From the operations desk
With the factories shut, the target was the one thing a seller could still move
Friday fell inside China's National Day holiday. Factories and sourcing were off, and quotes that needed a factory answer were queued for the reopening round. What a seller could still change that day was the number that round would aim at.
What the target has to cover
A baby-electronics seller with no orders yet wrote his limits down before any quote: a maximum product cost (landed cost still to be worked out), a maximum delivery time to his customers, one destination, single-unit dropshipping, and no payment before a written comparison. Each point he added during the holiday went into the same written brief, so the reopening round can be one comparison against his numbers. Another seller had asked only for a very good price on a seasonal gift product; before the factory round he was asked for his maximum landed price per set, with price bands to pick from.
A quote covers one destination and one selling unit, so state the target the same way: per piece or per set, delivered to one country; landed cost sets out what goes into that figure.
A price objection after the quote costs another round
One seller, still testing a product before launch, called the quoted landed price unworkable once ad spend and his selling price were counted, and the recheck was queued for after the holiday. A lighting seller who found his quote high agreed a written recheck list for the reopening, from cost to packing to another factory. A first round can screen every item on that list against a number it already has. A third buyer named a budget only after a follow-up, days after the quote, at a little under two-thirds of it, and said the quote was beyond it.
Once a quote is in hand and too high, find the heavy line before asking for a discount; the target in the brief is the step before that.
A straight answer names the gap
An apparel seller already buying from a supplier put his target and his current shipped price in writing on his first day. The answer set the best figure against both: it missed his target and sat very close to what he already paid, so he was advised not to switch suppliers on price alone. That is a clean no, given with its reason.
Work out your maximum landed price before the factories reopen
Take your retail price, subtract ad cost per sale and the margin you need, and write down the maximum landed price per selling unit for one destination. Add the longest delivery time you will accept, and decide which matters more if the number is missed: speed or price.