What Does a Sourcing Agent Do? Duties, Fees and How to Choose One

A sourcing agent is a person or company that helps you buy products from suppliers in another country. In China, a sourcing agent usually finds and checks suppliers, compares quotes, follows samples and production, and arranges inspections and shipping. The agent works on your side of the deal. You still approve the supplier, the product and every payment.

This guide explains what a sourcing agent does, how agents charge, what they should not promise, and how to choose one. It is written for small and growing businesses buying from China, including product sourcing for online stores, shops and wholesalers.

Quick answer: what does a sourcing agent do?

A sourcing agent finds suppliers for your product, checks that they are real and able to make it, and gets comparable quotes. The agent then helps you approve a sample, follows the order through production, books inspections and coordinates shipping. A good agent tells you who the supplier is, shows you the original quotes and explains how it is paid.

The main jobs of a sourcing agent

The exact scope depends on the agent and the order. Most product sourcing agents in China cover some or all of these steps:

• Supplier search. Find manufacturers or trading companies that make your type of product, at your quantity.
• Supplier checks. Confirm the company details, the factory address and what the supplier really produces.
• Quote comparison. Send every supplier the same brief and compare full costs, not just the unit price.
• Samples. Collect samples, check them against your brief and record what you approve.
• Order follow-up. Track materials, production dates and changes, and tell you early about delays.
• Inspection booking. Arrange a third-party check of the goods before the final payment.
• Shipping coordination. Work with the supplier and your freight forwarder on packing, labels, documents and pickup.

Some agents also help with packaging, warehouse consolidation or factory visits. Ask which of these are included and which are extra.

What a sourcing agent should not promise

An honest agent is clear about its limits. Be careful if an agent promises any of these:

• That a product is guaranteed to pass your country’s safety rules without testing.
• That it owns a laboratory or can certify your product, when it only arranges tests.
• That a supplier is “verified” without showing what was checked and when.
• That you can skip the sample or the inspection because it “knows the factory.”

Inspections and lab tests are usually carried out by independent providers, who issue the reports. The agent can book them and help you read the results. You, as the importer, remain responsible for meeting the rules in your market.

Sourcing agent vs. trading company vs. freight forwarder

These roles are often mixed up, so it helps to separate them:

• Sourcing agent: works for you, finds and manages suppliers, and should be paid by you.
• Trading company: buys from factories and sells to you at its own price. You may not know the factory or its margin.
• Freight forwarder: moves the goods and handles transport documents. It does not usually choose suppliers or check quality.
• Inspection company: checks goods or factories against a defined standard and issues a report.

A trading company is not a bad choice for every order. The key question is who you are paying, and for what.

How sourcing agents charge

Agents use a few common pricing models. Each one has trade-offs:

• Percentage of order value. The fee grows with the order. Ask exactly which costs the percentage applies to.
• Fixed fee per order or project. Easy to budget. Check what happens if the scope grows.
• Hourly or monthly retainer. Common for ongoing or complex work.
• Supplier commission. The supplier pays the agent, often inside the unit price. This can look “free” to you, but it gives the agent a reason to favour certain suppliers.

As an example, JFScope charges US$100 for a standard order with product value up to US$3,500. Above that, the fee is 3% of the full product value. Complex projects get an agreed rate or fixed fee. Products, samples, third-party inspections, freight and taxes are paid separately. The pricing page explains what is included.

Whatever model you choose, ask for the scope and the extra costs in writing before work starts. Also ask: “Do you receive any payment from suppliers?” A clear answer is a good sign.

Real cases: when a sourcing agent works against the buyer

Most agents do honest work. A Made-in-China.com account manager writes on Zhihu (in Chinese) that some agents hint to factories that they want money, but that most simply earn the commission their buyer pays. The bad cases are still worth knowing, because they show what to check.

Law firm Harris Sliwoski says its lawyers uncover at least five to ten cases of agent deception each year. In one, a US home goods company overpaid US$2.4 million over three years to an agent posing as a factory. The firm says these are real cases, with details changed just enough to protect the parties. Four of them show the main risks:

• A 5% commission that was not 5%. A European electronics company’s agent claimed a 5% commission. It was secretly raising product prices by 35% and taking another 10% to 15% from the factories. The company found out only when an internal invoice was forwarded to it by mistake.
• An order held because the agent had not paid. A US retailer’s Christmas lights arrived in November instead of May, because its agent owed the factory money and the factory held the goods. The retailer paid the factory directly to release them, in effect paying twice. It also learned that the factory’s prices were nearly 50% below what the agent had charged.
• A buyer sued by its own agent. A European company rejected defective shoes and held back payment. The agent sued, relying on a contract clause that required payment regardless of quality. The buyer had no contract with the factory and settled for about 80% of the invoice.
• A design patented by the agent. A US sporting goods company’s “manufacturer” turned out to be an agent, who patented the company’s design and began selling on its own. The result was six lawsuits in three jurisdictions.

