How it works: we source your product and sell it to you

Who you are buying from

Manufacturer Quotes is the seller. We buy from the manufacturer and sell to you. Our price per unit includes our service and margin. We act as your supplier, not as your agent.

That is the whole model. The quotes come from us, you place the order with us, and you pay us. There is one seller for you to deal with, whichever factory makes the goods.

From request to quote

1. You send a request. Use the quote form to tell us what you want made, how many units and where they ship.
2. We find factories that make it, overseas first. Many products can be made in more than one country, and the price, minimum order and lead time differ between them. We look in countries such as China, Vietnam, India and Mexico first, and in the US when you ask for US-made.
3. We ask for quotes. We send your product details to the factories we choose and ask each for a price, a minimum order and a lead time. We deal with them as a buyer that resells, under our own name.
4. We send you our quotes. Each quote shows our price per unit, the minimum order, the lead time and the shipping terms.

What a quote tells you

Every quote names its shipping terms as an Incoterms rule and a named place: FOB at a named port of shipment in the country of origin, for goods going by sea; FCA at a named place, for goods handed to a carrier before loading, such as air freight, courier and samples; and EXW, at the factory's door, only where your order confirmation says so. The rule tells you which costs are inside our price and where the goods, and the risk, pass to you.

We are adding an estimated landed cost per unit to each quote: our price plus freight, duty and fees to your destination, with the duty rate and the date it was checked, labelled as an estimate. That estimate is not live yet. Until it is, compare quotes from different countries on what each costs landed at your door, not on the unit price alone: add freight, duty and fees to our price before you choose.

When the factory is named

We do not name the factory while you compare quotes. If you order, the import documents name it where customs or compliance rules require.

Quotes identify each factory by a letter and its country, such as "Factory B, Vietnam". Because you are the importer, US import filings identify the manufacturer, and some regulated products need a certificate or registration that names the facility. When we confirm your order, we give you the factory details those documents require. Shipping documents such as the bill of lading may show the factory's name too. Under our terms of sale, you keep what you learn about the factory confidential and use it only to import, certify and sell the goods and to deal with the authorities about them. For two years after we last supply you from that factory, or after we name it to you if we supplied nothing, buying goods of the same kind from it or its group other than through us carries a fee, as set out in "Buying direct from the factory" in our terms of sale.

What you pay, and when

Asking for quotes costs nothing and commits you to nothing. There is no subscription and no fee to see a quote. If you order, you pay our price per unit for the goods, on the payment terms in your order confirmation: unless it says otherwise, a deposit before production starts and the balance before the goods ship. Any charge for samples, or for the lab tests a children's product needs, appears as its own line in the quote. Sales tax, where the law requires us to collect it, is added to the invoice. Our margin is inside our price per unit; it is not a separate line added later.

When you order

• You are the importer. You, or the customs broker you hire, clear the goods through customs at the destination and pay the duties, taxes and fees. We do not quote delivered duty paid (DDP) terms, where the seller would import the goods for you.
• You approve the spec. The order confirmation records the agreed specification. If you approve a sample, the goods are made to match it too, and where the sample and the written specification differ, the written specification wins unless the order confirmation says otherwise.
• Regulated products have their own steps. Children's products, cosmetics, over-the-counter drugs, food and supplements carry legal duties for the brand and the importer. We agree in writing who does what before we accept the order, and you show us your product liability insurance. For a children's product, you certify it as the importer, and no production lot ships without a passing laboratory test report.
• The terms of sale apply. Every order is made under our terms of sale.

We do not quote cannabidiol (CBD), sexual enhancement, weight loss, SARMs or kratom products.