The suggest he arrange the freight himself.

I got the same situation at one time ,and I gave him the office website of the transport company and let him to check if the cost is high.usually the cost on the websit is higher ,and I have a long term realationship with the transport company so they give me a discount .and i did give it the actually discount cost to the buyer, the cost is just meet the cost  forwarder gave me .then the customer accept after the explaination .you just need to tell the real thing you meet to him ,and the customer can understand your situation.

you should charge sample fee

if you have a long term relationship with a logistical company, they will offer you the discount and you just tell the customer to pay the freight fee before discount.and you will save lots of money.

We always pay the samples.
It depends on what kind customer you meet, some customer just want to collect competive samples, and some customer really want to do business with you, then they will pay the samples.
But any way, you can tell your customer pay the samples , and you can return the money back your customer when your customer place order to them. I think it is workable.

Quality Service: www.whyqc.com

we should cas customer to pay the sample charge. it's not the problem how much moeny they pay for us. It's the sincere of cooperate. If they really want to cooperate with you. they will pay for it.

I think sample fees are acceptable for new customers. It's a way of making sure that you don't get people just looking for a single unit that they don't have to pay for.

Once you have an established working relationship, then you can start giving free or low cost samples to GOOD customers.