Quantity terms
Confirm the minimum order quantity for your order, and whether it applies per model, per shipment or per order. Ask what happens if the quantity changes after the order is placed, and whether the price changes with it. A quantity term that is not written down is not agreed. Get it in the supplier's reply, in writing, before payment.
Lead time
Confirm the lead time for your order, and what it includes: production, inspection, packing, or delivery to a port. A lead time that means different things to buyer and seller is a dispute waiting to happen. Ask what happens if the date slips, and what notice the seller gives. Neither this site nor any guide on it states a lead time, because none is evidenced.
Certificates
Confirm which certificates your market requires, name them in the inquiry, and ask for the documents before payment. A certificate claim without a document is not evidence. Certificates are available upon request on this site, and no certificate names are stated, because none are evidenced.
The checklist in short: quantity terms in writing, lead time with its meaning agreed, certificates named and documented — all before payment.
Common mistakes buyers make
The first mistake is treating a quantity term as agreed when it was only mentioned. A minimum order quantity that is not written down in the supplier's reply is not agreed, and it will be the first thing disputed when the order changes.
The second mistake is treating a lead time as a delivery date. A lead time can mean production time, or production plus inspection, or delivery to a port, and each meaning gives a different date. Agree what the lead time includes, in writing, before payment.
Questions to put in the inquiry
Ask for the quantity terms in writing: the minimum, whether it applies per model or per order, and what happens if the quantity changes. Ask for the lead time with its meaning agreed, and for notice if the date slips.
Ask, by name, which certificates your market requires, and for the documents before payment. A certificate claim without a document is not evidence.
How to check a supplier's answers
Check each answer against the question asked. A reply that answers a different question — a general lead time when a dated commitment was asked for — is not an answer, and it should be sent back for a direct reply.
Check figures against the specification sheet. A figure that appears in conversation but not on the sheet is not part of the product, and it will not survive a dispute.
What the paperwork should show
The paperwork should show the type on offer, the specification sheet, the quantity terms, the lead time with its meaning, the price basis, and the certificates with their documents. Anything missing from the paperwork is missing from the deal.
This site states no figures of its own for any of those items, because none are evidenced. The paperwork, not this guide, is where the figures live.
A buyer's walk-through
Imagine a buyer placing a first bulk order with a new supplier. The buyer writes one inquiry that names the type, the quantity, the market, and the three confirmations: quantity terms, lead time with its meaning, and certificates by name. The supplier replies with figures for each, and the buyer checks each figure against the specification sheet before paying.
That buyer also orders a small trial quantity first, to test the product and the supplier's reliability, before committing to the full order. The trial is the cheapest insurance in the whole process.
Edge cases buyers forget
A buyer who orders for two markets at once faces two sets of certificate and marking rules, and a single inquiry that names only one market will get an answer that covers only that market. Name every market in the inquiry, and ask for the answers per market, not as a single general statement.
A buyer who changes quantity after ordering faces a second problem: the quantity terms may change the price, the lead time, or both. Ask, before payment, what happens if the quantity changes, so a later change is a variation, not a dispute.
How this connects to the product lines
Each product line on this site has its own bulk inquiry page, because the questions differ by line: earphone inquiries ask about type and fit, speaker inquiries ask about space and protection, timer inquiries ask about setting and schedule, thermo-hygrometer inquiries ask about range and accuracy.
The checklist on this page is the same for all four lines, but the answers differ. A buyer who copies the same inquiry across lines without changing the questions will get answers that do not fit the line.
Timing: when to ask, and when to stop asking
Ask the three confirmations — quantity terms, lead time with its meaning, certificates by name — in the first inquiry, not after the order is placed. Questions asked after payment are requests, not terms, and a supplier is free to treat them that way.
Stop asking when every item has a written answer tied to the specification sheet. More questions after that point delay the order without improving it. The goal is a complete answer, not a long conversation.
Questions buyers forget to ask
Buyers forget to ask what happens if the goods fail inspection, who pays for return shipping, and what the remedy is: repair, replacement, or refund. Those answers belong in the paperwork before payment, not in a dispute afterwards.
Buyers also forget to ask about packaging: how the goods are packed for transit, and whether the packing survives the journey to their market. A product that arrives damaged is not a product delivered.
Why a trial order pays for itself
A trial order is a small quantity ordered before the bulk quantity, to test the product and the supplier together. It answers questions no specification sheet can: whether the product matches the sheet, whether the packing survives transit, and whether the supplier communicates clearly when something goes wrong.
A buyer who skips the trial saves a little time and risks the whole order. A buyer who runs a trial spends a little time and learns whether the bulk order is safe. The trial is the cheapest insurance in the whole process, and it should be part of every first order with a new supplier.
Keeping the paperwork
Keep the inquiry, the supplier's reply, the specification sheet and the certificates together, for the whole life of the product. When a later batch differs from the first, the paperwork is what proves what was agreed.
Keep the paperwork per order, not per supplier: terms change between orders, and a file that mixes orders together proves nothing about any single one. Good paperwork is boring, and it is what wins disputes.