INDEPENDENT Due-diligence firm, not a sourcing
agent
China Supplier Verification — verify Chinese factories before you wire money
Independent China supplier verification and Chinese factory due diligence for
importers sourcing from China. Our Zhuhai-based analysts verify the business licence, GSXT
registration, court records, bank account, and physical factory — every red flag caught before
you wire a deposit.
Boots-on-the-ground analystsOfficial government databasesStrict confidentiality
Verified entity
1 red flag found
Factory Verification Report
Shenzhen Apex Mfg. Co., Ltd
Verified
82
Risk Score
Low–Moderate
Recommendation: Proceed with
caution
Business license valid Confirmed
Real manufacturer, not a trader Confirmed
Export license active Confirmed
ISO 9001 cert expires in 40 days Flag
72h
Report delivery
$129
One flat price, no upsell
8+
Official databases checked
100%
Independent — we sell no suppliers
The hidden risk
What an Alibaba profile won't tell you
A polished profile and fast replies feel reassuring. But
right before you wire a deposit, these are the things that quietly sink deals, and you can't
see any of them from the outside.
Ghost factories
No real production facility exists at the registered address, just an office, or nothing at
all.
Disguised middlemen
Trading companies posing as manufacturers, quietly adding a 30–50% markup to everything you
order.
Lawsuits & enforcement
Outstanding court actions, blacklists, and enforcement orders that signal a supplier in
serious trouble.
Secret subcontracting
Your order quietly handed to an unqualified workshop you never agreed to and never
inspected.
Hidden bankruptcy risk
Companies on the edge of collapse that take your deposit, then disappear before production
starts.
Faked certifications
ISO and product certs borrowed from another company or self-declared without any real
testing.
What's Included
What we check for you
Our verification covers the critical areas that determine
whether a Chinese supplier is legitimate, capable, and safe to work with.
Business License Verification
We confirm the factory is legally registered in China, check their business scope, and verify
they have the legal right to manufacture and export your product.
Physical Factory Verification
We confirm the factory actually exists at the registered address and assess production floor
conditions, equipment, and worker count, not just what they show on Alibaba.
Financial & Legal Risk Scan
We check for outstanding lawsuits, court enforcement actions, debt issues, and bankruptcy
risk so you don't send a deposit to a company about to collapse.
Trading Company vs. Factory
We determine whether you're dealing with a real manufacturer or a middleman trading company,
so you know exactly who actually makes your product.
Our Process
Our 4-step due-diligence process
From request to comprehensive report in 72 hours.
01
Step 01
Submit Factory Details
Provide the Chinese company name, contact information, and any documentation you have. Takes
less than 5 minutes.
02
Step 02
Investigation Begins
Our China-based analysts dig into business registries, court records, export databases, and
our on-ground network.
03
Step 03
Analysis & Verification
Senior experts cross-reference every data point, spot red flags, and assess real production
capabilities against claims.
04
Step 04
Receive Your Report
Get a comprehensive PDF with risk score, red flags, and a clear go/no-go recommendation
within 72 hours.
Watch
See how FactoryChecker works
A 60-second look at why buyers lose deposits — and how we stop that.
On the ground · Zhuhai & Shenzhen · 70+ videos
A local team, not a call centre.
We're a small team based in Zhuhai and Shenzhen — bilingual analysts who read the same Chinese government databases the good buyers use, plus visit factories in person when it counts. We publish 1–2 short videos every week on YouTube walking through what we see week to week: the red flags, the scams, the small tells that separate a real factory from a well-dressed middleman.
Protects against suppliers who might disappear with your deposit or
fail to complete orders.
Physical Location Audit
Registered address verification, production facility photos, warehouse and
equipment details
Ensures the impressive factory photos match reality and production
happens where claimed.
Export Qualifications
Export license status, customs records, international trade history
Confirms legal ability to export and ship internationally without
customs problems.
Production Capacity
Employee count, equipment inventory, current client load, output capabilities
Verifies they can actually handle your order volume and delivery
timeline.
Quality Certifications
ISO certifications, industry-specific standards (CE, FDA, BSCI), audit history
Validates quality claims and ensures products will meet your
market's requirements.
