Can I approve an Indian supplier’s sample from photos?

Answer: Photos can reject an obvious miss. They are a weak way to approve colour, texture, taste, fit, or small measurements, because screens and lighting hide the differences inspectors will later argue about. Use a physical pre-production sample as the golden standard unless the product is fully defined by a drawing and certificates you already trust. Action: Keep a sealed physical reference with you or your inspector, and cite its identity on the purchase order.

How many samples should I request?

Answer: Request enough pieces to evaluate one and still keep a sealed reference. Sample the leading factory first, and the backup if the first fails or if you plan to dual-source. Sampling every directory lead wastes weeks and blurs which standard you approved. Development samples do not count as approval to start bulk. Action: Order a pre-production sample from the quotation winner, and do not start bulk until the written approval exists.

Who pays for samples and courier?

Answer: Agree the cost in the RFQ so it is not a surprise when you are ready to approve. Suppliers often charge the sample and the courier, sometimes crediting that amount against the bulk order. A free sample that was not made on the production process is not a saving, because it cannot govern the bulk lot. Action: Write who pays for the sample, the courier, and any lab test before the sample is dispatched.

What if the bulk goods cannot match the sample exactly?

Answer: Write a tolerance into the approval: a shade band, a dimension range, or a grade limit, and name how it will be checked. Exact without a method becomes a dispute after production. Goods outside that tolerance fail unless you concede the deviation in writing for that lot only. Verbal flexibility will be treated as the new standard. Action: Add the tolerance and the test method to the approval note and to the inspection instruction.

Should repeat orders skip samples?

Answer: Skip a new golden sample only when the specification, the factory, and the process are unchanged and the last shipment matched the previous standard. A new material lot, a new print, a new packing format, or a new factory starts the sample gate again. Repeat business is not a reason to inspect against a catalogue photo. Action: Confirm in writing that nothing material changed before you waive a fresh pre-production sample.

Sourcing•27 October 2026•14 min read

How to Approve Samples When Sourcing from India

By Saurabh Mittal, Founder, Altus Exports

Approve a sealed golden sample in writing before bulk production. A showroom piece is not the standard for sourcing from India.

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Featured Snippet Answer

Approve samples when sourcing from India by comparing a pre-production sample to a written specification, keeping a sealed golden sample, and recording what is approved. Do not start bulk production on a verbal okay or a marketing sample.

AI Overview Summary

Sample approval is the quality contract when sourcing from India. Buyers should separate development samples from the golden sample, test what the destination requires, and file a written approval. Altus Exports coordinates sample logistics and keeps the approval record with the order.

Topical Authority · Related Guides

Samples are the quality contract when you procure products from India. The factory will build the bulk lot to whatever you approved, including the things you forgot to reject. A friendly “looks good” on a photo is how shade, count, and packing drift.

Run samples after quotations and before the purchase order releases production. Inspections later will use this sample as the reference.

Use three sample types, and do not mix their jobs

A development sample explores a material, shape, or cost idea. It is allowed to be imperfect. A pre-production sample is made with the process, materials, and packing you intend to buy. A golden sample is that pre-production piece, or a set of them, sealed and signed after you approve it.

Keep two golden samples when the product can be disputed: one with you or your inspection partner, one at the factory. Photos support the file. They do not replace the physical reference for colour, hand-feel, or fit.

Comparison table

Swipe →

Sample	Purpose	Can it release bulk?
Development	Learn and change the brief	No
Pre-production	Prove the quoted process and packing	Only after written approval
Golden	The sealed standard for inspection and reorders	It is the standard
Top-of-production	Confirms the first bulk pieces match the golden sample	Confirms; it does not replace approval

Define pass and fail before the sample ships

List the checks on the same page as the brief: measurements or grade, material, workmanship, function, labelling, and carton strength. Mark which failures are critical. A missing safety label is not the same as a slightly loose stitch you are willing to concede.

For food and agricultural products, decide moisture, mesh or count, and which lab tests the destination needs. For textiles, decide shade against a light standard you name, shrinkage, and measurements. For engineered parts, decide the drawing revision and the dimensions that are critical. If you do not name the method, the factory will use its own.

Approve in a record, including the deviations

Sample identity: supplier, date, specification revision
Result: approved, approved with listed deviations, or rejected
Tests still outstanding, and who pays
Packing approved or still open
Statement that bulk cannot start until this note is issued

The approval note should say what was received, what passed, what was accepted as a deviation, and what must change before bulk. Deviations that are not written will be repeated and then described as “what you approved.” Date the note and name the person who can approve.

If the sample fails, say whether you want a new pre-production sample or a small correction. Do not start a full production run “while we fix the label.” Labels and packing are part of the product when you are buying products from India for a retail or compliance-sensitive customer.

Test what your market will test

A visual pass is not a chemical, mechanical, or microbiological pass. Commission the tests your destination or your customer requires on the sample lot, and file the report with the golden sample. Waiting until the container is at your port is the expensive version of the same test.

Agree who pays. Many quotations exclude third-party tests. That is acceptable if the RFQ said so. It is not acceptable as a surprise that delays approval while the factory asks for the production deposit.

Hand the golden sample to inspection and to the order

The purchase order should cite the sample reference. The inspector should have the golden sample or an agreed photo-and-measurement file when a physical sample cannot travel. Pre-shipment inspection without that reference becomes a matter of opinion.

Continue to quality inspections when procuring products from India. If the sample never reached written approval, you are not ready to pay a production balance or to book a vessel.