Sourcing Fees & Pricing
My margin is my fee. Your savings are yours. You see the factory invoice and our service fee on every quote — no padding, no kickbacks, no hidden markups.
The short version
Our service fee is 3–8% of your order value, with a $50 minimum. It's the only thing we earn. You see the factory price on every quote, and our fee separately. We don't mark up factory prices, we don't take rebates from factories, and we don't pad shipping or testing.
Compare this to alternatives: trading companies typically add 15–30% hidden markup to the factory price. "Free" sourcing agents on Alibaba often take 5–10% kickbacks from the factory — which means the factory raises its price to pay them, and you pay more.
Our team has run sourcing since 2015. Our repeat clients stay because the math works: we find them better factories, negotiate better pricing, and the only thing we earn is a transparent fee they can see.
A transparent fee is only useful if you actually want to see the numbers. Here's the honest split.
For you
Not for you
Seven things the fee pays for — from supplier shortlisting to reordering.
3–5 factories matched to your product and MOQ.
We push the factory price down on your behalf.
Ordering, shipping and comparison of samples.
Pre-production, bulk sample, AQL 2.5 final inspection.
Weekly updates, photo progress, issue resolution.
Warehouse receiving, FBA prep, DDP coordination.
Renegotiating pricing on every repeat batch.
Six outputs that make the fee checkable.
Factory price + our fee, clearly separated.
Product + packaging + freight + testing + labor.
You can verify the factory price.
Testing, freight and mold costs at cost.
About 10% lower landed cost per batch, renegotiated.
Fee structure agreed before you commit.
Where the money actually goes.
| Milebond | Trading Company | "Free" Alibaba Agent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our earnings | 3–8% fee, visible to you | 15–30% hidden markup | 5–10% factory kickback |
| Factory price visibility | You see it | You don't | Factory raises price to pay agent |
| Testing & freight | At cost, no markup | Marked up | Marked up |
| Conflict of interest | None — we work for you | Aligned with trading margin | Aligned with factory, not you |
| Long-term pricing | We renegotiate down | Fixed or inflated | Unknown |
3–8%
minimum $50 per order
Orders under $2,000: 8% — small orders need more hand-holding on sampling, QC and communication.
Orders $2,000–$10,000: 5–6% — standard sourcing with 3-stage QC.
Orders over $10,000: 3% — economies of scale apply.
Minimum $50 per order (applies to orders under about $625).
Testing fees, freight, mold costs and sample courier charges are passed through at cost — we don't mark them up.
What buyers ask before signing anything.
3–8% of order value, minimum $50. Under $2,000 sits at 8%, $2,000–$10,000 at 5–6%, over $10,000 at 3%. You see the factory price and our fee separately on every quote.
Trading companies buy from the factory at one price and sell to you at a marked-up price — typically 15–30%. You never see the real factory price. We show you the factory price and add our transparent fee on top.
They don't work for free. They take kickbacks (rebates) from the factory — typically 5–10% of the order value. The factory raises its price to pay this kickback, so you pay more. Our fee is transparent and separate.
No. Third-party lab testing and freight are passed through at cost. We share the lab invoice and carrier quote. We don't earn margin on those.
Mold costs are quoted by the tooling shop and passed through at cost. We don't mark them up. Mold ownership is written into your contract.
Because on reorders, we renegotiate pricing. Clients typically see about 10% lower landed cost per batch — and our fee is the same transparent percentage. We earn your repeat business by saving you money, not by hiding it.
The fee covers the work behind these three services.
Tell us what you need. We'll come back within 24 hours with a clear plan.
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