Case Study | When inquiry suppliers, why they always ask you about the quantity?

One of our Polish clients, Marta, asked us to help design, make samples, and purchase from China. We found a lot of problems when we inquired with Chinese suppliers. Share it with everyone here.

This is the picture we sent to the supplier during the inquiry. However, most suppliers ask us a question：what is the quantity?

It’s weird, we have marked “MOQ per color” on the picture, why did the supplier still ask about the quantity?

Shouldn’t the supplier directly tell us what his MOQ is when replying to us?

This is a problem for many Chinese suppliers

The supplier asks: How much do you want?

Buyer says: 100units

The supplier said: sorry, the quantity is too small

Buyer says: 200units

The supplier said: sorry, the quantity is still too small

Why doesn’t the supplier directly told the MOQ? This kind of communication efficiency is really too low.

In the face of this kind of supplier, we can make the following analysis:

1. You don’t want to serve me, otherwise I have written that please quote according to MOQ each color, why don’t you make an offer? (Directly eliminated)

2. It is possible that you have made similar products, but this product has not been made. You need to know my order quantity to determine whether it is worth making. (Keep the supplier for now, if we can’t find a better one, contact you again)

3. Inefficient work, high communication cost (Directly eliminated)

4. Novice, or unprofessional (I won’t let you use me as a test item, directly eliminated)

It stands to reason that when we received this purchase request, we saw the request on this picture, and we would never ask the customer repeatedly for the quantity.

Let’s take a look at what a professional offer should look like:

Hello, thank you for your inquiry. We have made this product, and the attachment is a photo of the product we have made. Molds are available, so MOQ can be around 200units. For 200units, the price is **, for 500 units, the price is **, FOB Shanghai. Of course, the wall thickness is optional, and we can discuss the details further.

This answer provided us with the information we wanted. For MOQ’s quotation, they informed us that they had made this product and had molds.

This is the difference between a professional supplier and an ordinary supplier. details make a difference.

In fact, for suppliers, the sequence of negotiation should be:

1. Background Check

2. Deliver value

3. Precise demand

However, most suppliers are doing the opposite and want to get precise demand right from the start.

This phenomenon is definitely not an exception, it is a common problem of Chinese suppliers.