Ownership Structure
Parent companies, subsidiaries, beneficial owners, related entities
Reveals hidden connections and ensures you understand who you're
really doing business with.
Reputation Analysis
Customer disputes, legal proceedings, industry standing, years in operation
Provides crucial context about reliability and professionalism based
on track record.
Red Flag Summary
Clear warnings about any risks, concerns, or inconsistencies discovered
Highlights critical issues that could impact your business
relationship or investment.
Pricing
One flat price. Delivered in 72 hours.
Comprehensive due diligence on any Chinese factory before you send a deposit. No
tiers, no retainers, no "preferred supplier network" just the facts.
What you receive
A professional 5–7 page PDF report delivered within 72 hours. Every report includes a
clear risk score, identified red flags, and a straightforward go/no-go recommendation.
No fluff — just the facts you need to make an informed decision.
Delivered via email within 72 hours of ordering
Our Service
Factory Deep Dive
Full due-diligence report. Everything you need to know before wiring money.
$129USD$199
72-hour delivery from order
Business license verification + legal scope analysis
Secure checkout via Stripe · One-time payment · No subscription
Custom engagements
When a desk report isn't enough
Most buyers only need the $129 verification report above — it catches the vast majority of scams and mismatches. For bigger deals, or deals that have already gone sideways, our Zhuhai/Shenzhen team can put people on the ground, draft enforceable contracts, or negotiate face-to-face in Chinese. All priced honestly, all cheaper than the incumbents.
From$649
On-Site Factory Visit
Our inspector drives to the factory, walks the floor, signs a report, takes geo-tagged photos and video. Confirms the address is a real production site — not a showroom.
Bilingual contracts written under Chinese law — correct legal entity, official company chop, and jurisdiction clauses that Chinese courts will actually enforce.
You fly in — we've already done the homework. Itinerary, driver, translator, optional on-floor QC and a lawyer on standby. Transparent pass-through pricing.
Deposit disappeared? Wrong product shipped? We sit down with the factory owner in Chinese, file in hand. The factory knows this isn't a buyer they can ignore.
Every engagement above is scoped to your deal. Tell us the situation and we'll point you at the cheapest thing that actually solves it — often that's just the $129 report.
Everything you need to know about our factory
verification services.
Our standard turnaround is 72 hours from receiving your supplier information. Every
report goes through the same thorough process — research, cross-referencing, expert
analysis, and compilation into a clear, actionable PDF.
If we cannot locate sufficient information about your supplier, this is actually valuable
intelligence — it often indicates the company is either very new, operating under a
different name, or potentially fraudulent. In rare cases where we cannot complete a
meaningful report, we provide a full refund. However, in 95% of cases, the absence of
information itself provides critical insights for your decision-making.
We stand behind our research quality. If our report contains factual errors or fails to
include the standard verification points we promise, we'll either conduct additional
research at no charge or provide a full refund. However, we cannot offer refunds simply
because the findings aren't what you hoped to hear — negative findings often provide the
most valuable protection.
Our reports synthesize data from official Chinese government databases, business
registries, and verified industry sources. We cross-reference all critical information
through multiple channels. While no due diligence can guarantee 100% accuracy (companies
can change quickly), our multi-source verification process ensures the highest possible
reliability. We clearly indicate the source and verification date for all key data
points.
Absolutely. We maintain strict confidentiality protocols. Your supplier will never know
you've ordered a verification report. All client information is encrypted and stored
securely. Our analysts sign non-disclosure agreements, and we never share, sell, or
reuse client data. Your competitive advantage stays protected.
While anyone can Google a Chinese company name, meaningful due diligence requires access
to Chinese-language databases, understanding of Chinese business structures, and the
ability to interpret local business documents. Our analysts access subscription-only
databases, court records, and regulatory filings not indexed by search engines. More
importantly, we know which red flags to look for and can spot discrepancies that
automated translations miss. A desk-based research report, done properly, catches the
vast majority of issues before you ever need to fly someone out.
Yes. If you need regular factory verifications as part of your sourcing operations, we
offer discounted bulk packages and ongoing partnership arrangements. Contact us directly
to discuss your specific volume needs and we'll customize a plan that fits your
business.
Right now we focus exclusively on factory verification. Once you have a factory in mind,
we verify everything about them before you send a deposit. We may offer supplier
sourcing services in the future — contact us if you want to be notified when that
launches.
