee is a fixed cost paid once, not a percentage of your order, so it does not scale with what you spend. A commission model would.
Does the manufacturer that pays most get my project?
No. Manufacturers do not bid against each other for a brief. Each brief goes only to manufacturers that run the processes and the order size in it, at a fixed price per brief. A manufacturer that cannot do your work is not offered it at any price.
What stops you sending my brief everywhere?
Our own model. Manufacturers pay for briefs that fit them, so sending a brief to manufacturers that cannot win it destroys the thing they are paying for. Each brief goes to 3 manufacturers at most.
What happens if the match is wrong?
Tell us. If we match you with manufacturers that clearly do not fit the brief, say so and we will either rematch or tell you plainly that we do not have a fit. A brief we cannot match well is a brief we should not have taken.
Do you handle the order, the payments or the shipping?
No. Once you are introduced, the contract, the payments and the shipment are between you and the manufacturer. We are not in the transaction, we hold none of your money and we take no margin on your goods.
Send a brief and see how it works
It costs nothing, it takes about five minutes, and we reply within 24 business hours with matched manufacturers or with a plain no.