Most first orders go wrong for the same handful of reasons, and almost all of them are visible in the answers you get before you buy. These are the questions worth asking, and what a good answer sounds like.
1. What is the minimum order, and in what unit?
A minimum stated in cartons, pallets or baht value is a real answer. “Minimum orders apply” is not. You need the number to work out whether the supplier fits your cash cycle at all.
2. Can I mix flavours within the minimum?
This decides whether you can test a range or must gamble on one SKU. A supplier who insists on single-SKU minimums is fine for a proven seller and expensive for a new listing.
3. What is the lead time, and what drives it?
Ask what changes it. Stock position, order size, destination and carrier all move lead time, and a supplier who can explain which applies to you is a supplier who actually controls their own supply chain.
4. What happens when a flavour is out of stock?
The honest answer is that import supply fluctuates and sometimes a flavour is short. What matters is whether you are told before you commit to a purchase order or after. Ask directly.
5. What dating will I receive on delivery?
Shelf life on the pack is not the same as shelf life on arrival. Ask what remaining life you can expect, and what happens if a delivery arrives short-dated.
6. How is freight charged?
Per shipment, per pallet, by weight, by zone, or included above a threshold. Any of these is workable; not knowing which is not.
7. What are the payment terms for a first order?
Most suppliers ask new accounts to pay in advance and open terms later. That is normal. What you want to know is what the path to terms looks like.
8. Can you supply product documentation?
Ingredient and allergen data, nutritional information, barcodes, country of manufacture and certification. If you sell online, you need this before you can list at all.
9. Where does the product come from?
Direct from the manufacturer, through an authorised importer, or from a regional distributor. All are legitimate. A supplier who is vague about it is the problem, not the answer itself.
10. Who will I actually deal with?
A named person who knows your account is worth more than a support address. When stock is tight or a delivery is late, this is the question that turns out to have mattered.
Why we publish this
These questions are useful whether or not you buy from us. A buyer who asks all ten gets a better supplier — and a supplier who cannot answer them is telling you something.