Sourcing and factory checks
We find your factory in China and go and look at it before you pay
A company being registered and a company being able to make your order are two different facts, and only one of them is visible from a website. We close that gap: shortlist, site visit, negotiation in Chinese, and quality control before the goods ship.
Who this is for
Four situations we get called into
Most clients arrive after one of these. The first two are cheaper to solve than the last two.
You are starting to buy in China
You have a product in mind and a marketplace full of suppliers who all look identical and all promise the same thing. You need someone to narrow it to a shortlist that can actually make it.
You found a supplier and are about to pay
The quotation looks good, the samples looked fine, and the prepayment is the point of no return. You want someone to stand in their workshop before the transfer leaves your account.
You have been buying through a trader
Prices creep up, lead times slip, and technical questions come back vague. Usually that means you are two steps away from the people who actually make the goods.
Something already went wrong
Wrong specification, wrong quantity, a batch you cannot sell, or a prepayment that never turned into a shipment. We start by finding out what is recoverable.
Scope
What the work includes, and what lands on your desk
What we do
- Write the technical brief with you — specification, volumes, packaging, certification the destination will require
- Search for manufacturers, not resellers, and filter out traders presenting themselves as plants
- Verify the business licence, the export rights, the registered scope of production and the court record
- Visit the site: workshops, equipment, warehouse, how much of the line is free and what else is running on it
- Collect and compare real quotations on identical terms, so the numbers are actually comparable
- Negotiate in Chinese and on the terms of Chinese business practice
- Prepare the supply contract: specification, acceptance, liability for defects, payment schedule
- Control the batch before dispatch — quantity, quality, packaging, marking — with photo and video evidence
What you get
- A factory report with photographs and our written opinion on capability
- Copies of the licence, the export documents and the registered scope of activity
- Comparable quotations from the shortlisted plants
- A supply contract that holds up in a dispute, not a chat thread
- Payment to a corporate account, never to a private person
- A pre-shipment inspection report with photo and video
- A direct line to the manufacturer — you keep it whether or not you keep working with us
How it works
Six steps, in this order
The order is not decorative. Every step exists because skipping it is what costs importers money, and the site visit sits deliberately before the money moves.
Brief
We ask what you buy, in what volume, to which country and to what standard. If the specification is not written down yet, we write it with you.
Shortlist
We search, contact candidates and cut the list down. Traders posing as plants drop out here, in writing, before anyone books a flight.
Desk check
Licence, export rights, registered scope, court record. Some candidates end at this step, and that is a cheap place to end.
Site visit
We go to the address. Workshop, equipment, warehouse, staff, what is actually running. You get the report with photographs.
Terms and contract
Quotations on identical terms, negotiation in Chinese, then a contract with acceptance, defect liability and a payment schedule written into it.
Control and shipping
Inspection of the batch before dispatch with photo and video, then loading. From here freight and customs can continue on the same agreement.
Cost
How the price is put together
We do not publish a rate card, because a number that does not survive the first conversation costs more trust than it saves. Here is what actually moves it.
What the price depends on
- How complex the product is, and how specific the technical requirements are
- How many candidate factories need checking, and how far apart they are
- Whether a site visit is needed, and where — a plant two hours from Guangzhou and one in another province are different jobs
- Whether you need only the check, or the whole route through to a controlled shipment
- Whether certification for the destination market is part of the task
One thing that is not negotiable: we are paid by you and not by the factory. An agent who takes a commission from the plant has a reason to steer you towards whoever pays best, and you never find out that it happened.
Questions
What people ask before they hire us
How do you tell a factory from a trader?
A trader will not survive a specific technical conversation. We ask about tooling, the production line, minimum runs, the export licence and who owns the premises, and we ask for documents that a reseller does not have. If any doubt remains, we go to the address.
A trading company is not automatically a problem — some of them add real value. But you should know which one you are paying, and why.
What exactly does the factory report contain?
Photographs of the workshop, the equipment and the warehouse. The business licence and the export rights. What the company is registered to produce. How many lines are running and what else they are running. Court records and any signs of dispute.
And our own written opinion on whether they can make your order at the volume you need — which is the part you are actually buying.
Can you check a supplier I have already found myself?
Yes, and this is the cheapest thing you can buy from us. Send the company name and whatever documents they gave you. We check the registration and the export rights remotely, and if the deal is large enough to justify it, we drive out to the site.
Do you take a commission from the factory?
No. We are paid by you, and that is the only arrangement in which our interests and yours point the same way. An agent paid by the plant has a reason to steer you towards whoever pays best, and you never find out that it happened.
Whose name is on the contract with the factory?
Either yours or ours, depending on how you want to import — we will talk that through, because it affects your customs and your tax position at home.
In both cases payment goes to the manufacturer's corporate account and never to a private person. A request to pay an individual is the single most common way prepayments disappear.
How long does it take?
Finding candidates and getting real quotations usually takes days rather than weeks. A site visit is arranged around the factory's schedule and our travel, so it depends on where they are.
We give you a date range for your specific product before you commit to anything, and we would rather quote a longer one and beat it than quote a short one and miss it.
What if the factory turns out to be unsuitable?
That is a normal outcome, and it is exactly what the check is for. You get the report explaining what disqualified them, and we move to the next candidate.
A rejected factory is a cheap result. A paid one that cannot deliver is not.
Next steps
What usually follows
Sourcing is where most clients start. These are the three things they add next, on the same agreement.
Request
Tell us the task — we will come back with questions and a plan
Four short steps. After you send it, you will see a confirmation with your name on it, and a person from the Guangzhou office picks it up during Chinese working hours.
If you would rather write than fill in a form, the messenger buttons in the chat window reach the same team.