How to Run a Sample Round That Actually Converts

Most sourcing projects that fail, fail in the sample round. Not because the product was
wrong, but because the round was run badly — a vague brief, feedback the supplier could not
act on, and then a third and fourth sample that everybody has lost patience for.

A well-run round gets to a signed sample in two iterations. Here is how.

Before you request anything

Decide what the sample is for. There are three different purposes and people
routinely conflate them:

• A capability sample — an existing product, sent so you can judge
  workmanship and materials. Cheap, fast, and the right first step with a new supplier. It
  tells you nothing about whether they can make your design.
• A development sample — your design, made for the first time. Slower,
  costs more, and will not be perfect. That is not a failure; that is what the round is for.
• A pre-production sample — the final approved article, made under
  production conditions, which becomes the reference for the whole order.

With a new supplier, run all three in that order. Skipping to a development sample means
you are judging their capability and your design at the same time, and you will not know
which one is at fault.

The brief

Send, in one document:

• Sketches or reference photographs, with what you like about each one marked
• All dimensions with tolerances and the measurement convention — see our
  specification
  guide
• Materials, with Pantone references for colour
• Construction requirements — attachment methods, lining, closures
• Your target landed cost and target quantity
• The intended end use and the load the bag must carry
• Your absolute deadline

That last pair matters more than buyers expect. A supplier who knows the bag will carry
market shopping specifies a different handle attachment from one who thinks it is a beach
accessory. A supplier who knows your target cost will propose a construction that hits it
instead of quoting something you cannot afford.

Withholding your budget to “get a better price” is a false economy in development work.
It produces samples in the wrong price bracket and wastes a round.

Evaluating what arrives

Do not evaluate a sample on a desk. Test it.

• Load it to the weight it will really carry and walk with it for a
  while. Handle attachment failures show up under load and nowhere else.
• Measure everything against your specification, using your stated
  convention, and record the actuals.
• Check the inside. Finishing quality on the interior tells you more
  about a workshop’s standards than the outside does, because it is the part nobody
  photographs.
• Look at the base corners and the rim edge. These are where wear
  starts.
• Photograph it in your own light, next to your other products. Colour
  that works in isolation can fail against your existing range.
• Give it to someone who was not involved and ask what they think it
  should cost. Cheap feedback, and often the most useful you will get.

Writing feedback a supplier can act on

This is where rounds are won or lost. Compare:

Weak: “The handle feels a bit short and the colour is off. Can you make it
better?”

Actionable: “Handle drop measures 21 cm; we need 25 cm. Colour reads warmer
than Pantone 7527C — please match to the enclosed swatch. Everything else approved.”

Rules that make feedback usable:

• One change per line, numbered.
• Measurements, not adjectives.
• Say explicitly what is approved, not only what is wrong. Otherwise a
  supplier may “improve” something you were happy with.
• Mark each change as must-have or nice-to-have. It lets us protect your deadline and
  your cost by dropping the nice-to-haves if they conflict.
• Annotate photographs. A circle on an image beats a paragraph.
• Send it all at once. Feedback arriving in three emails over a week produces a sample
  built to the first email.

How many rounds

Two is normal for a straightforward design. Three for something complex. If you are on
round four, stop and get on a call — something is being lost in translation and another
sample will not fix it.

Each round realistically costs two to three weeks including shipping. Build that into
your timeline honestly. The compression trick that actually works is sending a complete,
measured, prioritised brief the first time — not chasing the supplier.

Approval and sealing

When a sample is right, approve it formally in writing, and seal it. We retain one
sealed reference and send you an identical one, both labelled with the same reference and
date.

From that point the sealed sample governs. It resolves questions the specification never
anticipated, and it turns any future dispute into a comparison rather than an argument.

What we charge

Capability samples from the existing range are typically free; you pay shipping.
Development samples are charged, because they consume artisan time on a one-off article.
We credit that cost against a production order — so if the project goes ahead, the samples
effectively cost you nothing but time.

Be wary of suppliers offering free custom development samples with no commitment. Either
the cost is buried in your unit price, or the sample is not really being made to your
specification.

To start a round, send your brief through the contact page.
If you would rather begin with a capability sample from the standard range, the
wholesale catalogue is the place to pick one.