Moulds are one of the great headaches of the export business in my opinion.

If a mould is required then it is certainly reasonable in my opinion for a factory to expect the customer to cover the costs. Afterall the factory has to pay to make the mould and they want to ensure that these costs are covered.

The most suitable way is for the customer to cover the costs of the mould upfront, to be returned by the factory if an agreed upon order amount is reached. In that way the customer wears the upfront cost, but the factory actually covers the full cost once business proceeds.

The difficulty of course is knowing whether you can trust the factory to make the correct mould or make a mould at all. Trust, or the lack thereof, goes two ways however, and the factory needs to trust that the customer is going to be a genuine customer.

I think that the suggestion of an upfront payment of half of the mould costs seems reasonable. If the mould is correct as judged by the suitability of the samples that come from that mould as compared with the original instructions of the customer - then the customer covers the full mould costs and takes ownership of the mould. If the factory is willing to return these costs in the first order then the subject of mould ownership needs to be addressed upfront and in writing.

For all of this to work however you need to ensure that your requirements for the sample are clear. You need to establish a benchmark so that you and the supplier are clear as to what is and is not acceptable. Good clear technical descriptions and photos can be a good way to achieve this.