Insights
From the FactoryChecker blog
Notes from our analysts on verifying Chinese factories — what we check, what we find, and how to avoid costly mistakes.
The China sourcing market is flooded with newly-minted "agents" — laid-off workers, English teachers, AI-post generators, and foreigners who've never set foot in a factory. Here's the five-minute filter.
Seven practical methods to verify a Chinese supplier before you wire a deposit — business licences, GSXT, court records, tax ratings, factory audits and more, in plain English.
A practical guide to spotting real Chinese manufacturers instead of trading companies — the signals to check, the platforms to use, and the questions that expose middlemen.
The 10-step framework we use on every FactoryChecker report: the top fraud patterns, red flags, and the pre-wire checks that catch 95% of scams before you send a dollar.
Alibaba's Gold Supplier badge means less than most buyers think. Twelve concrete signals that expose fake or middleman suppliers — and how to cross-check the data with GSXT before you wire.
A practical, buyer-focused walk-through of the three Chinese court databases — which case types actually matter for a purchase decision, and how to skim a judgment in ten minutes.
Most Chinese "factories" you meet online are trading companies. Ten field-tested checks — business licence, VAT invoices, video calls, machinery details, and more.
A supplier that only communicates via mobile and WeChat, with no landline, isn't automatically a scam — but the pattern is one of the strongest red flags in China sourcing.
A supplier asking for 100% before production is the single biggest red flag in China sourcing. When it's briefly defensible, and the counter-terms to insist on.
Five ways to audit a Chinese factory — in-person, virtual, document-based, third-party, and social compliance. Real costs, and which one to pick at each order size.
T/T deposits before production are standard practice in China. The industry splits, red flags to watch, and how to protect a deposit that's already gone out.
Bank wires to China are both the safest and riskiest payment method — depending on five specific checks. What SWIFT actually does, and the pre-wire checklist.
The eight official checks we run on every factory — from business license and unified social credit code to ISO 9001, export license, and 1688 transaction history.
In an industry plagued by misleading claims, hidden middlemen, and a lack of transparency, FactoryChecker provides clear, independent verification buyers can trust — before they wire money.
The Peptide Gold Rush: Why Your Chinese Supplier Is Probably a Middleman
The peptide industry has exploded this year. What was a niche corner of the biohacking and research world is now a massive market — and Chinese suppliers are flooding Telegram, Reddit, and email inboxes with prices that seem too good to be true.
Because they usually are.
The Price Gap That Sucks Everyone In
American-made peptides: $80–200 per vial. Chinese suppliers on Telegram: $15–40 for the same product. For anyone buying in volume — gyms, clinics, resellers — the math is irresistible. Import from China, mark up 3x, and you're still undercutting domestic suppliers by half.
That's the dream. The reality is messier.
Middlemen All the Way Down
Here's what most buyers don't realise: the person replying to your WhatsApp messages almost certainly does not own a factory. They're a trader. And the trader they're buying from? Also probably a trader. By the time your order reaches someone with actual vials and filling equipment, there might be two or three middlemen taking a cut.
We've verified dozens of peptide "suppliers" this year. The pattern is almost identical every time:
Registered as a trading company, not a manufacturer
No production facility at their listed address
Refuses or deflects when asked for factory photos or video calls
Claims to "partner" with a factory but can't name it
Certificate of analysis (COA) is either self-printed or from a completely different company
The person you're wiring money to is a sales rep with a laptop. They don't touch the product. They don't control quality. And if something goes wrong, they disappear and open a new Telegram account under a different name.
The 100% Upfront Payment Trap
Every peptide supplier demands full payment before shipping. No exceptions. No escrow. No "pay half now, half on delivery."
This is already high-risk. Combine it with the middleman problem and you have a dangerous situation: you're sending thousands of dollars to someone you've never met, for a product you've never seen, from a factory that may not exist.
We've seen buyers lose $5,000, $10,000, even $30,000+ on single orders that never arrived — or arrived with the wrong compound, wrong dosage, or outright bunk product.
