Three numbers decide whether a lighting import goes smoothly: MOQ, lead time and FOB. Get them wrong and you either tie up cash in stock you cannot move, miss an installation date, or discover that an attractive quotation left out half of the cost. Importing lighting from China is not complicated, but it is specific. This guide explains what each term covers, where cost and risk hide inside it, and what to settle before you sign a proforma invoice.
What MOQ Really Means When You Import Lighting
MOQ, the minimum order quantity, is the smallest number of pieces a factory will run for a given product. It is not a negotiating trick: it falls out of how the product is built, and knowing the cause is what lets you negotiate the number sensibly.
Where the Minimum Comes From
Three practical limits set the floor on a lighting order:
- Components with their own packaging quantities. LED drivers, connectors, crystal strands and hardware arrive from suppliers in fixed reel, box or tray quantities. Order below that count and the factory still buys the whole unit.
- Finishing batches. Plating, powder coating and lacquer runs are set up in batches. A run of twenty pieces can cost nearly as much in setup as a run of two hundred, and repeating a line setup for a handful of units pushes unit cost up.
- Custom glass, crystal and acrylic parts. Non-standard shapes, mouth-blown glass and custom crystal cuts often come from a specialist producer with its own minimum, which flows straight into your MOQ.
The cause differs by product, so the minimum does too. Every product page states the MOQ for that item, confirmed again on your quotation. A supplier quoting one single MOQ across a whole catalogue is usually signalling that nothing is genuinely made to order.
How Buyers Bring the Minimum Down
Buyers reduce MOQ most effectively by changing something other than the quantity:
- Stay inside a standard finish. A colour or plating already in production shares an existing batch. A bespoke finish needs its own setup.
- Mix sizes inside one product family. Two hundred pieces split across three lengths of the same design is still one production run.
- Consolidate a mixed order. Models that share components, cartons and a finishing route can be scheduled together rather than as separate small runs.
- Accept the standard export carton. Custom carton artwork or an unusual pack size is a separate minimum of its own.
- Sample first, then scale. A sample is a single piece and carries no minimum. Ask whether the sample cost is credited against the production order.
If a low minimum is essential for a first order, say so at the enquiry stage rather than after pricing. It is easier to plan a small first run than to discover the constraint late.
Lead Time: What Actually Drives the Clock
Lead time is the number buyers argue about most and understand least. The clock does not start when you send an enquiry. It starts when the deposit clears and the specification is approved in writing: a drawing, a finishing sample, a colour reference. Anything unapproved at that moment becomes a delay later.
Sample Lead Time and Bulk Lead Time Are Different Clocks
Sample lead time covers making one piece through fabrication, finishing and testing. Bulk lead time covers the full run and begins once the sample or specification is confirmed. Treat the bulk figure as the one governing your opening date, and the sample figure as a decision cost you absorb first.
Both are quoted per order rather than published as a fixed table, because a catalogue model and a non-standard build do not run at the same pace. Staylighting has operated its own lighting workshop in Guzhen, Zhongshan since 2014, with five production lines and more than 200 production staff. Pieces from those lines have gone into more than 200 completed installation projects in 11 countries, assembled, tested and packed before they leave.
The Stages Inside a Bulk Order
- Component procurement. Drivers, glass, crystal, acrylic and metal stock, including work from long-term cooperating suppliers.
- Fabrication and finishing. Cutting, forming, welding, plating or coating, then the decorative work.
- Assembly and wiring. Assembly and electrical wiring in the voltage configuration your market requires.
- Quality control and testing. Inspection and electrical testing before the fixture is closed up and packed.
- Export packing and palletising. Protection for a sea freight journey, with the packing list and dimensions issued to you.
- Inland delivery to the port. Transport to the China port you nominate, ready for your forwarder.
What Pushes a Date Out
- An unapproved finishing sample. The most common cause of a slipped date.
- A non-standard dimension that surfaces late. Ceiling height, void depth and fixing points should be settled before the run starts.
- Certification requested after production. Documentation is arranged per order and destination market, and it is faster and cheaper to confirm the route before the run than after it.
- Chinese New Year. Production slows and then stops around the new year, and freight capacity tightens on either side of it. Orders for that window need to be placed early.
- Peak ocean freight season. Capacity tightens ahead of major retail periods, which affects vessel booking rather than production.
Work backwards from your delivery date, add a buffer for vessel booking, and confirm the packing list before committing to an opening date.
