The sample is the only point where you can hold the product before committing money. Yet most buyers treat it as a formality — a quick look, a quick approval, and then a surprise at 10,000 pieces. A properly run sample process removes almost all of that risk.
Understand what a sample can and cannot tell you
A sample produced for approval is often made under different conditions from production: different furnace batch, different mould, hand-finished, made by a technician rather than a production line. It shows you the intended design. It does not reliably predict production output.
What a sample can reliably tell you: dimensions, capacity, weight feel, colour and finish, decoration placement, neck fit, and whether the design is commercially what you imagined.
What it cannot tell you: how the piece looks coming off a production line, exact production colour consistency, or how it behaves at volume.
To cover the gap, request a trial production sample for custom work — pulled from an actual production run, not hand-made. For standard products, ask whether the sample comes from stock or from a production run.
Ordering samples properly
State your requirements precisely in the sample request:
- Quantity: three to five pieces, not one. You need to compare them against each other for consistency
- Specify decoration and colour exactly as it would appear in production
- Ask for the sample to be packed as it would be for export
- Request the measurements be stated on the sample request sheet
- Confirm whether the sample cost is credited against a future order
Ask about the sample credit. Most serious suppliers deduct the sample cost from the first production order, which makes sampling nearly free and signals willingness to build a relationship rather than extract revenue from every interaction.
Use a written sample request sheet
Include on the sheet:
- Product and model reference
- Dimensions and capacity required
- Colour and finish specification
- Decoration: process, colours, artwork file reference
- Quantity required and reason for each sample
- Packaging requirement for the sample itself
- What you intend to test or evaluate
This removes ambiguity about what was actually sent and what was requested. It also becomes the reference document when you sign off.
When the sample arrives, do this properly
- Measure. Diameter, height, capacity, weight. Compare against your specification with a caliper and a scale, not by eye.
- Test thermal shock. For candle jars, move a filled jar between temperature extremes. Thin or poorly annealed glass will show it here rather than in a customer\’s home.
- Test stability. Check the base sits flat without rocking.
- Check decoration placement against your artwork, from every side and at the intended viewing angle.
- Compare the samples to each other. Variation between pieces in a single sample is a warning about production consistency.
- Photograph everything including packaging, from multiple angles, and keep these images as the baseline.
Record the approval properly
This is where most buyers create problems for themselves. An approval sent as \”looks good, go ahead\” gives the supplier very little to work from and gives you no protection.
Instead, send a written approval that states:
\”Sample [reference] approved for production, dated [date].
Confirmed: dimensions within stated tolerance, capacity [X] ml brimful, colour matches approved reference, decoration placement per artwork [reference].
Tolerance: piece weight [X]± [Y] g. Defect acceptance per inspection standard [reference].
This approval applies to production against this specification only. Changes to colour, decoration or dimensions require re-approval.\”
Send it as a PDF and keep it. This document resolves the majority of quality disputes before they happen.
Sample cost and timing
Allow one to two weeks for standard samples and considerably longer for custom shapes, which require tooling first. Sample charges typically cover the cost of making the piece plus handling, and are often non-refundable even when credited later.
Ask for the sample lead time in writing, and build it into your launch schedule. Samples are the item most often allowed to delay a launch, because they feel like a formality rather than a production step.
Ready to start with samples? Tell us the models you want to evaluate and we will prepare them. Request samples here.