Private-label sourcing from China: supplier, landed cost & reorder checklist

A private-label product is manufactured by a third party for sale under your brand. A supplier quote starts the conversation. You still need to establish whether the product, order size and delivery window fit your business.

I use four decision gates: demand, supplier evidence, landed economics and replenishment. Each gate needs an evidence source, an owner and a reason to proceed or pause. This checklist brings together the operating questions I discuss on my Services page. It is general guidance, not a customer case study or legal assurance.

For an existing SKU, use sales from periods when stock was actually available. Flag discount-driven demand and unusual events. A stockout can suppress recorded sales; a promotion can inflate them. Neither should silently become the baseline.

For a first SKU, build a range of plausible demand rather than borrowing a mature product's history. A small validation run can reduce exposure if the supplier's MOQ and the product's compliance requirements permit it.

My operating story about the viral Amazon product explains why I questioned a bigger order. That experience informs this demand gate; it does not establish that AI predicted a client's results.

First establish who is quoting, who manufactures the goods and who receives payment. A trading company can be a useful partner, but its relationship with the factory and responsibility for defects should be explicit. A platform badge or uploaded certificate is one input, not a complete evaluation.

Make the field-check brief specific: production capability for this product, subcontracting, raw-material controls, quality records, capacity and the proposed manufacturing schedule. Agree who collects evidence and who resolves exceptions. I do not claim to personally audit factories in China.

Document sample acceptance with measurable requirements: dimensions, materials, performance, packaging, labels and relevant testing. Keep an approved reference sample and a specification version. An attractive sample does not confirm that the full production run will match it.

EU and UK requirements can differ, and Northern Ireland can follow a different route from Great Britain. Specify the market instead of labelling the destination simply 'Europe'. The UK government's import checklist covers business readiness, commodity codes, declarations, duties and certificates. Its product-safety guidance explains business responsibilities.

For EU consumer products, review the General Product Safety Regulation and any product-specific legislation with a qualified professional. Establish the responsible economic operator, traceability, warnings, technical documentation and relevant conformity requirements. CE marking applies to certain product categories; it is not a universal quality certificate.

Ask your customs adviser to validate the commodity code, origin, valuation and current duty treatment. Ask your tax adviser to confirm import VAT treatment and any recovery or accounting arrangements. These inputs depend on the transaction and importer.

Use a consistent destination and accounting basis when comparing quotes. Incoterms affect which party pays for particular transport steps and where risk transfers. Identify costs already included in the quote so freight or handling is not counted twice.

A commercial buying model can include tooling, packaging, inspection, testing, origin handling, freight, insurance, duty, clearance, destination handling and delivery. Allocate shared costs using a documented basis such as weight, volume or units. Your accountant should confirm which costs belong in inventory valuation.

Keep the customs calculation separate from the commercial total. Duty and VAT have their own valuation rules. A single assumed percentage applied to the supplier quote is not a substitute for transaction-specific customs and tax verification.

Separate the product MOQ from component, colour, packaging and tooling minimums. A factory may offer flexibility in one area while a custom component creates the real constraint. Record the trade-off rather than comparing headline unit prices alone.

Potential options include fewer variants, standard packaging, staged releases or different payment terms. These depend on supplier capability and agreement. Confirm any storage, cancellation or remaining-quantity obligation in writing.

Count the full lead time until stock is sellable: order approval, materials, production, inspection, rework allowance, booking, transit, customs and inbound processing. Use evidence from the lane and supplier where available. A factory production estimate is only part of the timeline.

For a continuously reviewed SKU, the reorder point is expected demand during replenishment lead time plus safety stock. For periodic review, the target stock level covers lead time plus the time to the next review. Safety stock depends on demand and lead-time variability and the service level your team chooses.

In a simple periodic-review model, proposed order quantity equals the target stock level minus inventory position, floored at zero. Treat the result as a starting point. A constrained buy may need a changed quantity, supplier discussion or explicit acceptance of stockout risk.

Give each workflow a defined input, evidence source, output and review owner. A useful supplier summary links back to documents and marks missing evidence. A useful buy-plan draft makes its demand, lead-time and cash assumptions visible.

Protect sensitive supplier and brand information before sharing it with any tool. Agree access, data handling and confidentiality within the engagement. An NDA can be signed before sensitive information is shared.