How it works

From brief to shipment, in seven steps

This is the whole process, including the parts that can go wrong. If you want to know what you are paying for, when you pay it, and who is holding the risk at each stage, this page is the honest version.

The route at a glance

Seven steps, about one season

Four of the seven cost you nothing. One is where your money for goods leaves your account — that is the only step marked in red.

1 Brief 10 min · free
2 Shortlist & quote 2 days · free
3 Sample approved 7–15 days · at cost
4 Order placed you pay workshop
5 Production 3–8 weeks
6 Inspection 1–2 days
7 Export 3–5 days + transit

You send a brief

Craft type, quantity, target budget, destination country, and the date you need it. Reference images help but are not required. If you only know the use case — a museum shop range, a hotel amenity, a seasonal gift — say that instead.

You do — one message, no forms to fill in. Time — 10 minutes. Cost — nothing.

We shortlist workshops and quote

We come back with two to four workshops that actually make the thing by hand, with photographs we took ourselves, factory-gate quotations, lead times, and our read on which of them is worth your money. If the brief is not viable at your budget, we say so here rather than three weeks later.

We do — workshop search, first contact, photography, quotation translation. Time — 2 business days. Cost — nothing. The first round of options is free.

You approve a sample

Before any bulk order, you see and hold a physical sample. This is the step most buyers skip when they buy direct, and it is the step where most disputes are actually decided. We tell you what is wrong with the sample before you sign it off — uneven carving, a glaze that does not match the reference, a lid that does not seat.

We do — sample coordination, photographs and video, a written note on defects. Time — 7 to 15 days depending on the craft. Cost — sample and courier at cost, with the receipt.

You order and pay the workshop directly

The purchase is a contract between you and the workshop. You pay them, not us. We negotiate the terms, check the specification matches the approved sample, and put the inspection standard in writing before production starts.

You do — pay the workshop directly. We do — terms, specification, inspection checklist. Cost — goods only. Your money for goods never passes through our account.

Production, with progress reports

We visit during the run rather than only at the end. You get photographs at agreed milestones, and you hear about a problem while there is still time to fix it — not in the inspection report when the goods are already boxed.

We do — workshop visits, milestone photographs, written progress notes. Time — 3 to 8 weeks, craft dependent. Cost — included in the fee.

Pre-shipment inspection

A written inspection against the checklist you approved: quantity, dimensions, weight, colour match to the sample, finish, hardware, and packing. Defects are photographed and quantified, not described as "minor". Anything that fails is replaced or credited before the goods leave the workshop.

We do — physical inspection, photographic report, defect count, replacement follow-up. Time — 1 to 2 days. Cost — included in the fee. Third-party laboratory testing is quoted separately.

Consolidation and export

Goods from several workshops are received, checked and re-packed at one point in Nanjing, then handed to your forwarder as a single shipment with one set of documents. If you already have a forwarder we work with them; if you do not, we introduce two and you choose.

We do — receiving, re-packing, document preparation, forwarder coordination. Time — 3 to 5 days, plus transit. Cost — consolidation and domestic freight at cost; international freight and duties on your account.

Our fee. Flat 10% of goods value, with a US$300 minimum on orders below US$3,000. Agreed in writing before sourcing begins and invoiced separately from the goods. Orders with more than three distinct SKUs are quoted at US$80 per additional SKU; custom artwork, packaging development, laboratory testing and on-site factory audits are quoted separately.

Where the money goes

Five separate payments, and none of them hide inside the price

Most sourcing disputes are really payment disputes. This is every payment in an order, who receives it, and when it falls due.

What you pay for	Who receives it	When
Goods	The workshop, directly	On order confirmation, per their terms
Our service fee	CnCraftAgent	Invoiced separately, on order confirmation
Samples and courier	At cost, receipts supplied	On dispatch
Domestic freight and consolidation	At cost, receipts supplied	On shipment
International freight and duties	Your forwarder, or at cost	On booking and on import

What an order looks like

A worked example, not a client case

We are a new company and we are not going to publish case studies for orders that have not happened. What follows is a worked example: a realistic order, walked through step by step, so you can see the shape of the thing.

Worked example · illustrative, not a past order

500 carved lacquer boxes for a museum shop

A museum shop wants a small carved lacquer box as a mid-price gift, packed in a printed presentation box, delivered to Rotterdam for a spring opening. The figures below are chosen to show how the cost structure works. They are not a quotation and they are not a past order.

Brief: 500 pieces, 12 cm, carved lid, printed presentation box, delivered in 14 weeks.
Shortlist: Three workshops: two in Yangzhou, one in Huangshan. Two can carve; one only presses and would not survive a loupe.
Sample: Round one rejected — the carving on the lid edge was shallow and inconsistent. Round two approved at week four.
Order: Paid by the client directly to the workshop. We never hold the goods money.
Production: Six weeks, with two progress reports. The third report flagged a lacquer blistering issue on one batch.
Inspection: Eleven units rejected for blistering and replaced before packing. Written report with photographs and a defect count.
Consolidation: Combined with a paper-cutting order from a second workshop so the client paid for one shipment, not two.
Shipment: Ningbo to Rotterdam by sea, 31 days transit, documents issued in the client's name.
What went wrong: The presentation-box supplier quietly changed board weight mid-run. Caught at inspection, not at the port — which is the entire point of inspecting.
Where the money went: Goods to the workshop, fee to us, samples and freight at cost with receipts. Five payments, no hidden margin.

When we have real cases, they will go here. A real case study needs a client who agrees to be named, real photographs of the goods, and real numbers. Until then, a worked example is the honest substitute — and it still tells you more about how we work than a logo wall would.

Send a brief and see step two

You do not have to commit to anything to get the first round of options. Describe what you are trying to source and we will tell you what is realistic.

Send a sourcing request