China has millions of manufacturers – excellent and poor, honest and dishonest. Buying without verifying the supplier risks lost money, quality problems and delays. The good news: a systematic check reveals most risks early.
Factory or trading company?
Many suppliers on platforms are not manufacturers but trading companies that buy in and add a margin. That is not bad per se – but you should know who you are dealing with. A manufacturer can explain the production process, capacity and tolerances, knows their machines and materials in detail and has their own production site that they can show by video call.
The 10-point check
- Check the business licence. Ask for the licence including the Unified Social Credit Code and compare company name, address and business scope with public registers.
- Match company name and domain. Do company name, email domain, website and bank details fit together?
- Live video call from the factory. Ask for a live tour of production and warehouse – not pre-recorded videos.
- Ask about production capacity and lead time and check they are plausible: how many machines, staff, pieces per month?
- References and export experience. Ask for existing customers in your target market and export documents.
- Verify certificates. Do not just look at ISO or CE documents – have them checked with the issuing body.
- Order samples and compare them with the specification – ideally from several suppliers.
- Compare quotations. If prices are far below the rest, something is usually missing: quality, material or honesty.
- Fix contract and specification in writing, including tolerances, inspection criteria and what happens in case of defects.
- Arrange an independent inspection before shipping before you pay the balance.
Red flags
- Strikingly low prices well below all comparable quotations,
- Pressure to decide quickly or to pay 100% in advance,
- Payment requested to a personal account or an account with a different company name,
- No video call possible or constantly changing excuses,
- Inconsistencies in address, company name or certificates,
- Supplier communicates only through messengers and avoids questions about factory and capacity,
- No sample, or a sample of much better quality than the later series.
Paying safely
Pay only to the company account named in the contract. Agree on staged payments: a deposit when the order is placed, the balance after a successful final inspection and before shipping. Platform protections cover only narrow cases and do not replace your own verification. Keep all agreements in writing.
Verification on site instead of from a distance
The most reliable check is done by someone who is on site, speaks the language and knows the industry. That is exactly why we have our own partner office in China: it checks business licences, capacities and references, visits factories and inspects samples and series production. On top of that comes more than 20 years of our own experience in doing business with China. More under Services and in the frequently asked questions.