We’ve all heard horror stories about ‘scammers’ posing as factories who take your money and disappear, especially in China! This very real risk is heavy on a buyer’s mind when they’re considering a potential supplier, which is why Sofeast offers a number of helpful background checks on suppliers to help you vet your potential suppliers across Asia.
Our focus is on assuring that your suppliers are legitimate (no scams) and have their stories straight.
If you are afraid of being scammed or working with a middleman posing as a manufacturer, background checks from Sofeast will flag suspicious signs.
If sharing confidential information with a new supplier, performing due diligence and even factory audits are highly recommended before discussing product details and requesting quotations.
You can choose from these 3 background checks
👉 Supplier legal records check* – 99 USD – 2 working days *(Most popular!)
We check existing local-language legal documents about the supplier, usually in government databases. The supplier doesn’t know they are being checked. We gather some basic information that is usually sufficient to confirm whether a company is likely to be a manufacturer (rather than an intermediary), what product types they are authorized to work on, and who the owner(s) are.
👉 Certificates & Reports Verification – 99 USD (per product & manufacturer for up to 3 documents and 10 minutes of Q&A) – results in 2 working days
We check the supplier certificates & reports you pass to us to verify that they have passed your required standards. We leave your supplier out of the loop during the checking process.
👉 Supplier Bank Account Verification – 99 USD – results in 2 working days
We check whether the bank account you’ve been provided with is legitimate, safe to transfer a payment to, and belongs to the company you are dealing with for enhanced peace of mind.
Here are some FAQs we’re often asked about background checks on suppliers
Any importers who are afraid that their potential suppliers may misrepresent information about their company (including scammers, but also simply ‘creative sales people’) need to conduct supplier due diligence before agreeing to work with a new supplier.
All potential suppliers’ factories of any size, prior to deciding to spend much time on onboarding them and on developing products with them.
If your product design is confidential, due at least some basic due diligence, such as a Legal Records Check, before sharing any information.
If you are buying a supplier’s product (or making changes to one of their existing products), due diligence might come after initial sourcing discussions but before going into deep talks. Checking their product’s certificates/reports is useful, as well as a Legal Records Check.
Yes, although most customers request this for Chinese suppliers.
We can also check companies in India, and South-East Asian countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Bangladesh, too.
If you’re unsure whether we can check your chosen supplier, ask us!
If the potential supplier you’re vetting turns out to be unsuitable, and if you are struggling to find an alternative, we can work on listing and screening alternative candidates for you.
For this purpose, use our new factory identification solution in which we locate and provide the best possible export-ready supplier for your needs.
Even if you’ve validated a supplier, due diligence needs to be performed on a product (or component) that is already developed (or is being developed) to assure that they won’t lead to costly safety issues or recalls later on.
For this, get a quotation on a 360-Degree Product Risk Assessment.
