For buyers in the UK · Europe · US · Australia · Canada · the Gulf

Source in Asia. Move with clarity.

If you source from Asia, you know the pattern. The factory quote looks good. Then sampling, inspections, delays, customs holds and duty surprises eat the margin. MAX.INC puts someone on the factory floor who answers to you, not to the supplier: a verified maker, an open-book landed cost, and a clear go or no-go before any money moves.

Start with a Verdict See a sample Verdict How it works For importers and product brands with a real order in front of them.

How it starts: one question, one Verdict

A Verdict is me checking the factory, supplier, product or market in person and giving you a written answer: what I found, the landed-cost picture with duty confirmed by a licensed customs broker, the risks, and a clear go or no-go. It is a fixed price, agreed before the work begins, and the fee is credited if you go on to a managed order.

01 · Name the question

One decision, written down

Is this supplier real? What will this product cost landed? Who should I be talking to in this market? You bring the one decision in front of you.

02 · Get a grounded answer

Checked on the floor, not on a call

I walk the lines, meet the owner, open a finished unit, check the paperwork and the certificates, and run the landed number in the open.

03 · Keep the work moving

From deposit to the container doors

If you proceed, I negotiate, track production and inspect the goods before they ship. You get the photos and the signed packing list. For market entry, I open the doors and stay on the ground.

The four promises I make

Most Asian sourcing still runs on hope and a middleman's margin. This is how I work instead.

No hidden supplier commissions

You see the factory invoice. My fee is a separate, named line in your landed cost, never hidden inside the supplier's price.

Open-book landed costs

You know the full number before any money moves. No surprises at the port. No guessing at duty.

Duty confirmed by a licensed customs broker

Not an estimate. A licensed professional who can lodge your import declaration tells you what you owe, and that broker is never paid by me.

Only factories I have checked

I recommend only the makers I have visited and verified on the ground.

I live in Shenzhen so you have someone on the ground

I am a Kenyan entrepreneur and I work from Shenzhen, China, with Hong Kong and the rest of Asia within reach. I have spent years inside factories, trade fairs and supplier negotiations across China, and I learned the cost of a bad supplier with my own money, sourcing for my own businesses, before I ever checked one for a client. When you ask for a Verdict, I go to the plant myself, run the landed number with the full picture in front of me, and give you a straight go or no-go. You can watch a live video tour of the floor while I am on it.

Maxwell Mukaria · Founder, MAX.INC

Shenzhenhome base, in the middle of the factory belt

China · Hong Kong · Asiafactories, fairs and partners within reach

Open bookevery landed cost shown line by line, my fee included

What a Verdict looks like

A worked example. The client, the factory and every number are fictional and illustrative. A real Verdict carries real figures, and the duty line is always the customs broker's, never mine.

Sample · fictional UK home and kitchen brand

The question. "Our factory in Yongkang quoted a unit price for 8,000 insulated steel water bottles. Is this the right factory for our first container, and what will each bottle actually cost us landed in Manchester?"

The short answer. Go, with two conditions. The factory is real, it is the maker and not a trading house, and it already ships to two European brands. But the quote leaves out the food-contact test report you need to sell in the UK, and the landed number is 1.4 times the card price before VAT reclaim, not the 1.2 your plan assumed. And the bottle must be declared on the right tariff line: an insulated vacuum bottle and a plain steel bottle sit on different lines with different duty. Fix the report and the classification before you pay a deposit.

Per unit, as a share of the factory's quoted price (quote = 100)	Index
Factory price, FOB Ningbo	100
Food-contact test report, spread over 8,000 units	2
Sea freight, one 40ft high cube	7
Insurance	1
UK import duty (illustrative rate; broker to confirm the tariff line)	6
VAT at import, on value plus duty and transport (reclaimable if VAT registered)	23
Port, clearance and haulage to Manchester	3
Breakage and returns allowance, 2%	2
Landed in Manchester	144

The three risks that matter. The test report they showed is for a different lid, so a matching report comes before any deposit. The export declaration must name the right tariff line, so the broker signs it off before the factory prints paperwork. At 8,000 units you are a small customer for them, so get a written production slot with a date and push the 40% deposit back to 30%.

Recommendation. Proceed on the two conditions. If the report cannot be produced within three weeks, walk away; there are two alternative makers in the same city to check.

Start with a Verdict

Tell me the one question you want answered. I reply within one working day by email with whether it is a question I can answer. A Verdict is USD 750, credited in full if you go on to a managed order.

Received, thank you.

Maxwell will reply within one working day at the email you gave. If you would rather write directly: info@maxwellmukaria.com.