How to verify a Chinese factory before you pay
Short answercheck three things before you send any money: the business licence, export records, and a live video call inside the factory itself. A real factory will show you its production line on a live call, share its licence, and accept payment to a company account. A trading company or a scam will stall on at least one of these. Start with a video call: ask the person to walk the floor, show the machines running, and hold up a product you named, so you know the footage is live and not a recording. Then ask for the licence and a recent export record, and check the company name matches the bank account you are asked to pay. For larger orders, add an independent check: our remote verification costs $99 per factory and covers the live walkthrough, licence and export-record checks, and a written brief in English. If the order is big enough to hurt, an on-site inspection from $349 is cheaper than losing the payment.
What should I check first?
Three documents tell you most of what you need to know: the business licence, a recent export record, and the bank account details. The licence shows the company is registered, what it is allowed to make, and who owns it. The export record shows it has actually shipped goods abroad before. And the bank account must belong to the same company name as the licence. If you are asked to pay a personal account, or a company with a different name, stop and ask why.Ask for all three before you talk price. A real factory sends them without a fuss, because every serious buyer asks. If the supplier stalls, sends blurry photos, or says the licence is with another company, treat that as information, not as a delay.How do I know the factory is real?
Ask for a live video call inside the factory, not a recorded video and not a call from an office. On the call, ask the person to walk the production floor, show the machines running, and point the camera at raw materials and finished stock. Name a product on the spot and ask them to hold it up, so you know the footage is live. A real factory can do this any working day. A trading company with no factory, or a scammer using someone else's photos, cannot.It also helps to know where the factory should be. Real factories cluster together: wigs in Xuchang, the world's largest wig export base; gold jewellery in Shenzhen Shuibei; freshwater pearls in Zhuji; lenses in Danyang, one of the world's largest lens production bases. If a supplier claims to make wigs in a city with no wig industry, ask more questions.What does a remote check cover?
Our remote verification ($99 per factory) covers a live video walkthrough of the factory, a check of the business licence and export records, and a written brief in English. You get an independent answer to the one question that matters: is this a real factory, and does it match what the supplier told you? It does not check product quality on the production line, that is what an on-site inspection is for.When is an on-site inspection worth it?
When the order is large enough that losing it would hurt, when the product is custom, or when it is your first order with a new factory. Our on-site inspection starts at $349 for a visit inside the same cluster city, and covers full checks, video, and a written report. Before the goods ship, a pre-shipment inspection from $299 per person-day checks the finished goods against the order, so a problem is found before the container leaves, not after it arrives.What red flags should stop the order?
Stop and get an independent check if any of these show up: the supplier will not do a live video call inside the factory; the licence name and the bank account name do not match; payment goes to a personal account; the price is far below every other quote for the same product; or the agent will not show you the factory's original written quote. On that last point, read how the "0 service fee" model really charges you: an agent who charges you nothing is usually paid by a 10 to 15 percent markup hidden inside your unit price.Checks at a glance
| Check | What it proves | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Live video walkthrough | The factory exists, is running, and makes your product | Free to ask; $99 in our remote check |
| Business licence | The company is registered, and who owns it | Free to ask |
| Export records | They have shipped goods abroad before | Free to ask |
| Bank account name | Your payment goes to the same company as the licence | Free to check |
| On-site inspection | Quality, capacity and working conditions on the line | From $349 |
| Pre-shipment inspection | The finished goods match the order before they ship | From $299 per person-day |
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Ask for a live video call inside the factory, the business licence, and a recent export record, and check the bank account name matches the licence. An independent remote verification costs $99 per factory.
Remote verification costs $99 per factory. On-site inspection starts at $349 per visit in the same cluster city, and pre-shipment inspection starts at $299 per person-day.
Treat that as a red flag. A real factory can walk you through its production floor on a live call any working day. Do not pay before an independent check.
Clusters in this guide
Evidence BBeauty & Personal Care
Xuchang Wigs Cluster
Human-hair and synthetic wigs and hair extensionsXuchang, Henan · Wigs & hair productsEvidence BJewelry
Shenzhen Shuibei Gold Jewelry Cluster
Gold, K-gold and jewelry wholesaleShenzhen, Guangdong · Gold jewelryEvidence BJewelry
Zhuji Pearls Cluster
Freshwater pearl raw material and finished pearlsShaoxing, Zhejiang · PearlsEvidence BJewelry