Services
Supplier & Product Sourcing
Find and vet the right factory for your product, with verified capability and capacity.
What supplier sourcing covers
The search, end to end
- ✓ Product-specific factory search across Alibaba, 1688 and our 3,000+ supplier network
- ✓ Business license verification in the Chinese registry — name, scope, address cross-checked
- ✓ Manufacturer vs trading company determination, with the evidence
- ✓ Certificate checks — ISO, CE, FDA, UL — verified against issuing bodies and report numbers
- ✓ Price benchmarking: the same RFQ to multiple qualified factories, quoted item by item
- ✓ Sample ordering and side-by-side comparison with a written evaluation
How do we verify a supplier?
A supplier enters your shortlist only after three layers of proof.
Documents
License and certificates checked against registries and issuing bodies — scope, expiry, company match.
Live video
An unscripted walk from the entrance to your production line, machines running, workers present.
On-site audit
For first orders above a few thousand dollars: a full-day audit with a photo report and risk rating. What an audit covers →
Should you buy on Alibaba, 1688, or both?
Alibaba export suppliers are easier to verify and come with Trade Assurance; 1688 factories quote 30–50% less for the same goods but sell only inside China. We buy on both, as the local buyer of record — export-platform protection where it matters, domestic prices where they count. The full analysis: 1688 vs Alibaba. The routine we run: our supplier verification guide.
What you receive
Deliverables of a sourcing engagement
- ✓ A comparison table of verified factories with itemized quotes
- ✓ Sample evaluations with photos and a written recommendation
- ✓ A price benchmarked against the market — before you commit
- ✓ Quality after sourcing handled by manufacturing & factory management
Need this service?
How is a supplier verified before you pay?
Verification happens in layers, cheapest first. Paperwork comes first: business license, registration scope, export history, and whether the entity on the quote matches the entity on the bank account. Then capability: an audit or video walkthrough that confirms the lines, the workforce, and the products the factory actually makes, because a surprising share of \u201cfactories\u201d on marketplaces are traders with a nice office.
Only then does price enter. Quoting the same specification to three or four verified suppliers produces a market picture that no single quote can give you, and it changes the negotiation from opinion to arithmetic. The final layer is the sample round against a written spec, described in the golden sample guide.
The output of all four layers is a shortlist you can trust with a deposit. The pricing page shows what that research costs, starting from a flat-fee brief.
Supplier sourcing: questions buyers ask
Three layers of proof — documents, live video, on-site audit — before any deposit. Platform choice matters too: see 1688 vs Alibaba and our Alibaba verification routine. What happens after sourcing is covered by factory management.
How do you verify a factory before I pay?
Documents first: business license checked in the Chinese registry, scope and bank-account name matched, certificates verified with issuing bodies. Then a live unscripted video walk of the production line. For first orders above a few thousand dollars, a full-day on-site audit with photo report and risk rating.
How do you tell a manufacturer from a trading company?
License scope, product range consistency, machinery on the video walk, workforce size and export history are cross-checked — a surprising share of marketplace \u201cfactories\u201d are traders with a nice office. You get the evidence with the shortlist, not just a claim, so the price you benchmark is a factory price.
What MOQs should I expect?
It depends on category and customization: stock goods can start at tens of units, custom production usually at hundreds. We negotiate MOQs by pooling volume, relaxing non-critical specs and quoting 1688 domestic lines alongside export lines — the levers are in negotiating with suppliers.
How long do samples take?
Stock samples arrive in days; custom samples typically take one to three weeks per round. Each round is compared side by side against a written spec until a golden sample is signed — the process is described in the golden sample guide. Only approved samples gate mass production.
Can you source my exact product or only familiar categories?
Any legal product: send a link, photo or drawings and the same RFQ goes to qualified factories in our 3,000+ supplier network plus Alibaba and 1688. Recent briefs span smart-home devices, pet products and kitchen appliances — see the sample shop for examples of verified factory goods.
What do I receive from a sourcing engagement?
A comparison table of verified factories with itemized quotes, MOQs and lead times, sample evaluations with photos and a written recommendation, plus a market benchmark before you commit. Quality after sourcing is handled by manufacturing management with inspection gates.
What does supplier sourcing cost?
A flat-fee sourcing brief from $149 answers which factories can make your product and at what price — the cheapest way to test an idea before samples or tooling. Full-service orders fold sourcing into the 5–8% commission. Both models are on the pricing page.
What if my product needs custom tooling or molds?
Tooling is quoted separately at factory cost with ownership assigned to you in writing. We validate the mold with first-article samples before mass production and the tool stays usable for reorders. Feasibility and cost for your design are confirmed in the sourcing brief — start via the contact page.