Sourcing Aluminum Furniture from China: MOQ, Mold Fees and Lead Times

Foshan’s Dali district has been China’s aluminum processing hub for decades — our factory has operated here since 2014 — and that concentration of suppliers is exactly why sourcing from this region rewards buyers who know what to verify. This guide covers the five commercial points importers negotiate most: factory verification, MOQ, mold fees, lead times and payment terms.

Verify the Factory Before You Negotiate Price

Price talks come after capability checks. Before committing volume, we recommend three verification steps:

• Audit the production site. Visit in person or request a live video walkthrough. Look for real capacity signals: running CNC lines, edge banding and welding equipment, panel stock, and a packing area with export crates. Our own plant covers 9,000㎡ and produces about 100,000 panels per month — a supplier should state numbers like these plainly.
• Ask for test reports. A serious factory tests what it sells. Request load-bearing, water immersion, formaldehyde and hardware life test reports for the product category you are buying.
• Order samples first. Samples expose quality faster than any audit. Our samples are ready within one week, and we respond to inquiries within 24 hours — response speed before the order predicts service speed after it.

MOQ: Lower Than Most Buyers Expect

High MOQ kills more first orders than price does. Full aluminum furniture has a natural advantage here: because production is cut-and-assemble rather than mold-bound, trial quantities stay small. Our terms:

We also consolidate products in one container — furniture plus panels, or several furniture categories — so a trial order can cover your full assortment instead of one SKU.

Mold Fees & Sampling: Ask About the Refund Policy

If you need a custom profile or a proprietary design, tooling is required, and tooling costs money. Ask every supplier two questions before you pay: what the mold costs, and whether any of your upfront fees come back.

Our policy: for first orders, the sampling fee is refunded — or credited as a special discount — once you confirm your bulk order. One useful fact for first-time buyers: many “custom” designs need no new mold at all. If your product can be built from standard profile sections and panel sizes, tooling cost is zero. A factory’s catalog of existing profiles is one reason experienced suppliers quote faster and cheaper.

Lead Times to Plan Around

Note the trigger on the last line: the 30-day clock starts at drawing confirmation, not at deposit. Approve shop drawings quickly and your project stays on schedule.

Payment Terms and Shipping Options

Our standard terms are a 50% T/T deposit with the balance paid before shipment. A deposit lets the factory secure raw aluminum and hardware for your order; the balance-before-shipment structure means you can appoint a third-party inspection or review our pre-assembly photos and QC records before releasing final payment. We quote EXW, FOB or CIF depending on how much logistics you want to control, and we support mixed-container loading to keep freight efficient for smaller buyers.

OEM and ODM With NDA Protection

We run OEM and ODM programs for overseas brands: your logo, your packaging, your exclusive designs. Because design ownership matters, we sign NDAs before development starts — your drawings and your market stay yours.

What Happens When Something Goes Wrong

Ask every supplier this before signing. Our answer: every order passes QC tests and a full pre-assembly inspection before packing, and any quality problem raised by a buyer is resolved within 7 days. Put that commitment in your purchase contract and hold us to it.

Send us your product list and target quantities — we reply within 24 hours with pricing, MOQ and a lead-time plan.