Most importers who have a bad experience in China did not pick a bad factory — they picked the wrong person between themselves and the factory. A sourcing agent sits on your money, your quality standard and your shipping timeline, so the vetting matters more than the quotation. Here is how experienced buyers check.
1. Confirm there is a real registered company
Ask for the Chinese business licence, not a website or a WeChat profile. The licence shows the registered company name, the registration number, the legal representative and the scope of business. If the money is being sent to a personal account or to a Hong Kong shell with no China entity behind it, you have no recourse at all.
- Business licence with a company name you can match to the bank account
- A physical office address you could visit — ask for a short video walk-through
- How many years trading, and which markets their existing clients sell into
2. Find out who actually goes to the factory
This is the single question that separates a sourcing agent from a broker forwarding your emails. Ask who visits the plant, how often, and what they do while they are there. A real agent can tell you the city, the workshop layout and the name of the production manager. A broker changes the subject.
- Do your own staff inspect, or do you subcontract it?
- Can I see a real inspection report from a past order, with the client details removed?
- What happens if the goods fail inspection after I have paid the deposit?
3. Understand exactly how they earn money
There are two honest models: a flat fee or a declared percentage commission. Both are fine. What is not fine is an agent who refuses to show you the factory price, because then their income rises every time they let quality slip. Ask directly: do I see the supplier invoice? If the answer is no, assume the margin is hidden and uncontrolled.
4. Test them with a small, awkward request
Before any large order, give the agent a task that requires real work: source a product with a specific certification, or ask for three quotations with the factory names disclosed. You are testing response time, English clarity, and whether they push back honestly when something is not possible. An agent who agrees to everything is telling you nothing.
5. Red flags worth walking away from
None of these are rare, and all of them are expensive.
- Payment to a personal account or to a name that does not match the licence
- Refusal to name the factory or the city, even after an NDA
- Quotations that arrive within minutes for a product needing customisation
- No inspection offered before the balance payment
- Pressure to pay a deposit to hold a price for a limited time
How we work
We are a Guangzhou-based team with a registered Chinese entity, our own staff inspecting on site, and a disclosed fee. You see the supplier quotation, you approve the sample, and no balance is paid before you have an inspection report with photographs. If that is the way you want to buy from China, message Jay on WhatsApp at +86 139 2274 9211 and tell us what you are sourcing.
Want this sourced for you?
Our Guangzhou team shortlists verified factories, inspects production and consolidates your cargo — door to door if you need it.
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