In this article I will show you how much to pay for samples. The first thing you know about our example is that supplies need making them for obvious reasons. There’s a cost associated with making samples especially if you’re ordering things that require tooling dyes malts or special assembly. There’s also the risk that in the end the customer may not even our end up ordering the product so it goes without saying that if you want a sample, you’re going to have to pay for it and oftentimes it can be costly if you’re dropshipping with aliexpress. If you’re sourcing off-the-shelf products such as shoes clothing sunglasses toys and etc then the sample cost isn’t too high. For example, if the negotiated FOB and MOQ for these shoes is 100 pairs for $20 each, then the sample cost of ordering one pair will be anywhere between 20 to $30 because the supplier doesn’t have to do anything. They probably have a bunch of extra shoes lying around that they can use for samples. But if you are creating a customized product where the supplier has to invest time resources and maybe even buy special equipment, then the cost can get out of the hand quickly
take for example his ladder backpack. if I ask my supplier to customize it for me by adding additional pockets changing the zippers getting a special colored leather the supplier has to buy all these things and more often than not they have to buy them in bulk. So, of course, they will pass the cost on to me, which is only fair so even if I negotiate an MOQ of 500 and a FOB of $100 for my custom bag, the supplier will charge me a premium to make a sample. In situations like this, I have paid two or three times of the FOB price which is totally worth it if I’m going to spend thousands of dollars on a product I will happily spend a few hundred more for a piece of mind.
If you are sourcing products that are best selling aliexpress, that are inexpensive to produce and you are not sure how much to pay for assembling, a good way to find out is by asking your supplier if they have an Aliexpress store. if not you are not familiar with early expert is basically a spin-off of alibaba.com but unlike Alibaba, where you have to buy products in both, Aliexpress is for single unit purchases like any other e-commerce site.
Many suppliers sell on Alibaba and Aliexpress so always ask you supply if they have an Aliexpress store and if they don’t want to tell you then just browse for similar products on Aliexpress and use that as a basis for negotiating the sample price. On a side note if you’re sourcing or considering ordering products for Aliexpress be prepared to wait, it’s taken me anywhere between one week to three months to receive products and remember Aliexpress or Alibaba is not Amazon if the supplier sends you the wrong size you can’t send it back. I should also point out that many times you will see knockoffs products on Aliexpress a products that our supplier is not really authorized to sell. I once ordered a sample to Aliexpress and the supplier sent me my competitors’ product . It had their name company formation even their packing .
Now if they were me I would be furious my competitors sold this product for $100 in the United States and I just ordered it to Aliexpress for $40. Of course if you are safe shopper this could work to your benefit, but whenever I create a custom or a private label product always add a clause in my contract that forbid the supplier from showing my product to anyone or selling it on Aliexpress and even that is not foolproof sampler are always always free. What I mean by that is you will be credited back whatever amount you spend on samples
For example if you’re sourcing shoes and you agreed in principle to order 100 pairs for $20 each the total value of your order is $2,000.