Sourcing Agents
What agents do, what they cost, and how to pick an honest one.
A sourcing agent is someone in China who finds factories, negotiates in Mandarin, checks quality and gets your goods shipped — for a fee that is either published and transparent, or hidden in your unit price. Both kinds exist, they look identical from a website, and the difference is worth more than the fee itself.
We are a sourcing company, so read everything in this section with that in mind — including the honest round-up where we compare ourselves against well-known competitors, weaknesses included. The useful filter isn't who wrote the list; it's whether an agent can answer three questions on the spot: what's your commission, show me a real inspection report, and can we video-call your warehouse this week.
The questions this section answers
- ?What is a China sourcing agent and what does it do?
- ?Do I need a sourcing agent to buy from China?
- ?How much does a sourcing agent charge — fees or percentage?
- ?Is the agent fee negotiable?
- ?Do agents charge both suppliers and buyers?
- ?Can sourcing agents get kickbacks from factories?
- ?Sourcing agent vs trading company vs freight forwarder — what is the difference?
- ?Alibaba or a sourcing agent — which is better?
- ?How do I avoid sourcing agent scams?
Guides in this section (2)
How to Choose a Reliable China Sourcing Agent: 10 Red Flags
Most sourcing agents are honest. A few are not — and they're good at looking honest. The 10 red flags buyers report most, plus the questions that filter them out.
Read →Top China Sourcing Agents in 2026: An Honest Round-Up
A working comparison of well-known China sourcing agents in 2026 — including us, stated openly — plus how to read every other 'top 10' list with the right amount of suspicion.
Read →