How You Can Spot Fake Chinese Sourcing Agents

The U.S. China trade reached $578 billion is predicted to grow even more in the coming future. Major Chinese companies enjoy open access to the American market. Figuring out how to find a supplier to partner with, how to structure the negotiation, payment, and quality control is a critical step while sourcing products from China. There are many scams, fakes, and just plain bad suppliers out there to watch out for.

Here we are furnishing the strategy you can follow to detect fake Chinese suppliers-

• They will seldom take the pain to draw samples at random and check product quality. And, even if they do it and they find some issues, they will probably not tell you. Remember, a Chinese agent that you are not supervising closely will have more than one boss.
• Dubious suppliers in China usually find all kinds of excuses to avoid to send a sample. If their answers are slow regarding this topic, it is either a scammer or a fake person.
• It is a public secret that many sourcing agents get a commission from suppliers. But this means your buying agent and supplier become allies. The agent will not push for the best price for fear that the supplier will not happily give them a commission. They might turn a blind eye to quality issues. They might not recommend the best supplier to you, favoring instead a supplier that gives them the best benefit.
• If you have ever requested multiple samples, you’ll know that it can get expensive when shipping. Well, when you have a sourcing agent, you can have all the samples sent to them, then they ship them out to you. If your sourcing agent is reluctant in doing this, it is an indication that the agent is not trustworthy.
• Almost all suppliers and scammers have a website so open Google or Bing and search “[company name] + scam”, “[company name] + dishonest”, and a few variations. Other distributors and retailers who had a bad experience with suppliers often try to leave a trace of it on the web.
• Use your instinct. When you are interacting with the China supplier try to make out his/her real intention. If you are not getting a positive vibe from the very beginning, stay away from striking a deal.

Beware of the sourcing agents who are making tall promises when you are sourcing products from China. If they sound too good to be true, be 100% sure they are fake and they won’t be able to keep their words.