Why You Can't Visit the Factory
Here's the part most buyers don't know: it is illegal to manufacture peptides for human use in China. The factories that do produce them operate in a legal gray area. They don't have export licenses for peptides. They don't appear in government manufacturing databases. And they absolutely do not let foreign buyers anywhere near their facility.
If a supplier offers you a factory tour, they're either:
Lying (there is no factory — it's a trading office)
Lying (the "factory" is a front they rent for a day)
About to get themselves and you into serious legal trouble
This isn't a normal sourcing industry. You cannot apply the same playbook you'd use for finding a bag manufacturer or electronics supplier. The usual due diligence tools — visiting the factory, checking export licenses, verifying certifications — largely don't exist here.
The Quality Problem Nobody Talks About
Because you can't visit these factories, you have zero visibility into how your product is actually made. There is no quality management system you can audit. No cleanroom you can inspect. No process you can verify.
What you get instead is a COA — a Certificate of Analysis — that claims your peptides are 99% pure, properly dosed, and free of contaminants. But here's the catch: most of these COAs are worthless. They're either printed in-house by the middleman you're buying from, photocopied from another batch, or forged entirely. The lab that supposedly tested them may not exist. The batch number on the report may not match what arrives in the post.
You are trusting a chain of people you've never met, using documents you can't verify, to deliver a product that goes into people's bodies. And because the factory is illegal and hidden, there is no recourse if it's wrong. No regulator to complain to. No lawsuit that goes anywhere.
This is not a theoretical risk. We've spoken to buyers who received vials with completely different compounds than ordered, vials with no active ingredient at all, and vials contaminated with bacteria from unsterile filling conditions. Without visiting the factory, you simply cannot know what you're getting.
What You Can Actually Check
This doesn't mean you're flying completely blind. There are still things worth verifying before you send money:
Is the company legally registered at all? (Many aren't — just a WeChat account and a bank account)
Do they have a history of legal disputes or enforcement actions?
Are they linked to other entities with complaints online?
Does their business scope actually allow what they claim to sell?
Is the COA they're showing from a real third-party lab — or self-printed?
Even basic checks filter out a surprising number of outright scammers. But you need to go in eyes open: in this industry, a "verified supplier" just means a verified trading company with a verified WeChat account. The actual manufacturing happens several layers deeper, and you'll never reach it.
The Bottom Line
Chinese peptides are cheaper for a reason. The supply chain is opaque, unregulated, and riddled with middlemen taking cuts at every stage. Buyers send 100% upfront payments to companies they've never verified, for products from invisible factories they can't inspect, with documents that are often fake — in an industry where legal recourse is basically zero.
If you're going to source peptides from China, at minimum know who you're wiring money to. A basic verification — legal registration check, risk scan, ownership structure — costs less than two vials and takes 72 hours. It's not bulletproof in this industry, but it catches the outright scams before they catch you.
Not every business needs a sourcing agent. Many buyers are perfectly capable of finding suppliers on their own — they simply need reliable information before making a commitment.
Our role is to provide an objective assessment of the suppliers our clients are considering working with. We help businesses gain greater visibility into who they are dealing with, identify potential red flags, and make more informed decisions before placing orders or sending payments.
In an industry often plagued by misleading claims, hidden middlemen, and a lack of transparency, FactoryChecker exists to provide clear, independent verification that buyers can trust.
Know Who You're Doing Business With
If you are sourcing from China, you have probably felt that uneasy moment right before wiring money to a factory you have never visited. Their Alibaba profile looks great. They responded quickly to your emails. But something in the back of your mind is asking: Is this factory actually real?
Here are the most common problems we see:
Ghost factories — no real production facility exists at the registered address
Trading companies pretending to be manufacturers, adding 30–50% markup
Suppliers with outstanding lawsuits or court enforcement actions
Factories that subcontract your order to unqualified workshops without telling you
Businesses on the verge of bankruptcy that take your deposit and disappear
What We Actually Do
We research. We verify. We tell you what we found — good or bad. We are not a sourcing agency trying to place you with our preferred suppliers. We are an independent verification service. You find the factory. We tell you if they are worth doing business with.
