A supplier's website can be built in a day. A company that can actually run 10,000 units on schedule takes years to build — and about a week to check properly. Most sourcing failures that cost buyers real money trace back to skipped steps rather than bad luck: a deposit wired to a company that shares a name but not a bank account, a "factory" that turns out to be a two-person trading desk, a certificate bought online for a few hundred yuan.
What follows is the order of checks that works, cheapest and fastest first.
1. Verify the legal entity before you discuss price
Every legally operating Chinese company holds a Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码), an 18-character ID. Ask for a copy of the business license (营业执照) and check these fields:
- Registered name in Chinese and English. The English brand on the website often differs from the registered name. Invoices and contracts must carry the registered Chinese name.
- Unified Social Credit Code. Look it up free on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn). The site has limited English, so use browser translation or ask someone who reads Chinese.
- Registered capital vs. paid-in capital. Registered capital is a promise. Paid-in capital is what actually exists. A supplier quoting a $2M order book with ¥100,000 paid in deserves a second look.
- Business scope. Does it cover manufacturing of your product category, or only wholesale and import/export? That single line tells you whether you are dealing with a maker or a middleman.
- Registered address. Compare it with the factory address they gave you. Different cities need an explanation.
- Status and history. Operating vs. revoked, year of establishment, changes of legal representative, administrative penalties.
For larger orders, also search the Chinese company name together with 失信 (dishonest debtor) and 被执行人 (subject to enforcement). Court records show whether they have been sued or failed to pay judgments.
2. Determine whether you are talking to a factory or a trading company
Neither is automatically a problem. Trading companies frequently have better English, better packaging options, and can handle mixed containers. What matters is knowing which one you have, because the risks differ.
Signals of a trading company:
- Unrelated product categories on the same site
- Price quoted within minutes, with no questions about your specification
- No machinery photos specific to your product
- Address in an office tower, business center, or residential complex
Ask directly: "Are you a factory or a trading company?" Then request the factory's legal name and address separately, and run the same license check on that entity.
3. Verify documents that are hard to fake
| Document | What to check | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Business license | Name, credit code, scope, status | gsxt.gov.cn |
| ISO 9001 / 14001 | Certificate number, scope, expiry, issuing body | Search the number on the certification body's own site |
| CE, FCC, RoHS, FDA | Exact model number matches your product | EU NANDO database, FCC ID database, FDA registration lookup |
| Test reports | Lab name, report number, sample description, test date | Email or call the lab with the report number |
| Customs registration | Company name matches the license | Ask for the registration certificate |
A PDF proves nothing on its own. Certificate numbers exist so that you can check them, and checking takes ten minutes.
4. Get eyes on the production floor
A live video call is not the same as a visit, but it beats photos by a wide margin. Ask for an unedited call, not a pre-recorded walkthrough, and request these shots:
- Machine nameplates showing brand, model, and year
- The line that runs your product, plus a count of the people working on it that day
- The QC station, not just the showroom
- An opened carton showing label, inner packaging, and accessories
- Raw material storage — a metal parts factory should hold metal stock
If a supplier claims 300 workers and you count 15, ask where the rest are. You will usually get a vague answer, and that answer is information.
An unannounced visit is the single most valuable hour you can spend. If travel is not possible, hire a local auditor for a one-day factory audit. Typical cost: $300–$600, travel included or billed separately.
5. Book a third-party inspection — and choose the inspector yourself
The three common types:
- IPC (initial production check) — before mass production starts
- DUPRO (during production) — at roughly 20–40% completion
- PSI (pre-shipment inspection) — after 100% of goods are packed
Firms buyers use include SGS, Bureau Veritas, TÜV Rheinland, Intertek, and QIMA, plus smaller local providers. Budget $250–$400 per man-day, and expect one man-day for a standard PSI.
A usable report covers quantity verification, carton drop testing, AQL sampling (commonly ISO 2859-1, general level II, AQL 2.5 for major defects), functional testing, packaging and label review, and timestamped on-site photos.
Two rules: you book and pay the inspector, and you pick the firm. A supplier who insists on their own inspection partner is telling you something worth hearing.
6. Test the money flow before sending real money
Start with a trial order of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Watch how they handle communication speed, sample-to-bulk consistency, paperwork accuracy, and shipping documents.
Payment rules that prevent most losses:
- Pay to a company account whose name matches the business license. Not a personal account, not an unrelated Hong Kong account, not a relative's account.
- Avoid 100% T/T in advance on a first large order. Standard terms are 30% deposit and 70% against the bill of lading copy, or 30/70 with the balance released after inspection passes.
- Use escrow where available (Alibaba Trade Assurance) or a letter of credit for larger values.
- Cross-check the beneficiary name on the invoice against the name on the license. Contract, invoice, and bank beneficiary should all be the same entity.
- Treat requests to route payment through a third company for 'tax reasons' as a hard stop.
7. Put the details in writing
The contract is what keeps a good relationship intact when a batch goes wrong. Include:
- Full specification with tolerances, materials, colors (Pantone codes), dimensions, and weight
- A sealed, signed, dated approved sample; bulk must match it
- Packaging spec: carton dimensions, barcode placement, shipping marks
- Lead time counted from deposit receipt, with a late-delivery penalty
- AQL level and defect rate, plus the remedy — rework, replacement, or credit
- Payment schedule tied to inspection results
- Ownership of tooling and IP if you paid for molds
- Dispute resolution through CIETAC or a named court
Red flags worth pausing over
| Signal | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Price 30%+ below every other quote | Either a spec substitution or a bait quote |
| Pressure to pay the same day | Legitimate suppliers can wait for a license check |
| Personal or third-party bank account | Removes your legal recourse |
| Refuses third-party inspection | Often means the goods will not pass |
| Cannot do a live video call | Frequently a trading desk, not a factory |
| Registered 12 months ago, claims 10 years of exports | License records do not lie |
| English name differs from registered name | Complicates contracts and claims |
| Address is a residential apartment | Production there is unlikely |
| Certificate numbers that do not check out | Documents were purchased, not earned |
Reference and shipment checks
Ask for two or three overseas customers you can contact, ideally in your region and product category. Then look up shipment records on Panjiva, ImportYeti, or ImportGenius, which index US customs bills of lading by company name. Missing records are not proof of anything — plenty of suppliers ship only to the EU or appear under a forwarder's name — but repeated mismatches between claims and data are worth a direct question.
How long this takes
License check: one day. Document verification: two to three days. Video call: one day. Factory audit or inspection: three to seven days depending on scheduling. Trial order: two to four weeks.
For a large order, three weeks of verification is inexpensive next to a $50,000 deposit. The buyers who skip it are the ones writing the cautionary posts you read in sourcing forums.
If you would rather not manage Chinese-language records, factory calls, and on-site inspections from another time zone, Globesino handles supplier verification, factory audits, inspections, and delivery for overseas buyers. We are on the ground in China and work in English, so you get straight answers without the language barrier.