A buyer meeting a new supplier asks for the price list first. That is understandable and insufficient: a list takes ten minutes to produce and proves nothing. The questions below sort, in a single exchange, the suppliers who have shipped from those who are about to learn on your order.
Four questions on logistics
How many units fit a forty foot high cube, per reference? The most discriminating question on the list, because it decides the freight share per piece, and because a supplier without that figure in writing has not shipped enough.
Carton dimensions and weight. You need them for your stacking plan, your stockroom door and your delivery costing. For scale, the Homayla range runs from twenty two and a half kilos for an armchair to fifty eight for a sofa.
Where is the stock when I order: at the factory, in a regional warehouse, or nowhere because production starts on order? The three answers give lead times with nothing in common.
What is the reorder lead time, not the first order lead time? A first container is often prepared in advance. It is the second one that tells the truth about a supply chain.
Three questions on the product
How many colourways are actually held, and which are being discontinued this year? A catalogue happily shows twelve colourways of which four are running out. Finding that out after building a display costs money.
What is guaranteed, for how long, and who handles a customer claim? If the answer is that you handle it and the supplier reimburses later, price the cash flow before accepting.
Is the product delivered compressed or assembled? This is not a comfort question but an operational one: stockroom, van, stairwell and freight cost per piece all follow from that answer.
Three questions on the commercial side
Does the brand hold the recommended retail price on its own website, promotions included? A brand selling below you online turns your showroom into a free fitting room.
Does the brand sell on marketplaces, directly or through online resellers? This is the most common price leak and the one least often volunteered.
Which working models are offered: display with direct shipping, consignment, outright purchase? A supplier offering only one is imposing their risk level instead of negotiating yours.
The two questions almost nobody asks
Who owns the factory? An intermediary buying in China and reselling in Europe adds a margin and a delay without improving quality. A supplier who owns the factory can adjust a run, a colourway or a carton. The answer changes the nature of the relationship.
How many partners are already referenced in my territory, and under what rule? A verbal exclusivity does not exist. If a brand says it protects your area, ask how that is written, and for how long.
What a good answer looks like
A good answer is numbered, written, and sometimes negative. A supplier telling you European transit runs around fifty days with no buffer stock is giving you something usable. One promising fast delivery from China without a European warehouse is promising what they do not control.
Be wary of the round number too. Units per container quoted verbally and never confirmed in writing is rarely a real figure.
Finally, a good answer accepts being checked. Ask for a sample piece and unpack it yourself. It is the one test no documentation replaces.