Samples. The cost that repeats, because it goes out before qualification.
Three jars in a box, to a country outside the European Union, travel as a full customs shipment. With an invoice, declared value and commodity code, even when the goods are given away.
A free sample is still a shipment. To a non-EU country you need a proforma invoice with a declared value, the description of the goods and the customs code. The Turin Chamber of Commerce points out that the supplying company must keep proof that the export took place, exactly as for a sale.
The cost that weighs doesn't come from the courier. It comes from repetition: samples going out to enquiries not yet qualified, which at best lead to a second shipment in the right format.
The rule that halves the cost comes before the box: you don't ship until you know which product, which format, which country and which channel. Four questions, and whoever is genuinely interested answers within a day.
This piece is part of the guide to export operations for the small food producer and covers the fifth of its eight steps: sampling, that is, the first real cost of a foreign negotiation.
The template, to download
For free samples of low value, for customs purposes a priced list or a proforma invoice stating at least the cost of the goods supplied is enough. These two files are that proforma, with the two statements people forget already printed inside.
| File | What it contains | Link |
|---|---|---|
| ItalianWord, to fill in | The working copy. Header, goods lines, the two statements, the totals and what to keep afterwards. |
|
| EnglishWord, to fill in | Same fields, same order. It is the version that travels, because whoever clears customs on the other side reads it. |
|
| ItalianPDF, to print | To fill in by hand, or to circulate it without risking changes. |
|
| EnglishPDF, to attach | The copy attached to the shipment when the data must not change again. |
The files are free. There is no form in front of them, we don't ask for an address and we receive no notification when someone downloads them. The description of the goods you write in it must be the same as the one on the transport document: descriptions that don't match are the first cause of inspection.
A free sample is still a customs shipment
Outside the European Union the category «courtesy parcel» doesn't exist. The goods cross a border, so they must be described, valued and declared. The Turin Chamber of Commerce, in its section on free samples, says it plainly: for free samples of low value, for customs purposes «it is enough to draw up a priced list or a proforma invoice, stating (at least) the cost of the goods supplied».
On the value to state, the same source suggests referring to the market value of the goods, citing Article 74 of the Union Customs Code. And it adds the point almost nobody considers: «the Italian supplying company, as a precaution, must hold proof that the export took place».
A sample that leaves without a paper trail is a shipment about which, six months later, you can prove nothing.
Two things must be written explicitly on the proforma: that the goods are a free sample of no commercial value, and that the value given is stated for customs purposes only. An unrealistic symbolic value, such as one euro for a box of preserves, speeds nothing up: it makes an inspection more likely, and the inspection is the delay.
The documents you really need
- The proforma invoice. With description of the goods, quantity, customs code, origin, net and gross weight, value for customs purposes only and the free sample statement. The description must be the same one you use on all the other documents, otherwise the same consistency problem as a commercial shipment arises.
- The transport document of the courier or freight forwarder, and the export customs declaration, from which the proof of exit to be kept comes.
- Any health documents. Import requirements depend on the product and the destination country, not on the free nature of the shipment: if a certification is needed for that product and that country, it may be needed for three jars too. The issuing times of the health certificate are why this question should be asked on day one, not the day before collection.
- The label. A sample intended only for an internal technical assessment is one thing; a sample the buyer wants to show a customer or put on a trial shelf is another, and at that point that country's labelling rules come into play. It pays to ask what they will be used for, before preparing the box.
The sums nobody does
The cost of a sample has four lines, and only one is visible: transport, documents, hours and repetition. Ask a producer how much they spent on samples last year and in most cases they don't know, because that cost has no line in any report: it is scattered across couriers, Chamber fees, the warehouse and someone's hours.
| Cost line | What it contains | Where it is underestimated |
|---|---|---|
| Transportthe visible line | Express shipment to a non-EU country, with customs formalities. For a few kilos it can exceed the value of the goods inside. |
It is the only line anyone looks at, and so it becomes the wrong yardstick for judging the whole operation. |
| DocumentsChamber fees | Taken one by one they cost little: at the Lecce Chamber of Commerce a certificate of origin with copy costs €10, a free sale certificate €3 in secretarial fees. |
The cost isn't in the fee but in the wait: two or three working days of issuing time nobody had put in the calendar. |
| Hoursthe invisible line | Preparing, packing, filling in the proforma, following the procedure, answering the courier, getting back in touch after two weeks. |
They aren't counted because they are done by someone already on the payroll, at a moment when they were doing something else. |
| Repetitionthe line that overturns the sum | The same shipment redone because the format wasn't the right one, or made towards enquiries that weren't real enquiries. |
It appears nowhere, because each single time looks like an isolated case. |
The overall cost of a single sample shipment can be worked out in ten minutes from your invoices. The number that really matters, though, is another: how many samples went out last year, and how many of those produced an order. That ratio tells you whether the problem is the product or the selection of enquiries, and they are two opposite problems.
The rule that halves the cost: qualify first
The sample goes out when the buyer has answered four questions. The rule should be decided once, not case by case. It isn't rudeness. A serious enquiry finds those questions reasonable and answers within a day, and it is exactly the same filter described in the signals for telling whether a foreign buyer is serious.
Samples go out early for an understandable reason: they seem the fastest way to move a conversation forward. The practical result is that they go out to anyone who wrote, before even knowing whether that someone sells your category.
