After the Fair: turning booth notes into orders
The week after the Fair decides whether the trip was worth the flight. What we do with booth notes, samples and quotations, and what has to be in writing before any deposit moves.
The first 48 hours
Replies come back fastest while the factory staff are still in Guangzhou. Send your short follow-up during the Fair, not after you get home.
One e-mail per booth. Put the booth number and the model you looked at in the subject line; factory staff handle hundreds of cards and cannot place a message that only says hello.
Sort the day's catalogues into quote requested, visit again, and no, and write the pile on the cover while the booth is still fresh. A catalogue with no pile and no booth number is waste paper.
Samples worth paying for
Say what the sample has to prove before you ask for it: material, weight per unit area, finish, colour reference, and the dimension that matters to your product. A sample that proves nothing costs you a month.
Paying for a sample is normal practice once you are serious, and asking for the amount to be credited against the first order is a reasonable request. Free samples at the start of a relationship usually mean a sample made by hand, not on the line.
Ask which line the sample came off, and whether the production run will use the same material source. The gap between a hand sample and a production run is where most disputes start.
Consolidating several suppliers
If you buy from several factories in the same city, one forwarder for the whole shipment is simpler than one each. Ask for the exact packing list from every factory before you book, because carton counts and weights change the freight class.
Do not let fragile goods share an LCL container with heavy machinery unless each carton is packed for it. Crushed cartons are the standard result of a mixed load.
Ask for photographs of the loading, not just of the finished goods.
What must be in writing before a deposit
Specification sheet with the tolerances you will actually check, packing and carton marks, lead time with the trigger date it counts from, the trade term, the inspection method and the payment schedule. Six items, all quotable, all arguable later if they are not written.
The trigger date matters as much as the lead time. Thirty days from deposit and thirty days from artwork approval are different orders.
When to stop
Vague answers on lead time, or on which factory actually holds the export certificate, are the two signals we take most seriously.
A price far below the rest of the hall is not a bargain you won, it is a specification you have not seen yet. Ask what was left out before you ask for a discount.
This page is our own working practice, written from buyer-side experience. It is not organiser guidance and it is not legal or financial advice.