Two agents quote you "5%". One is honest and one is not, and the difference is invisible on the quotation. Before comparing agents on price, it pays to understand how the price is built.
Model 1: hidden margin in the product price
The agent quotes you a unit price that already includes their margin, and presents themselves as "free". You never see the factory price. The incentive is to steer you to suppliers where the margin is easiest to hide, and to resist any request for factory contact. This is the most common model and the least transparent.
Model 2: commission on order value
You see the factory price and pay a percentage on top. Transparent about the number, but the incentive still points the wrong way: the agent earns more when you spend more, and earns nothing for negotiating the price down.
Model 3: transparent service fee
You see the factory price and pay a fee for the service — the search, comparison, audit, follow-up, inspection and consolidation work. The fee is tied to the work, not to how much you spend, so the agent's interest and yours point the same way: a good supplier at a fair price, delivered without problems. This is how Zhoukun Group works: one transparent service fee, no hidden product markups.
Questions that reveal the model
- "Can I see the factory's quotation and pay the factory directly?" — a hidden-margin agent will find reasons why not.
- "What do you charge if the order is small?" — a fair fee model has a clear answer; a margin model cannot answer without exposing itself.
- "If you negotiate the price down, does your fee go down too?" — under commission, yes, which is why they rarely try hard.
- "Which factory is it, and can I visit?" — transparency about the supplier is the whole point of paying for sourcing.
Comparing total cost
Compare agents on landed cost per unit including the fee, for the same specification and supplier standard — not on the headline percentage. A transparent fee on a well-negotiated factory price is frequently cheaper in total than a "free" agent whose margin is buried in the unit price, and it comes with the supplier's identity, the inspection report and the documentation in your name.