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BUYER GUIDE · DUE DILIGENCE
Choosing a Toy Factory in China
Most sourcing problems are visible before the first order — in how a quotation is written, how a sample is presented and how questions about constraints are answered.
The first question: does the factory make the product?
A factory and a trading company can both quote the same product, and the difference does not appear on an invoice. The practical test is simple: ask which production stages happen on site and which are subcontracted.
A useful answer names the departments — pattern room, cutting, sewing, filling, electronics, testing. A vague answer (“we have a factory”) is a different kind of information, and both answers are worth having.
Read the quotation for its assumptions
A per-unit price without stated assumptions cannot be compared with another price. The assumptions that matter: order quantity, whether tooling exists, the number of languages, the packaging format, the destination market and whether certification is included.
Ask which of those is currently driving the cost. A factory that can name the driver has priced the product; one that cannot has estimated it.
What a sample tells you
The sample is the most informative document in the whole process — not because of how it looks, but because of what comes with it.
| What to look at | What it indicates |
|---|---|
| A written configuration (pattern, fabric, electronics, audio revision) | The factory documents what it makes |
| Seams at stress points, not just the front | Whether sample and production will match |
| Audio tested at real volume, not nominal | Whether the product was tested as a product |
| Packaging included in the sample | Whether the packaging is treated as part of the product |
| Answers about constraints, not just promises | Whether the factory will raise problems early |
The questions that reveal capability
General questions get general answers. These are the ones that produce a specific response:
- What is the constraint on our MOQ — tooling, materials, electronics or packaging?
- Which part of our brief is currently the most expensive to achieve?
- What would you change in our design before tooling?
- What did you have to change in the last similar programme, and why?
- Who signs off the sample on your side, and what do they check?
Capability versus capacity
Capability is what a factory can make. Capacity is how much of it they can make at once, and the two are separate questions. A factory with strong capability and thin capacity will accept a programme and then schedule it around other customers.
Ask about the schedule explicitly, including when sampling would happen relative to production. Sampling and production compete for the same people, and a factory that plans for both is a different proposition from one that does not.
Red flags that are worth taking seriously
- A price that is far below every other quotation without a stated reason
- No written configuration with the sample
- Reluctance to name which stages are subcontracted
- Promises about certification rather than a test plan
- Answers that change between contacts
None of these are proof of a problem on their own. Each of them, however, is a question that has not been answered — and unanswered questions are what a first order is made of.
Related reading
Where to go next.
Pages that go deeper on what this guide covers.
Quality & compliance
What is inspected, when, and what documentation comes with a batch.
Factory & capability
What happens in-house and what is coordinated with partners.
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