FOB Explained Without the Jargon
FOB means Free On Board, followed by a named port, for example FOB Shenzhen. The seller delivers the goods to that port, completes export clearance and loads them on board. Cost and risk transfer to you when the goods are on board; from that point freight, insurance, import duty, destination charges and onward delivery are yours.
What FOB Includes, and What It Does Not
On an FOB quotation the seller normally covers the goods, export packing, inland transport to the named port, export customs clearance and loading on board. The buyer normally covers ocean freight, marine insurance, import customs clearance, duty and VAT or GST, destination port charges and onward delivery. Confirm every line in writing.
FOB, EXW, CIF and DDP Side by Side
- EXW (Ex Works). You collect at the factory and handle everything, including export clearance. Lowest headline price, most work for you.
- FOB. The seller gets the goods onto the vessel at a named port. You control the freight and can keep your own forwarder.
- CIF. The seller pays cost, insurance and freight to your destination port, but risk still transfers at the load port. Useful without a forwarder, harder to benchmark because freight is bundled.
- DDP. The seller delivers duty paid to your door. Simple, but the highest total and the least visibility, because freight, duty and handling are hidden inside it.
For repeat importers, FOB is usually the most controllable basis: your forwarder’s rates, your customs broker, your insurance arrangements.
Why a China Port Price Is More Useful Than a Bundled One
The price shown on every Staylighting product page covers the fixture, factory quality control, export-grade packing and delivery to your nominated China port, including Shenzhen, Shanghai and Ningbo. Freight, customs clearance, duty and local taxes are quoted separately, because they change with route, season, cargo volume and destination rules.
That split is deliberate. It keeps the product price comparable against other suppliers, keeps logistics comparable across forwarders using the same cargo details, and makes clear who owns each stage. You can nominate your own forwarder or ask us for a reference quote to benchmark against. The full explanation sits on our China port delivery and pricing page.
Luminaires are normally classified under HS heading 9405, but the rate that applies to you depends on your country’s tariff schedule and the exact classification of the product. Ask your customs broker before you price the goods into your market, because a landed cost built on an assumed duty rate is not a landed cost.
A Checklist Before You Place the Order
- MOQ confirmed per product, not as a single catalogue figure.
- Sample cost stated, and whether it is credited against the bulk order once the minimum is met.
- Sample lead time and bulk lead time, quoted as two separate figures.
- The event that starts the bulk lead time, in writing: deposit received plus specification approved.
- Voltage and control requirements for your market stated in writing.
- Certification documents and the destination market they cover, confirmed before production.
- Incoterm and named port, with every cost line marked included or excluded.
- Export packing and palletising included, with the packing list issued before the vessel is booked.
- Payment terms as written on the proforma invoice.
- Warranty term confirmed per product and configuration, up to 24 months.
Two product pages show how this appears in practice: a crystal bubble chandelier for hospitality interiors and a cream-style acrylic pendant range. Each lists its own MOQ, price basis and China port delivery terms. For the wider process from first enquiry to shipment, see our buying guide.
MOQ is set per model rather than per order, so it is worth checking two or three lines before committing. The cream acrylic pendant range and the spiral crystal-ball pendant carry the lowest entry quantities we quote, while the oval alabaster bedside sconce, the three-tier alabaster bowl sconce and the brass U-bracket bedside sconce show how a small fixture can be spread across a whole guestroom floor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a normal MOQ for lighting from China?
It is set per product, because it follows the components, finishing batch and packing specification of that item. Stock-style designs in standard finishes carry a lower minimum than custom builds, and custom glass, crystal or acrylic parts carry the minimum of whoever produces them.
How long does it take to produce a lighting order?
Sample and bulk lead times are quoted as two separate figures. The bulk clock starts when your deposit clears and the specification is approved in writing, then runs through procurement, fabrication, assembly, testing, export packing and inland delivery to the port. Seasonal factors such as Chinese New Year affect both production and vessel bookings.
Is FOB or DDP better for a first import?
FOB gives you control of the freight and a product price you can compare against other suppliers, but it assumes you have a forwarder or will appoint one. DDP is simpler and gives one total, but you cannot see what freight, duty and handling actually cost, which makes a second order hard to benchmark.
Is certification included in the price?
Certification documentation is arranged per order and according to the destination market, for example CE, UL, CCC, RoHS or UKCA, and any related cost is quoted as a separate line. Share the destination country and specification with your enquiry so the route is confirmed before production, not after.
Can I combine products to reach a minimum order quantity?
Often yes. Models that share components, finishing and cartons can be scheduled as one run, and a mixed order across a product family is usually more efficient than several small orders. Send the full list at the enquiry stage so the minimum can be planned around the whole basket rather than per line item.