Once your selection is final, an order placed through FBM Sourcing moves through eight steps, and each one ends with a document or a decision that belongs to you: a proforma invoice, a deposit, drawings you sign off for custom items, a quality-control report, an updated invoice with shipping costs, a container loading report, customs clearance and delivery (yours unless DDP is quoted), and after-sales.
This article walks through those steps in the order they happen when you buy through a China sourcing agency, using the FBM Sourcing client guide as its source. The guide describes all dates as estimates, and where the guide and the proforma invoice for your order differ, the proforma invoice applies.
The Eight Steps After Your Selection Is Final
Before these steps, FBM Sourcing sources and quotes for you, or guides you to suitable factories or markets to choose products. The sequence below starts when the selection is final.
| Step | What happens | Your part |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Proforma invoice | FBM Sourcing issues a proforma invoice (PI) with full product details, prices, deposit, warranty period, Incoterm and estimated dates. | Check it against your BOQ |
| 2. Deposit | The deposit stated in the PI is paid to FBM Sourcing. For custom items, the factory’s shop drawings come after the deposit. | Pay the deposit stated in the PI |
| 3. Drawings and approval | For custom products such as cabinets, aluminium doors and windows, railings and custom furniture, the factory prepares 2D drawings (3D as well for millwork) and a detailed material list. Non-custom products have no drawing stage. | Review and sign off; changes go back and forth until you do |
| 4. Production follow-up and quality control | FBM Sourcing follows up on production. After bulk production is complete and before shipment, our own QC team checks quantities, dimensions, finish, hardware and packing against the signed-off specification. Items that fall short go back for rework and re-inspection until all goods pass. | Read the QC report with photos and video; your project team is welcome to attend the inspection |
| 5. Updated PI and balance | FBM Sourcing issues an updated PI that includes shipping costs. The remaining balance is paid before shipment is arranged. | Pay the balance |
| 6. Shipping | FBM Sourcing arranges container loading and shipment to your destination port, and provides a detailed container loading report. | Use the loading report to plan unloading |
| 7. Customs and delivery | Customs clearance and inland transportation at the destination are handled by you, unless DDP is quoted. FBM Sourcing provides the shipping documents. | Clear customs and arrange delivery |
| 8. After-sales | Products FBM Sourcing sources for you carry the warranty period stated in the PI. Within warranty, FBM Sourcing replaces the product free of charge or compensates you, and you deal with FBM Sourcing, not the manufacturer. | Report any transit damage within 3 working days of arrival, with photos or video |
Sea freight is quoted to you before shipment and appears in the updated PI. For the overall shape of a full-service package, see what a full-service China sourcing package includes; for how a project runs without a factory trip, see sourcing from China without travelling there.
What the Proforma Invoice Settles Before the Deposit
The PI is the order document, so it is worth reading line by line before the deposit moves. According to the client guide it states the full product details, prices, deposit, warranty period, Incoterm and estimated dates, and it carries the container plan. All quotations, invoices and shipping documents are issued by FBM Sourcing, and your purchase order is placed with FBM Sourcing, not with each manufacturer.
Four things are worth checking against your BOQ or finish schedule before you confirm:
- Product details: each line should match the item, specification, materials and finish you asked for. Quotations are priced like-for-like against your specification, and any substitution is flagged on the line.
- Price term: quotations are EXW as standard, C&F on request, and DDP for certain markets such as the United States. EXW is the price of the goods in China before sea freight and delivery; C&F includes sea freight to your destination port; DDP includes delivery to your site with import duties paid.
- Warranty period: it is stated on the PI and varies by category.
- Container plan and dates: the PI carries the container plan, and the guide describes all dates as estimates.
FBM Sourcing does not change bank details by e-mail. If you receive such a message, video-call us before sending anything.
Sourcing this for a commercial project?
FBM Sourcing manages the entire China procurement package for overseas construction projects. We work with Developers · General Contractors · Builders · Commercial Project Owners · Interior Design & Construction Companies · FF&E Solution Providers. Send your BOQ, drawings or product schedule for review.
Custom and Non-Custom Orders Differ at One Step
The drawing stage is where custom and non-custom orders part. For custom products, the factory makes drawings and a detailed material list, and these go back and forth with you until you sign off, before production starts. Non-custom products skip that stage and go from deposit to production.
For custom orders, every detail is confirmed at the drawing, ordering, quality-control and loading stages, and all of it is recorded and can be checked. How the shop drawing approval cycle works covers what is exchanged and signed.
Quality Control, the Balance and Shipping: the Order of Events
In the guide’s sequence, the QC report with photos and video reaches you before the balance is due, and the loading report follows. FBM Sourcing’s own QC team inspects once, after bulk production is complete and before shipment, against the specification you signed off. That covers quantities, dimensions, finish, hardware, including markings on branded hardware, and packing. Your project team is welcome to attend the inspection with us.
After the balance, FBM Sourcing arranges container loading, sea freight and the documents, normally with its own forwarder, and sends a loading report so unloading is easy. If you must nominate a forwarder, FBM Sourcing books with it and loads and ships as usual. See what a container loading report should show and which shipping and customs documents come with a China project order.
After the Container Leaves: Customs, Delivery and After-Sales
Customs clearance and inland delivery at the destination are handled by you, unless DDP is quoted. After-sales depends on which of the two ways you work with FBM Sourcing.
For products FBM Sourcing sources for you, the warranty period is stated in the PI. Within it, FBM Sourcing replaces a product with a quality problem free of charge or compensates you; the replacement is supplied ex-works China and you pay the freight. For transit damage, send photos or video within 3 working days of arrival so a claim can be raised with the carrier, insurer or factory, and FBM Sourcing handles the claim with you. See what happens if FF&E arrives damaged.
For suppliers you nominate, FBM Sourcing does not provide after-sales support: claims fall under the supplier’s own warranty, and FBM Sourcing can help you coordinate. In both ways, communication with the factory during the order runs through FBM Sourcing.
Questions About the Order After You Accept a Quotation
Do I deal with the factory once I accept the quotation?
No. Quotations, invoices and shipping documents are issued by FBM Sourcing, your purchase order is placed with FBM Sourcing, and during the order communication with the factory runs through FBM Sourcing. For suppliers you nominate, the supplier relationship stays yours, but communication during the order still runs through us.
When do shop drawings start on a custom order?
For custom products, the factory’s shop drawings come after the deposit and go back and forth with you until you sign off, before production starts. Non-custom products have no drawing stage.
Do I see the inspection result before I pay the balance?
Yes. In the order of events set out in the client guide, the QC report with photos and video reaches you before the balance is due, and the container loading report follows. Your project team is also welcome to attend the inspection.
What if the goods arrive damaged?
Send photos or video within 3 working days of arrival so a claim can be raised with the carrier, insurer or factory. For products FBM Sourcing sources for you, FBM Sourcing handles the claim with you, and a quality problem within the warranty period is replaced free of charge or compensated.
How does FBM Sourcing charge for this?
For suppliers you nominate, we charge a 5% commission; for products we source for you, we quote a direct price. Sea freight is quoted to you before shipment. Our own team performs one inspection after bulk production is complete and before shipment, and the client’s project team is welcome to attend.
FBM Sourcing manages the entire China procurement package for overseas construction projects. We work with Developers · General Contractors · Builders · Commercial Project Owners · Interior Design & Construction Companies · FF&E Solution Providers.
