Sample, tool and OEM series are three different bills. A factory that joins them in one sentence in the quote usually hides the mould, or sells a “sample” that is someone else’s finished piece. Split them in the PO before deposit. OEM here means the product is made to your spec, under your name, in a plant in China.
Full development pack: OEM / product development. Line visit: Factories in China.
A sample is not a series in small
The first piece shows whether the spec can be made at all. It is paid separately. Courier is paid separately. A correction is paid separately if it changes material or tool.
On the sample you lock:
- dimension, with a millimetre tolerance, not “approximately”
- colour and surface, with a physical standard, not a screen
- function: what may happen after ten, a hundred or a thousand cycles, as far as that product makes sense
- what is unacceptable (crack, gap, smell, noise)
Without an approved sample there is no tool for the final shape and no series. If the factory offers a “free sample” from a drawer, that is their model, not yours. Sample lead is usually 2–5 weeks.
Tool and mould
On plastic, casting, deep draw or a box with a special mould, the tool is an investment before first goods.
The contract should say:
- who pays the tool
- who owns it once paid
- whether the tool may be used for another buyer
- where the tool physically sits and who takes it out if you change factory
- tool lead, separate from series lead
- what happens if the first shot from the mould is wrong: who pays the correction
Tool lead adds weeks. If your season starts before that lead, either move the season, or pick a shape that fits an existing tool. There is no third option where the mould “arrives faster because we are urgent”.
Golden sample
The golden sample is the last piece you seal as reference. Series QC compares the carton with that piece, not with the first failed sample and not with a render.
Keep two copies if you can: one at the factory beside the line, one with you or with us. Otherwise the “reference” stays in a drawer that goes missing before loading.
Trial series
A trial series is a small volume after the tool, before the full MOQ. On it you see whether the line holds measure when it is not making one piece in a development corner.
Typically you watch:
- how many pieces jump off measure
- whether colour drifts from start to end of a short run
- packing on a real carton, which enters CBM
QC before the commercial series is standard on sourcing jobs above 2,000 USD. Sea about 35–52 days. Packing often has its own MOQ. Packaging from China.
Do not pay a series deposit until sample approval, tool ownership and packing are written. Contact with drawing, target quantity and whether a mould already exists.
Next step
Send the request: category, quantity, and date. You get a reply within 24 hours, with an outline of the total cost to destination where we can price it.
