B2B China sourcing · A division of OTRO INNOVATIONS LLC (USA)
De-risk China sourcing without opening an office in Asia.
Trade OTRO is the buyer-side representative that importers and wholesalers keep on retainer. We find the factory, verify it, hold the price, inspect the goods and move the freight — while you keep commercial control of the order.
Engagement at a glance
- Supplier shortlist in 2–4 weeks: three to five vetted factories, not a directory dump.
- Every quote normalised to FOB, CIF and DDP so margins are comparable.
- Pre-shipment inspection on ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 sampling, with photo and video evidence.
- Weekly written status reports from purchase order to delivery.
Timelines depend on category and supplier readiness. Every estimate is confirmed in writing before billable work begins.
Why buyers lose margin
The distance between a factory and a purchase order
Most sourcing failures are not manufacturing failures. They are information failures: a supplier that was never verified, a price that was never decomposed, a container nobody inspected.
The supplier that looked good on paper
The quote that grew legs
The container nobody checked
Capabilities
Eight disciplines, one accountable partner
Each service can be bought on its own. Run them together and you have a procurement department in Asia — without the headcount, the entity or the expat package.
Product sourcing & supplier discovery
Factory audits & quality control
Negotiation & contracting
Sampling & prototyping
Logistics & freight forwarding
Incoterms, explained plainly
End-to-end order management
Compliance & documentation
Not sure which service you need? Send the product and target price — we will tell you what the assignment actually requires, including when the answer is “no engagement needed”.
Incoterms 2020
Who pays, and where risk moves
Incoterms decide two separate things: which costs each party carries, and the exact point at which risk transfers. Confusing the two is how importers discover, too late, that CIF does not transfer risk at the destination port.
| Incoterm | Seller pays | Buyer pays | Risk passes |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXW — Ex Works | Making the goods available at the factory. No loading obligation. | Loading, inland transport, export clearance, freight, insurance, import duty, final delivery. | At the factory, once goods are placed at the buyer’s disposal. |
| FOB — Free On Board | Inland carriage to the named origin port, export clearance and loading on board. | Main carriage, marine insurance, import clearance, duty and inland delivery. | Once goods are on board the vessel at the origin port. |
| CIF — Cost, Insurance & Freight | Export clearance, main carriage to the destination port and minimum-cover marine insurance. | Unloading, import clearance, duty, inland delivery and any cover beyond the minimum. | At the origin port, on board — the same point as FOB, despite the seller paying freight. |
| DDP — Delivered Duty Paid | Everything to the named place: export, freight, import clearance, duty, taxes and delivery. | Unloading at destination unless the contract says otherwise; any VAT recoverable in the buyer’s name. | At the named destination, ready for unloading. |
Our default advice: buy FOB when you want control of freight and a clean cost comparison. Use CIF when the supplier genuinely has better freight rates and you accept that risk still transfers in China. Use DDP only when the seller can evidence import compliance in your market — otherwise the duty is either under-declared or over-charged.
EXW is rarely the bargain it looks like: you inherit export clearance in China. For most first-time importers, FOB is the lower-risk starting point.
How we work
Seven steps from brief to delivery
A repeatable sequence with a decision gate at every stage. Nothing moves to the next step until the previous one is evidenced.
Discover
We start with a written brief: product specification, target landed cost, volume, certification needs and deadline. Ambiguity here is what costs money later.
Verify
Business licence, factory floor, machinery, capacity, export history, sub-contracting risk and references. Shortlisted suppliers are audited, not assumed.
Negotiate
Unit price broken into material, labour, tooling and packaging. MOQ, payment terms, lead time, warranty and penalties agreed in writing before any deposit.
Produce
Purchase order issued, deposit released against a verified account, production schedule confirmed and progress reported weekly with dated evidence.
Inspect
Pre-production sample sign-off, in-production checks and a pre-shipment inspection on AQL sampling. Defects trigger rework, replacement or renegotiation — not apologies.
Ship
Booking, consolidation, export clearance and documents. You receive the full set before the balance payment is authorised, with tracking to the named destination.
Support
Arrival checks, claim support, supplier scorecards and reorder planning. The relationship continues after the first container clears customs.
A gate at every step
Deposit released only after verification. Balance released only after inspection. Documents released before payment. Each gate is documented in writing.
Why us
Accountability that survives due diligence
A sourcing agent is only useful if you can hold them to something. Here is exactly what stands behind the work.
US-structured entity
Founder-led procurement
Mandarin-capable operations
No hidden commission
The no-hidden-commission model, in detail
Traditional agents are paid by the factory, which means their incentive is to place the order, not to place it well. We invert that. You pay us directly — project fee, retainer or a disclosed percentage of confirmed order value — and any commission, rebate or gift a supplier offers is either credited to your invoice or declined. Inspection and lab costs are billed at cost with the third-party receipt attached. If we cannot justify a line on the invoice, it does not belong there.
Categories
Where we have the deepest supplier networks
China’s manufacturing is organised by cluster: one town makes the lighting, another makes the casters. Knowing which cluster to search is most of the sourcing advantage.
Consumer electronics
Home & kitchen
Apparel & textiles
Furniture & fixtures
Packaging & printing
Industrial & hardware
Beauty & personal care
Outdoor, sports & pet
Category not listed? Most products move through the same verification and inspection process. Send the specification and we will confirm feasibility before quoting.
Engagement snapshots
What the work looks like when it lands
Representative engagement outlines from our sourcing and inspection practice. Client names and exact commercial figures are withheld; verified references are available under NDA where a client has consented.
Home & kitchen importer, European Union
Consumer electronics brand, United States
Apparel wholesaler, Australia
These are illustrative summaries of typical assignments, not paid endorsements. Outcome figures depend on category, volume and supplier behaviour.
FAQ
Questions serious buyers ask
Commercial answers, including the ones that are inconvenient.
How quickly can you find suitable suppliers?
A verified shortlist typically takes two to four weeks for established categories, longer where tooling or certification is involved. We confirm the timeline in writing after the brief and do not pad it to look fast.
How are your fees structured?
Three models: a fixed project fee for sourcing, audit or inspection assignments; a monthly retainer for ongoing order management; or a disclosed success fee on confirmed purchase-order value. Third-party costs — lab tests, travel, freight — pass through at cost with receipts. We take no undisclosed supplier commission, and any rebate a factory offers is credited to you.
Do you guarantee that the factory will perform?
No. We guarantee the quality of our work: verification, documented negotiation, contractual terms and inspection against an agreed standard. Supplier performance remains the supplier’s obligation, and we manage the claim when it falls short.
Can you work with a supplier we already use?
Yes. We audit the existing relationship, benchmark the pricing against the market and either confirm you are well served or show you the gap in writing. Many clients start with a single benchmark before expanding scope.
What order sizes do you support?
From trial orders and mixed-container consolidation to multi-container programmes. MOQ is set by the factory and by material minimums, so we negotiate trial quantities and MOQ breaks rather than pretending they do not exist.
Do you handle shipping and customs clearance?
We coordinate freight, documentation and customs brokers to the port or door you nominate. Duty and import compliance remain the importer’s responsibility unless we agree a DDP scope in writing.
Which languages do you work in?
English for all client communication and reporting, Mandarin for supplier negotiation, auditing and dispute resolution, and Bangla where the client base requires it.
Start here
Bring us the product, the target price and the deadline.
We will tell you within two working days whether the target is realistic, what verification is required, and what the engagement would cost.
Prefer email? Write to sourcing@otro.bd. Details shared with us are treated as confidential.