The PI arrives. Now the gap starts talking.

1 · The PI arrives. Now the gap starts talking.

Phases 1 and 2 of the fair closed on October 19 and 27. Phase 3 runs to November 4. Which means this week, the quote packages promised at booths start landing in inboxes. The pattern worth your attention: the paper price (the PI, proforma invoice) usually sits 15 to 30 percent above the booth number. Sometimes more.

A gap is not bad news. A PI identical to the booth quote would be the suspicious one. The gap is a number with a story, and there are exactly three stories worth telling apart.

2 · Three readings of the 15 to 30 percent

• Reading A: the spec came home (competence). The booth quote priced their showroom configuration. Your real spec costs more: the material you named, the finish you asked for, the certification your market requires. The tell: they itemize the deltas line by line without being asked. Do not punish this. Verify each line against the frozen spec, then accept the truth. A factory that explains its gap is showing you its cost sheet.
• Reading B: the tourist tax (negotiation signal). A round, uniform pad laid on top for a buyer they assume will vanish after one container. The tell: the gap is a round percentage, roughly equal across every item, and the PI carries a 7-day validity. The counter is not haggling. It is structure: frozen spec, line-item quote, 30-day validity. Then compare apples. The tourist tax does not survive a structured counter.
• Reading C: the missing lines (trap). The PI lands close to the booth number because something quietly left the quote: the tooling amortization line, the packaging spec, the freight assumption moved from FOB to EXW, the MOQ price break dropped. The tell: the total feels familiar but the line count shrank. The counter is the 5-line check below. This is the reading that costs people deposits.

3 · The first 48 hours teach them how you buy

How you reply to the PI in the first two days sets the terms for everything after the deposit. Reply with structure, not a haggle:

1. Thank them for the PI.
2. Request the line-item version against spec version X (name your frozen spec reference).
3. State the Incoterms: FOB, named port, or flag EXW and price the freight gap separately.
4. Confirm the quote validity in writing: 30 days.

Buyers who accept a one-line PI get one-line service after the deposit. Buyers who counter with structure get itemized behavior.

4 · The 5-line PI check

Run every PI this week through five lines:

• Validity: 30 days, written on the PI?
• Incoterms: FOB with a named port, or EXW flagged and the freight gap priced?
• Bank account: the account name matches the factory name on the PI?
• Tooling: the line exists, and ownership on stop is stated?
• MOQ: a number, at which price break?

Any blank, TBD, or hesitation on lines 3, 4 or 5 is a finding, not a formality.

5 · What we are watching next week

Phase 3 closes November 4, and the next wave is sample logistics: who pays, which courier, and why "free samples, freight collect" is the only safe answer on a first contact. Next issue: the golden sample, written properly, clause by clause.

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