Subject: [product] samples - a few details before we ship Dear [name], happy to send samples. So that we send you the right ones, could you confirm four things? 1. Which reference and which format are you interested in? 2. Which country will the product be sold in, and through which channel (retail, foodservice, distribution)? 3. Are the samples for internal tasting only, or will they be shown to a customer? 4. Full company address and contact for the courier, and who covers shipping costs? As soon as we have these, samples leave within [X] working days. Kind regards, [name] - [company]
The third question is the one producers forget most often and it changes what goes in the box: an internal tasting can travel in neutral packaging, a sample destined for one of the buyer's end customers must be presentable and, in some cases, compliant with that country's labelling.
The fourth question sounds rude and isn't. Many structured importers have a contract with a courier and prefer to use their own account, because it costs both sides less. Whoever offers it on their own initiative, without you asking, is telling you something useful about how interested they are.
Free supplies to non-EU countries have a tax treatment of their own, and being able to support it also depends on proof that the goods left the territory of the Union. This page gives no tax guidance. Which document to issue, which wording to use and which proof to keep are decisions to take with your accountant, before the first sample shipment and not at the end of the year.
The sample log, six columns
Six columns are enough: to whom, when, what, how much it cost, who paid for transport, what happened afterwards. It is the thing that can be fixed straight away, and it needs no software.
It serves two purposes worth far more than the effort of keeping it. First: at the end of the year you know what acquiring a foreign buyer really costs, which is a number you also need to decide what the first order costs you. Second, less obvious: you notice the samples after which nobody called back, which is the quietest loss in the whole sequence, because it produces no email to read.
When sample shipments become dozens and the follow-ups to make pile up, that log is the first obvious candidate to stop being a spreadsheet: the status of every buyer visible without rebuilding it from the inbox, with a reminder for whoever has been idle too long. With the constraint written in Ethics: the system prepares and flags, but no message reaches a buyer without a person having read and approved it.
We don't give a figure for the cost of a sample shipment, because honestly there isn't one: it changes with weight, destination, courier and the documents required. We give the structure of the sum, which is reusable, and the only verifiable fees: the Lecce Chamber's, read on their fee schedule.
We don't cite percentages for samples converting into orders. Numbers circulate on this subject, but we couldn't trace them to a primary document referring to small Italian food exporters, so they stay out. The ratio that counts is yours, and it comes from the six-column log described above.
The English text is built to be copied and doesn't reproduce a real client's correspondence.
Questions and answers
What documents do you need to ship food samples outside the EU?
A proforma invoice with description, quantity, customs code, origin, weights and value for customs purposes only; the courier's transport document; the export customs declaration. The Turin Chamber of Commerce states that for free samples of low value «it is enough to draw up a priced list or a proforma invoice».
On top come any health documents the destination country requires for that product. And the proof that the export took place must be kept, as for a sale.
What value do you declare on a free sample?
A value must be declared even with no payment, because customs at arrival needs it. The Turin Chamber of Commerce says to refer to the market value of the goods, citing Article 74 of the Union Customs Code.
Two statements must be written on the proforma: that it is a free sample of no commercial value, and that the value is given for customs purposes only. An unrealistic symbolic value makes an inspection more likely, so it lengthens times instead of shortening them.
Is a health certificate needed for samples too?
It may be, and it doesn't depend on the goods being free. Import requirements are set by the destination country according to the product, so if a health certification is needed for that product and that country, the requirement may also apply to three jars.
The way to know beforehand: ask the buyer in writing, since they are in contact with customs at arrival, and confirm it with the competent service of your own ASL, which is the body that issues certifications on Ministry of Health templates.
How much does it cost to ship samples abroad?
There is no figure valid for everyone, and we don't publish one. There is the structure of the sum, and it comes to four lines: express transport with customs formalities, documents, the hours of whoever prepares, product leaving the warehouse without an invoice.
The documents taken one by one cost little (at the Lecce Chamber of Commerce a certificate of origin with copy is €10, a free sale certificate €3). The lines that overturn the sum are the hours and the repetition.
When does it pay to send samples to a foreign buyer?
After four answers: which product and format interest them, in which country and channel the product would be sold, whether the samples are for an internal tasting or for one of the buyer's customers, and who the shipment is addressed to, with who pays for transport.
Shipping earlier causes two kinds of damage at once: you pay for a shipment that often leads nowhere, and you send the wrong format to whoever was genuinely interested, forcing a second shipment. Qualification comes before the box.
Notes on sources
- Turin Chamber of Commerce, Campionature gratuite · Invio in Paese extra Ue. The source, quoted in our translation, of: the sufficiency of the priced list or proforma invoice, the reference to market value (Article 74 of the Union Customs Code) and the precautionary obligation to hold proof that the export took place.
- Lecce Chamber of Commerce, fee schedule and issuing times of export documents: certificate of origin with copy €10 and issue within two working days, free sale certificate €3 in secretarial fees and issue within three working days. The fees are that Chamber's: yours may have different amounts, and it pays to check them on its website.
- Italian Ministry of Health, Certificazioni per esportazione: health certifications can only be signed by the official veterinarian or the SIAN officer of the competent local health authority.
- No percentage for samples converting into orders is cited here: the numbers circulating can't be traced to a primary document referring to small Italian food exporters. When the source doesn't hold up, the number isn't published.
How many samples went out last year, and how many brought an order.
Do the sums by hand the first time: it teaches more than any tool. With Itria we start from the outside to build custom digital systems for exporters. For you that translates into more requests, fewer losses and less manual work. Write us a line about what weighs on you. We take the first step: what a buyer sees when they look you up, and what we found there. Even if we don't end up working together.