Mould & Sample Fee Policy
When each fee is charged, when it is free, when it is refunded, and what the refund counts against.
Working with us
Payment & Delivery
Deposit and balance, when the tooling and sample fees are collected, which currencies and instruments we use, and how shipping is arranged.
Payment
Deposit and balance
Payment moves in two steps, with a fixed point in between: the deposit releases production, and the balance follows your own inspection of the finished goods.
- 30% deposit, with the signed contract. Production starts once the deposit is received.
- A tooling fee, if there is one, is charged in addition to the deposit and listed separately from it.
- 70% balance, paid after your factory inspection passes. Every customer pays the balance at that point.
- No 10% is retained after delivery. The 70% balance is the final payment.
- Quality after delivery: the approved sample and its test data remain the acceptance baseline. Our defects are rectified or replaced at our cost, and a change you ask for is charged to you.
A schedule that is not the standard 30% deposit and 70% balance is not a published rule here. Where the standard does not suit an order, it is agreed in the contract.
Fee timing
When the tooling and sample fees are collected
- Tooling fee
- Collected up front, with the 30% deposit and listed separately from it — including when the expected volume is large enough for the fee to be amortised or waived later.
- Sample fee
- The official pre-production sampling is charged separately before sampling begins. Enquiry-stage samples are a separate case, described on Mould & Sample Fee Policy.
- Refund point
- The tooling fee is refunded once the agreed cumulative volume for that tooled product is reached. The sample fee is refunded once the agreed cumulative purchase of that product is reached.
- How the refund is paid
- As a credit against later orders, which is the preferred route. In cash only if there is no later order.
- Counted together?
- No. Tooling and sample fees are counted separately, each against its own threshold.
- Time limit and counting rule
- Set in the contract, for each project.
Currencies
Currencies and payment instruments
- Export customers are quoted in USD.
- Domestic customers are quoted in RMB.
- T/T is the norm for both.
- L/C for large amounts.
- Other means for small amounts.
- Whether a price includes tax, and the tax treatment that applies, is set in the contract.
Not published yet
- Payment instructions, meaning the beneficiary, the bank and the payment reference, are not published on this site.
Shipping
Shipping options
Shipping method is your choice. We set out the options and do not recommend one over another.
- Full container by sea.
- Consolidated LCL, where the volume suits sharing a container.
- Air or express for small volume.
Documents
Packing, forwarder and documents
Once the balance is paid, packing, the freight forwarder and the shipping documents are arranged. Who carries out each step, and the freight and forwarder costs, are set in the contract rather than assumed on either side.
Open terms
Set in the contract, not on this page
- The lead time, and what a quote covers.
- Whether prices include tax.
- The arrangement when a 30% deposit does not suit the order.
- One order carrying both a standard item and a custom item.
- Who arranges packing, the forwarder and the shipping documents.
- Freight and forwarder costs.
- How the tooling and sample fee refunds are earned, and the time limit on each.
Next steps
Related pages
How We Work
The full flow from enquiry to shipping, the standard and non-standard branches, and the confirmation points.
Request a Quote
Send the item, the quantity and the destination, and we will come back with the quote and the payment schedule.
Ask for the terms on your order
Tell us the item, the quantity and the destination, and we will set out the deposit, the balance, the fee timing and the shipping options for it.