Certifications, MOQ negotiation, sample testing and the questions that filter out traders.
The lowest quote you receive is rarely the best deal — it's often a trading company adding a markup on top of a factory price you never see. The checklist below is what experienced buyers actually run through before committing to a supplier, whether it's for a trial order or a full container.
A real manufacturer will readily share its business license, ISO 9001 certificate and BSCI audit report. Cross-check the registered company name against the one on your invoice — a mismatch is the clearest sign you're dealing with a trading intermediary.
Photos can be borrowed from a factory's own marketing materials. A live video call where you can ask the person on the other end to walk to a specific production line, in real time, is far harder to fake.
CE and RoHS cover the EU, FCC covers the US, and UKCA covers the UK post-Brexit. If a supplier only offers CE but you're shipping to the US, that's a compliance gap — ask for the specific test reports for your destination market, not just a general certificate.
A supplier willing to drop MOQ aggressively on the first call, with no sample requirement, is often more interested in closing a deal than protecting a quality standard. A factory confident in its product will usually hold a reasonable MOQ floor while being flexible on mixed-model containers.
Free samples are a red flag as often as they're a good sign — they don't tell you anything about the factory's incentive to prioritize your production run. Paying a small, refundable sample fee (often credited back on the bulk order) is standard practice among serious buyers.
Push for specifics: incoming quality control (IQC) on raw materials, in-process quality control (IPQC) during assembly, an aging or burn-in test, and a final inspection before packing. A defect rate benchmark (ideally under 0.5%) is a good sign the factory tracks its own quality data.
FOB, CIF and DDP shift responsibility (and cost) for freight and customs at different points. Confirm which Incoterm the quote is based on before comparing prices across suppliers — a lower FOB quote can end up costing more than a DDP quote once freight is added.
The buyers who get burned aren't the ones who asked too many questions — they're the ones who assumed a fast, cheap first quote meant they'd found a factory.
Ask for our business license, audit reports, or book a live video factory tour — we're used to the questions.