The main fee models
| Model | What you pay for | What it rewards | Main risk for the factory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed project fee | A defined piece of work: market study, translation, website, compliance check | Delivering the agreed output | Output without sales, if the scope is vague |
| Monthly retainer only | Time and activity: outreach, campaigns, reporting | Activity | Paying for months of activity without measurable results |
| Commission only | A percentage of orders | Orders, especially easy and fast ones | Provider works only on products that sell themselves, or works little |
| Retainer plus commission | Monthly work, plus a share of paid orders | Both steady work and results | Retainer too high or commission terms unclear |
| Success fee per signed partner | A fee when a distributor signs or the first order arrives | Closing a deal | Pressure to sign weak partners |
| Margin (distribution) | Nothing directly; the partner buys and resells | Resale volume at a good margin | Less control over price and customers |
| Platform or advertising package | Visibility: listing, ads, “leads” | Traffic and enquiries | Many enquiries, few qualified buyers |
Why commission-only rarely works for new B2B products
In European B2B, the first order often comes several months after the first contact: research, offers, samples, buyer tests, a listing decision and the buyer’s season. A provider working only for commission pays for these months itself. It can afford that only for products with fast and certain sales. For a new supplier without a European track record, commission-only usually means little real work.
The reverse is also true: a retainer without any link to results gives the provider no reason to push for orders. That is why many providers combine a monthly fee with commission.
How commission is usually defined
The percentage matters less than the definition. Check:
- Basis — order value paid by the buyer, or invoiced value? Excluding VAT, shipping and insurance?
- Timing — due when the order is placed, invoiced or paid? Unpaid, cancelled or returned orders should not count.
- Which buyers — only buyers introduced by the provider, and how is “introduced” recorded?
- Repeat orders — do they count, and for how long?
- After termination — does commission continue on registered buyers, and for how long?
Worked example: how the numbers add up
An illustration with our own published starting prices, not a forecast. Sales Partner costs from €1,500 per month plus 5% of paid orders. Over a three-month pilot the fixed part is €4,500. If, after the pilot, buyers introduced by us pay €100,000 of orders in a year, the commission is €5,000. If they pay nothing, there is no commission — but the monthly fee has been paid for the work. You can check every contact behind those numbers in the shared CRM.
Use the same method for any offer you receive: write down the fixed costs for the first 6 and 12 months, the commission at a realistic order volume, and the extra costs (samples, tests, travel, fairs, ads). Compare the total with the cost of hiring your own sales person for Europe, including travel and time to train them.
What does a GPSR responsible person cost?
Compliance roles are usually priced separately. The supplier Fivex estimates the market price of an external GPSR responsible person at around €500–2,000 per year depending on product and scope. This is a provider’s estimate, not a legal rate. Our EU Compliance package starts from €900 one-off plus from €40 per month per product range.
Red flags
- Guaranteed numbers of buyers, meetings or orders before anyone has seen your product and price.
- “Leads” that are e-mail addresses from a database, not companies that confirmed interest.
- No access to the actual contacts: you only receive a summary report.
- Commission on all your European sales, including buyers you found yourself.
- Long fixed terms with no exit after a pilot.
- Extra costs (samples, ads, fairs) spent without your approval.
- The provider represents your direct competitor and does not tell you.
Questions to ask any provider
- What exactly is included in the monthly or project fee: countries, products, hours, activities?
- Who does the work, in which languages, and from where?
- How are buyers registered, and can I see each contact and its status?
- How is commission calculated, invoiced and limited in time?
- Which costs are extra, and how are they approved?
- Do you represent other factories in my category?
- Who signs contracts with buyers, and who receives the payment?
- How can we end the contract, and what happens to buyers already introduced?
Our model, as one example
- Market Entry — from €1,500 one-off: demand, prices, competitors, EU rules and an entry plan. Credited if you continue.
- Sales Partner — from €1,500 per month plus 5% of paid orders, 3-month pilot, then month to month.
- Exclusive Representative — from €3,500 per month plus 3%: dedicated manager, territory and targets in the contract.
- Distribution — our EU company buys and resells; margin agreed per product.
Contracts with buyers are signed in your name and buyers pay you directly. Introduced buyers are registered in a shared CRM; commission applies to their orders for an agreed period, usually 24 months. Samples, tests, fairs and ads are invoiced at cost after your approval. Full details on packages and prices.
Checklist before you sign
- Total cost for 6 and 12 months calculated
- Scope of the fixed fee written in the contract
- Commission basis, timing and period defined
- Buyer registration and CRM access agreed
- Extra costs require written approval
- Exit after the pilot possible
Outsourcing or your own sales person in Europe?
The alternative to a service provider is hiring your own sales person for Europe. Compare the full cost, not only the salary:
- Employment costs in the country where the person works: salary, social contributions, holidays, notice periods.
- An employer or payroll setup: either your own EU company or an employer-of-record service.
- Travel to buyers and fairs, a car or transport, phone and software.
- Time to hire and train: finding someone who knows your category and speaks the right languages often takes months, and the first months are learning.
- Risk: if the person leaves, contacts and knowledge may leave too unless they are recorded in a CRM.
- Languages: one person rarely covers German, Polish, French and Italian.
An outsourced team usually makes sense for testing markets and for the first one to three countries. Your own team makes sense once you have stable sales and know exactly which markets and channels work. Many factories do both in sequence: test with a partner, then hire, and keep the partner for countries where they have no team.
How to compare two offers fairly
Put the offers side by side in one table: monthly fee, months of commitment, commission rate and basis, commission period, included countries and products, included activities, extra costs and exit terms. Then add one realistic order scenario for the first year. The cheapest monthly fee is not always the cheapest offer once commission terms and extra costs are included — and the most expensive offer is not always the one that brings buyers.
How we can help
If you are comparing offers, send them to us together with your product and target countries. We will tell you openly where our model fits and where another provider or your own sales person may be the better choice. See how we work and sales representation.
