Resources — Procurement guides
Checklists for sourcing pet toys
Five checklists covering the sequence of a sourcing project. They are written for buyers rather than suppliers: each one lists what to fix, what to ask for and what to confirm in writing, so a project does not depend on anyone remembering a conversation.
Guide 01
How to write an RFQ that gets a comparable quotation
An RFQ is not a request for a price. It is a request for a price against a specification, and if the specification is not in it, the number that comes back is an estimate wearing a price tag. Two suppliers quoting the same product at different prices are usually quoting two different products.
The test is simple: could a supplier who has never spoken to you build the product from what you sent, and would their version be the one you wanted? If any of the points on the right are missing, the answer is no.
RFQ checklist
Before you send- Product description. What the toy is, what it is made of if you know, and how the animal is expected to play with it.
- Dimensions and weight. Approximate for a first inquiry, exact where you have them. Size decides material consumption and filling.
- Construction details. Plush, squeaky, chew, rope or interactive, and any detail you cannot change: panel count, applied features, sound device count.
- Quantity. A first-order estimate and whether a reorder is planned. Both affect tooling and line setup.
- Packaging format. Polybag, backing board, hang tag, window box or colour box, with dimensions if it has to fit an existing fixture or parcel envelope.
- Labelling requirements. Language or languages, barcode type and position, warning statements and the text that has to appear on the pack.
- Destination country and channel. These decide the testing, the conformity route and the labelling, so they change the price.
- Delivery expectation. The date the goods need to be in your hands, and where, not just the date you would like them produced.
Guide 02
What a usable quotation has to state
A quotation that gives a unit price and nothing else cannot be evaluated, because there is nothing to compare it against and no way to tell what would change the number. These are the items that make a quote usable, and their absence is a signal in itself.
Read the quote against the list below rather than against the total. A cheaper price with an unstated minimum, an unnamed shipping term and no sampling date is not cheaper; it is undefined.
Quotation checklist
What should be in it- Price basis. Unit price and the shipping term it is quoted on: FOB, CIF or another arrangement, with the port named.
- Minimum order quantity. Stated for the specific line, since construction, colourways and packaging decide it.
- Sampling date. When the production sample will be ready, and what it costs if a sample charge applies.
- Bulk date. When production completes, counted from sample approval rather than from the inquiry.
- What is included. Packaging, labelling, testing and documentation should be named, because assumptions here become change orders later.
- Validity period. How long the price holds, which matters when material costs are moving.
- Compliance file set. Which certificates and test reports the order carries, and whether any additional testing is needed for the market.
- Payment terms. The schedule and method, stated rather than left to be agreed after the order.
Guide 03
Approving packaging at the same time as the sample
Packaging is where most retail programmes lose time, because it is treated as a step after the product rather than part of it. The product is approved, the packaging is designed against it, and then something is wrong: the barcode is in the wrong place, a warning statement is missing, the dimensions do not fit the fixture.
Correcting packaging after approval means a reprint, and a reprint means the delivery date moves. Approving the product and the packaging as one unit removes that entire category of delay, and costs nothing except sequencing.
Packaging approval checklist
Before signing- Dieline dimensions. Confirmed against the fixture, the shelf or the parcel envelope the product has to fit.
- Barcode. Type, value and position, checked for the specific channel, since some require a particular barcode format or placement.
- Warning and safety statements. Present, correct and in the required language for the destination market.
- Age grading. Applied consistently with the product and with the market's rules.
- Material and care statements. Accurate for the materials actually used, not carried over from a similar product.
- Country of origin and importer details. Where the market requires them, with the correct wording.
- Label versions. Each language variant approved as its own artwork rather than overprinted at packing.
- Carton marks. Product code, quantity per carton, weights and dimensions fixed at the same time.
Guide 04
Evaluating a pet toy supplier
Supplier evaluation usually focuses on capability and price. Both matter, but neither predicts what happens on the third order. What predicts it is whether the supplier documents what it produces, and whether the documentation is available to you rather than internal to them.
Ask for each item below in writing. A supplier who can produce them quickly is a supplier who works this way already; one who cannot is describing a process they intend to build for you.
Supplier evaluation checklist
Ask in writing- Certificates with scope and validity. Not a logo on a website: the document, its scope, its number and its expiry.
- Specification sheet format. A copy of the document that would accompany your sample, so you can see what gets recorded.
- Inspection process. Where inspection happens, what is checked at each point, and how the records are held against an order.
- Metal detection. Whether needle and metal detection is applied to every unit, and how it is recorded.
- Compliance sequencing. Whether the required file set is confirmed before sampling or discovered after production.
- Development capability. Whether the supplier can originate a design or only reproduce one, which decides whether ODM work is possible.
- Range coverage. How many of your categories one supplier can cover, since a second factory for one behaviour adds a second set of conventions.
- References. Buyers who will speak to you, and the project detail behind the case studies they publish.
Guide 05
Setting up a reorder that repeats exactly
A reorder is not a repeat order unless the specification is written down. Without it, the second run reinterprets the product: a fabric from a different dye lot, a slightly different fill weight, a sound device in a different position. None of those is a defect on its own, and together they are a different product from the one that sold.
Confirm the items below before a repeat order runs. Most take a few minutes and all of them are cheaper than discovering the difference after the goods arrive.
Reorder checklist
Before the repeat order- Specification sheet on file. The countersigned copy from the original order, available to both sides rather than remembered.
- Signed sample reference. Where the reference sample is held, and whether a fresh one needs to be issued for a new production period.
- Material continuity. Whether the same fabric, filling and trim are still available, since suppliers change and materials are discontinued.
- Colour approval. Confirmation against a physical standard under consistent light, not against a screen or a previous photograph.
- Packaging artwork version. The approved version, with any label or barcode changes made deliberately rather than inherited.
- Carton configuration. Quantity per carton and carton dimensions unchanged, or changed on purpose and recorded.
- Compliance file set. Re-confirmed for the destination market, since requirements and certificate validity change over time.
- Dates. Sampling and bulk dates restated, counted from approval rather than assumed from the last order.
Next steps
Sample, quote, catalogue or a direct message
Every route below reaches the team that would quote and run the order. There is no sales desk in between.
Request a sample
Samples are available on several lines. Send the construction, the size and the destination market, and we will confirm what can be sampled and when.
Request a quote
The quotation states the minimum order quantity, the sampling date and the compliance file set that applies to your line. Exact figures are named per line, never as a blanket number.
Request the catalogue
The product catalogue and the procurement guides are sent through the same request form, so that what you receive matches the range and the market you are buying for. There is no direct download link.
Message on WhatsApp
For a short question or a photograph of a reference product, WhatsApp reaches the same team. Messages outside China Standard Time are answered on the next working day.
Want these applied to your project?
Send your requirement and we will answer each checklist point for your product, your packaging and your destination market, in writing.