The Service
TinySourcing provides procurement services from Yiwu, China: supplier sourcing and verification, price and terms negotiation, sample management, order and production follow-up, pre-shipment quality inspection, consolidation, warehousing (30 days free per order) and logistics coordination.
We act as your procurement agent and project manager. We are not the manufacturer of the goods, not a party to the sale contract between you and your supplier, not the importer of record for your market, and not a carrier. The specific scope of each project — what we do, by when, for which fee — is confirmed in writing before work begins.
Quotes, Orders & Your Obligations
Quotes are time-limited
Supplier quotations reflect prices, exchange rates and material costs at the time they are issued and are typically valid for 7–30 days. We label the validity on every quote; after it lapses, prices must be re-confirmed.
Orders are placed only on your approval
No order is placed, no deposit sent and no booking made without your written approval of the specific plan, price and amount.
What we need from you
- Complete and accurate product specifications and compliance requirements before quoting
- Timely decisions at the milestones you approved — samples, production, shipment
- Payment of agreed milestones by the agreed dates; production timelines start from cleared funds
- Confirmation that you are legally allowed to import the goods into your market
Fees & Payment
Our remuneration
Our remuneration is the published tiered sourcing fee — 8% of order value under $5,000, falling to 3% above $100,000 — as set out on the pricing page and confirmed in your project agreement. The tier rate applies to the entire order value. No order, no fee.
Pass-through costs
Third-party costs — samples and sample shipping, freight, duties, lab testing, storage beyond 30 days, re-packing materials — are passed through at cost with their original invoices and receipts. We earn nothing on them, and we obtain your approval before each cost is incurred.
Invoicing and currency
Fees and approved pass-throughs are invoiced itemised at each project milestone. Unless agreed otherwise in writing, invoices are payable in USD within 7 days. Bank or transfer charges are borne by your account's agreement with your bank. Accepted methods: T/T bank transfer or Wise for project invoices; PayPal or Alipay for samples and small amounts.
No kickbacks
Our only income from your project is the sourcing fee. Any benefit, discount or commission offered to us by a supplier is disclosed to you and declined or credited to your order. This is a contractual obligation of every team member, not just a policy statement.
Quality & Inspection
Every order is inspected before shipment using AQL random sampling (2.5 major / 4.0 minor unless your project agreement states otherwise), against the approved golden sample and the written specification. You receive the report with photo and video evidence, and nothing ships without your approval of the report.
If an inspection fails, we stop the shipment and negotiate rework, discount or replacement with the factory while the goods are still under factory control. Quality disputes discovered after delivery are handled on a best-efforts basis with the supplier — another reason we hold the balance payment until after inspection wherever terms allow.
Inspection significantly reduces risk but cannot guarantee zero defects in any production run; AQL exists precisely because sampling is how professional procurement manages that reality.
Compliance — Who Is Responsible for What
You are responsible for the lawfulness of importing and selling the goods in your market: product safety and labelling rules, certification (CE, UKCA, FCC, FDA, Prop 65 and similar), customs declarations and duties, and any platform requirements (e.g. Amazon policies).
We coordinate and verify: we collect and check supplier documents, coordinate accredited lab testing, and flag compliance risks we can see — before you pay, not after. Where a requirement needs a licensed professional (legal advice, formal certification bodies, customs brokerage in your country), we will tell you plainly that it is outside our role.
You confirm that neither the products nor your requests violate any applicable law, including export controls and sanctions.
Warranties & Liability
No warranty on third-party goods
Goods are produced by third-party factories under your approved specifications. Product warranties are those you negotiate with the supplier; we negotiate them on your behalf and document them, but the warranty obligation sits with the manufacturer.
Our commitment
We deliver the services with professional care, documented evidence at every stage and honest reporting — including bad news. If we miss a deadline or fail to perform a contracted service, our liability for any claim connected to a project is limited to the sourcing fee paid for that project. We are not liable for the supplier's or carrier's own acts or omissions, for indirect or consequential losses (lost profits, lost sales), or for outcomes of decisions you made against our documented advice.
Force majeure
Neither party is liable for delays caused by events beyond reasonable control — natural disasters, epidemics, port closures, changes in law. We notify you within 2 working days, present a recovery plan and neither party is in breach for the duration.
Confidentiality and intellectual property
Your designs, artwork, molds and product ideas remain yours; we use them only to run your project and keep them confidential indefinitely. Molds and tooling paid for by you belong to you, and we will require the supplier to release them to you or your new agent on request. The same confidentiality binds us in both directions.
Term, Termination & Governing Law
Working together
There is no minimum term and no exclusivity — you may work with other agents at any time, and supplier relationships and documents are handed to you with your project file at any point, on request.
Termination
Either party may terminate a project with written notice. Fees for work already performed and approved third-party costs already incurred are due; everything else is refundable per our Refund Policy.
Disputes
We resolve problems the way we run projects: in writing, with evidence. Any dispute is first addressed by good-faith negotiation for 30 days from written notice. If that fails, disputes are finally resolved under the laws of the People's Republic of China, by arbitration seated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, conducted in Chinese and English. Nothing here prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive relief.
Changes and contact
We may update these terms; material changes are announced on this page with a new "last updated" date and notified to active clients by email. The project-level details always live in your Sourcing Agreement, which prevails over these general terms where the two differ. Questions: hello@tinysourcing.com.
Read Before You Commit
Terms questions answered before you sign anything — not after.