HomeSupplier Verification: Check the Factory Before You Pay Supplier Verification: Check the Factory Before You Pay A deposit is a decision made on incomplete information. Verification is the step that turns a company profile into facts someone walked past and photographed. Half a day to one day per factory Typical visit 40, grouped in 6 blocks Checklist lines Dated, tied to checklist lines Photos in report Guarantee output or financial standing What we do not do Request a verification Become a partner → On this page8 sections Quick answer When this is worth doing What we check What you receive What this is not Fee and lead time Common questions Next step Placing an order with a supplier you have never visited is the single most expensive assumption in China sourcing. Identity, capacity, process records and quality system can all look fine on a profile page and fail on the floor. Quick answer A verification covers one supplier, one visit, one working day, and produces a written record you can hand to your team or your buyer. It confirms what is checkable on site: legal entity, premises, equipment, capacity, quality records, storage and packing. It does not replace a third-party certification, a lab test, or a legal compliance audit. Those are separate scopes. Reports are issued within 2 working days of the visit. When this is worth doing Four situations where a verification pays for itself before the first payment: You are about to switch suppliers and the new one was introduced by a platform or a broker. Order volume is going up and you need to know whether the current line can absorb it, or whether the extra volume will be subcontracted. A quality complaint has already happened and you need to establish whether it was a process problem or a one-off batch. Your own buyer or end client requires evidence that the supplier was checked on site, not only on paper. What we check Area What is checked on site What it rules out Legal entity Business licence, registered scope, consistency between registered and operating address Trading company presenting itself as the manufacturer Premises and equipment Owned vs outsourced key processes, equipment count and age, outsourcing ratio Orders quietly subcontracted to an unverified plant Capacity and scheduling Monthly output, current order book, bottleneck process in peak season A promised lead time that cannot physically be met Quality records Incoming and outgoing inspection records, defect handling, dedicated QC staff A quality system that exists only as a certificate on the wall Storage and packing Finished-goods area, packing capability, shipping marks and labelling control Damage and mislabelling discovered at the port Project-specific items Agreed case by case before the visit Assumptions that were never written down What you receive A verification record listing every checked item with result, not a score. Date-stamped photos of premises, key equipment and quality stations. An issue list separating what fails, what needs confirmation, and what is acceptable. A written conclusion: proceed, proceed with conditions, or do not proceed. See a redacted Illustrative Sample of the report format before you book. What this is not We do not issue certifications, we do not act as a notified body, and we do not give legal or regulatory compliance opinions. If your requirement is a certification audit, a lab test or a social compliance audit, that is a different scope delivered by a licensed third party. We will say so rather than stretch our own scope. Fee and lead time Three factors move the fee: the city and travel involved, the number of check areas, and whether interpreting is needed during the visit. We quote the scope first and the price second, because a price without scope is not comparable. Third-party costs such as lab testing or travel are itemised separately and billed at cost. Common questions Can you verify a supplier we already found ourselves? Yes. Most verifications are for suppliers the buyer already selected. We do not take a commission from factories, so the conclusion is not influenced by who introduced them. How long does it take to schedule? Usually 3 to 7 working days from confirmation, depending on the city and whether the factory can receive a visit in the same week. Will the factory know they are being checked? Yes. A verification is an announced visit. An unannounced check is a different service and only works when there is an existing production relationship. Can you check a trading company rather than a factory? Yes, and the report says clearly that it is a trading company, which plants it actually uses, and what part of the order it controls. What if the supplier refuses the visit? We report the refusal. In practice a refusal to accept an announced visit is itself a finding. Next step Send the supplier name or link, the city if known, and what you need to establish. We confirm scope and feasibility within 24 hours on working days, then quote.
