China Sourcing for Hardware Startups
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Hardware startups source from China differently than established importers: tiny first runs, tight cash, and a design that's still changing. The path runs from factory discovery through DFM review to a pilot run, and the biggest early mistake is wiring a deposit to the first Alibaba supplier that answers. A startup's strongest asset is a clean schematic and BOM — that's what lets a factory quote accurately and what separates a real manufacturer from a trading company reselling someone else's board.
For a startup, sourcing means getting a manufacturable design and a verified supplier before scale, not just a low unit price. The common pitfall is optimizing for the cheapest quote on a 500-unit pilot, then discovering the factory can't hold quality or tooling when you reorder 5,000.
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FAQ
What MOQ can a hardware startup actually get?
It varies widely — some factories take a few hundred units for a pilot, others insist on thousands to cover tooling. A custom PCBA pilot of 100-500 units is often negotiable if you accept higher per-unit cost upfront.
How do startups avoid getting burned on the first order?
Verify the factory is a real manufacturer (business license, line audit), pay 30% deposit against a 70% balance on inspection, and run a small pilot before committing to production volume. Skipping any of these is where most first-time founders lose money.
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