Our flagship service is the Factory Deep Dive — a comprehensive verification report delivered within 72 hours for $129. Here is exactly what we check:
What's Included in the Report
Business license verification and legal scope analysis
Online reputation analysis across Alibaba, 1688, and industry forums
Trading company vs. real factory determination
Ownership structure and related entities
Physical location and production facility assessment
Financial health check for bankruptcy and debt risk
Clear risk score with red flags and a go/no-go recommendation
Why $129
We priced our report at $129 because we want to deliver real value while keeping it accessible. Most verification services charge $199 or more for a basic report. At $129, it is a straightforward decision — spend $129 to verify a factory before you send a $5,000 or $50,000 deposit. The math is simple.
We are not here to upsell you on a $2,000 retainer or push you toward a "preferred supplier network." We do one thing well: we verify factories and give you an honest report.
How the Process Works
You submit the factory details — name, website, Alibaba profile, whatever you have
Our analysts dig into business registries, court records, export databases, and industry sources
We cross-reference every data point, spot red flags, and assess real production capabilities
You receive a comprehensive 5–7 page PDF report within 72 hours with a clear go/no-go recommendation
Who This Is For
FactoryChecker is for buyers who are capable of finding their own suppliers but want to verify before they commit. Amazon sellers, e-commerce brands, retail buyers, startups launching a product — if you found a factory and are about to send a deposit, you should know who you are dealing with first.
What We Check (And Where) When Verifying a Chinese Supplier
When we verify a Chinese factory, we do not rely on documents the supplier emails us. Those can be faked, borrowed from another company, expired, or simply irrelevant to what they claim to produce. Instead, we go directly to the official Chinese government databases and registries where this information is actually recorded.
Here are the eight checks we run on every factory — what they tell us, and why they matter.
Business License (营业执照)
The business license tells us whether the company is legally registered, when it was established, who the legal representative is, and what its actual business scope covers. A factory might claim to produce electronics, but if their license only authorises textiles, that is a problem worth knowing about before you send a deposit.
Unified Social Credit Code
Every legally registered Chinese company has a unique 18-digit code that links them to tax records, court filings, and license status. If this code is inactive or belongs to a different entity, the company you are dealing with may not be legally operational at all.
Export License
Not every Chinese company is authorised to export. Without a valid export license, your shipment could get held at customs. Some suppliers do not disclose they are using a third-party exporter until it is already too late.
ISO 9001 Certificate
ISO 9001 is the most commonly cited quality certification, and it is also the most commonly faked. A real certificate has a unique registration number that can be verified directly with the issuing body. We check every single one. It is not uncommon to find a legitimate certificate — issued to a completely different factory with a similar-sounding name.
Product Certifications
CE for Europe, FCC for the US, CCC for China — depending on your product and market, specific certifications may be legally required. Suppliers often show certificates that are self-declared without actual testing, or cover a different product entirely. We verify through the relevant regulatory databases.
Tax Registration
A company's tax status tells us whether they are actively filing and in good standing. Outstanding tax debts or a pattern of non-filing is a serious red flag. Some suppliers also operate under a separate entity for tax purposes — meaning the company you are paying is not the one registered with the authorities.
Patent and Trademark Filings
If a supplier claims proprietary technology or patented designs, we verify those claims through official filings. It is also worth checking whether the factory has a history of IP disputes — which could become your problem if you place an order with them.
1688 Transaction History
1688.com is Alibaba's domestic Chinese platform. While many foreign buyers never check it, it reveals real transaction volume, buyer reviews, how long they have been active, and what they actually sell domestically. Their 1688 profile often tells a very different story from their polished Alibaba export page.
Why This Matters
Any one of these checks can reveal a problem. A revoked business license. An expired ISO certificate. An export license that does not exist. When you are about to send a deposit, these are the details that separate a legitimate factory from a costly mistake.
We run all eight checks on every factory we verify. You get a clear report with what we found, what the red flags are, and a straightforward recommendation. No sourcing pitch, no upsell — just the facts.
Have questions about our verification service? Send us a message and we'll
respond within 24 hours. For urgent requests, just mention it in your message.
Response within 24 hours Every inquiry gets a real, considered reply.
Completely confidential Your supplier never learns you ordered a report.
Room 1804, Beverly House 93–107 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Ready to verify your supplier?
Before you wire that deposit, know exactly who you're dealing with. Our boots-on-the-ground
verification gives you the confidence to source safely from China.
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