Agreed that this is difficult and often becomes a “catch 22” or impossible situation. If you are unable to get any retailer or distributor to agree to a letter of intent, maybe the product was not meant to be or they have not been convinced of the value of the product.
It means you have to find creative ways to move forward or maybe give it up.
Other ideas would be:
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If the product would be interesting for the manufacturer to distribute in China, you could give them rights to this. If it is a Hong Kong based company they probably will have no interest in China distribution so don’t waste your breath in that situation.
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Maybe try Kickstarter and give each investor a product after production. That way you have money and existing customers to review and comment on the product.