How to source products at a trade show: the complete buyer's guide
A trade show is the fastest way to see hundreds of suppliers, handle real samples and get prices in one trip. It is also the fastest way to come home with 400 business cards, 2,000 photos and no idea which price belonged to which product.
This guide covers the whole process: before the show, at the booth, at night in the hotel, and the two weeks after. It works for Canton Fair, Global Sources, the HKTDC fairs in Hong Kong, and any other sourcing show.
The short answer
To source products at a trade show:
- Plan before you fly. Know your categories, target prices and the halls you need. Book the days, not just the flight.
- Record the same facts at every booth. Product photo, vendor card, FOB price, MOQ, and one line about why it matters.
- Keep each price attached to its product and its vendor. Most lost deals come from a price that floated free of its photo.
- Compare on landed cost, not FOB. The factory price is only part of what you pay.
- Follow up within a week. Suppliers meet thousands of buyers. The ones who write first get the samples first.
The rest of this guide goes through each step.
Before the show
Decide what you are buying
Write down the categories you are sourcing and, for each, a target landed cost per unit. Without a target you cannot tell a good quote from a bad one at the booth. If you do not know your landed cost yet, read how to get from FOB to landed cost first.
Map the show
Big shows split by phase and by hall. Canton Fair runs in three phases, each with different product groups. The Hong Kong shows run at two venues at the same time. Download the official exhibitor list or app, mark the halls for your categories, and plan the order you will walk them. Our Hong Kong shows guide and Canton Fair checklist cover those shows in detail.
Set up your tools
Decide before you land how you will record products. A spreadsheet, a notes app, a dedicated app, or paper all work in some way. What does not work is mixing three of them. See the trade show sourcing toolkit for the full list of what to bring.
If you work as a team, agree on one shared place for everything, and agree on what "interesting" means, so two people do not chase the same supplier.
At the booth
Record the same five facts every time
At every booth that has something worth remembering, capture:
| Fact | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Photo of the product (and the label or box) | You will not remember which black speaker was which |
| The vendor's business card | Links the product to a company and a person |
| Price and price term (FOB, EXW, CIF or DDP) | A price without its term cannot be compared |
| MOQ (minimum order quantity) | Decides if the price is real for your volume |
| One line of notes | Material, colors, lead time, or why you stopped |
Take the photo of the box or label too. It often has the model number, the specs and the certifications. An app that reads the text in photos makes all of that searchable later.
Ask the questions that change the price
Price depends on quantity, packaging, material and terms. Ask for price breaks (a price at 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 units), ask what is included, and ask about lead time and samples. Our list of questions to ask suppliers at a trade show has the full set.
Keep it under a minute
A busy show day is 40 to 80 booths. If each one takes five minutes of note taking, you will see half the show. Speed comes from recording the same fields every time, in the same order, with the card and the photo in one step.
Every evening
Spend 20 minutes in the hotel:
- Fill the gaps: prices you said out loud but did not write down, photos with no vendor.
- Mark the top suppliers for each category.
- Share the day with your team, so tomorrow nobody repeats a booth.
- Back up. A lost phone on day three should not mean a lost show.
Comparing quotes
When you have five suppliers for the same product, put them side by side on the same basis:
- Convert every price to one currency.
- Convert every price term to the same term, then to landed cost (price, packaging, freight per unit, duty).
- Compare at the quantity you will actually buy, using each supplier's price breaks.
Our guide to comparing supplier quotes goes through this with an example.
After the show
Write to your shortlisted suppliers within a week, while they still remember you. Reference the product photo and the price they gave you, and ask for samples or a formal quote. See how to follow up with suppliers after a trade show for templates and timing.
Frequently asked questions
What should I record at each booth at a trade show?
Record a photo of the product and its label, the vendor's business card, the price with its price term (FOB, EXW, CIF or DDP), the MOQ, and one line of notes such as material, lead time or why the product stood out.
How many booths can a buyer visit in one day?
A focused buyer can visit 40 to 80 booths a day if each record takes under a minute. Detailed meetings take longer, so plan a few long meetings and many short stops.
Should I compare suppliers on FOB price?
No. Compare on landed cost: the price plus packaging, freight per unit and import duty. Two suppliers with the same FOB price can have very different landed costs because of packaging and carton size.
What is the best app for sourcing products at a trade show?
Use a tool that keeps the product photo, the vendor, the price and the MOQ together and works offline on a busy show floor. Show Sourcing is built for this. Spreadsheets and notes apps also work for small trips. See our comparisons for the trade-offs.