Chinese sources show the same patterns from the supplier’s side. In a 2023 Zhihu post (in Chinese), an exporter describes a buyer’s purchasing agent who added US$4,000 to a freight estimate. When freight later fell by US$3,000, the agent did not tell the buyer, and kept more than US$7,000 of the difference. The exporter paid it back privately, and the quotes went out in the exporter’s name, so the end buyer never saw the markup. This is one person’s account and we cannot verify it independently.

Money from suppliers can also distort buying inside large companies. A Southern Metropolis Daily report on a court judgment (in Chinese) describes two purchasing managers at drone maker DJI, one of whom had just left, who asked a supplier for 5% of its sales to the company. Monthly purchases from that supplier rose from about RMB 215,000 to about RMB 3.65 million. Both were convicted of taking bribes. They were employees, not outside agents, but the risk is the same.

A middleman’s failure can also reach the factories behind it. In January 2026, Chinese trade writers reported (in Chinese) that a trading company in Yiwu had gone silent after ordering on credit, with nearly 100 suppliers and 23 containers worth over RMB 10 million involved. These are reports from an open case rather than court findings. They are a reminder that a middleman who collects money does not always pay the people making the goods.

These cases point to a few simple protections:

• Ask to see the factory’s own quote or invoice, and ask the agent in writing whether it receives money from suppliers.
• Ask for proof that the factory has been paid, or pay the factory directly.
• Read the contract for clauses that require payment regardless of quality, and make sure you have a way to claim against whoever makes the goods.
• Keep designs and trademarks in your own name before you share them.

How to choose a sourcing agent

Ask these questions before you sign up. Good agents answer them without hesitation.

1. Who will I work with? Get the name of the person who will handle your order, and the company’s legal name and address.
2. Will I see the supplier details and original quotes? Transparency protects you if you later change agents.
3. How are you paid, and by whom? Get the fee model and the costs that are not included in writing.
4. How do you check suppliers? Ask what evidence you will receive, such as company documents, photos or a third-party audit report. See our factory verification service for one approach.
5. Who carries out inspections? Ask whether an independent provider does them and whether you receive the full report. Our inspection coordination page explains how this works.
6. How do payments work? Find out whether you pay suppliers directly or through the agent, get invoices for every payment, and ask for proof that the factory has been paid.
7. Who owns my designs? Confirm in writing that designs, molds and trademarks stay in your name.
8. How do you handle problems? Ask what happens if the goods fail an inspection or the supplier is late.

When you need a sourcing agent, and when you may not

You may not need an agent for a small, simple order of a standard product from a supplier you already trust. Many buyers handle these on their own, using the steps in our guide on how to avoid Alibaba scams.

A sourcing agent is most useful when:

• You cannot visit China, or you need someone close to the suppliers.
• The product is custom, has several parts or needs packaging work.
• You are buying from several suppliers and want to consolidate the goods into one shipment.
• The order is large enough that a quality problem or delay would be costly.
• You want help comparing quotes. Our guide on comparing supplier quotes shows why the lowest price is not always the cheapest.

Notes for buyers in the US, UK and Australia

An agent in China can coordinate the supplier side of your order, but it does not replace your own duties as the importer. You are still responsible for import duty, taxes and product rules in your country. Our guide on how to import from China shows where to check duty rates.

Time zones also matter. China is several hours ahead of the UK and well ahead of the US, while Australia’s east coast is only a few hours ahead of China. Agree how and when updates will arrive, and who can approve decisions quickly.

Before you hire a sourcing agent

• You know the name of your contact and the company’s legal details.
• The fee model, the scope and the extra costs are in writing.
• The agent has said whether it receives any payment from suppliers.
• You will see supplier details, original quotes and full inspection reports.
• You know how payments to suppliers will be made and recorded.
• You can see the factory’s own quote and proof that it has been paid.
• Your designs and trademarks are in your own name.
• You keep final approval of the supplier, the sample and each payment.

JFScope is a sourcing agent based in Yiwu, Zhejiang. We help buyers find and check suppliers, compare quotes, follow orders and coordinate inspections and shipping. Appointed third-party providers carry out inspections and lab tests and issue the reports. You can read more about our services or who you will work with.