How to import from China: a small buyer's playbook.

Step 1 — Write a brief that gets real quotes

Suppliers quote seriously when the request is specific. Before contacting anyone, write down: the product and its exact specifications (material, dimensions, weight, colors), the quantity for the first order and for reorders, your target unit price, packaging requirements, and your deadline. Attach reference photos or a spec sheet. A vague "how much for good quality?" gets a vague, inflated quote; a clear brief gets a number you can negotiate on.

Step 2 — Find suppliers you can actually verify

Use three channels in parallel: B2B marketplaces (filter for verified status and years active), trade fairs, and referrals from other buyers. Then cross-check: a real company's name, registered address, and contact details should be consistent across its marketplace profile, invoice, and website. If a "company" only communicates through a personal chat account and refuses a formal quotation on letterhead, treat that as a warning sign.

Step 3 — Verify the business, not the website

Every legally registered Chinese company has an 18-digit unified social credit code printed on its business license. Ask for it. Check the registered name and scope of business against the public national credit registry, and confirm the bank account you are asked to pay is in the same company name — not a personal account, and not a different company. A live video walk-through of the workshop, unscripted and on your schedule, tells you more than any catalog.

Step 4 — Stage the money so it follows the evidence

This is the single most protective habit in small-batch importing: never pay 100% upfront, and keep two money streams separate. Goods cost goes directly to the supplier. Any agent's service fee is paid in stages — a start payment to begin work, and the balance only after you have reviewed the evidence of what was done. If a supplier or agent pushes for full payment before anything exists, you have learned everything you need to know.

Step 5 — Inspect before the balance moves

Before the final payment on goods, check what actually sits in the warehouse: quantity against the packing list, workmanship against the approved sample, packaging against your spec. If you cannot be there, a pre-shipment inspection with dated photos and video is the standard answer — it is what we do on every order. Disputes are far cheaper to resolve while the goods are still in Shanghai.

Step 6 — Export paperwork and shipping

For regular orders, work under a formal export agency agreement: correct commercial invoice, packing list, and booking through a forwarder. For very small shipments, consolidated freight or courier can be more economical than a full container — the right answer depends on volume, weight, and your country's duty thresholds. Check your own country's import rules before ordering: duty rates, restricted categories, and labeling requirements are published by your customs authority (for example, CBP's basic import pages for the United States).

Red flags checklist

• Payment requested to a personal bank account or a name that doesn't match the license.
• Prices dramatically below every other quote — the shortfall gets recovered somewhere.
• Refuses a video call or gives excuses about why the workshop can't be shown.
• No unified social credit code, or a code that doesn't resolve in the public registry.
• Pressure tactics: "another buyer is taking the slot today."
• Won't provide a formal quotation or a written agreement.
• Asks for 100% before production or before any inspection.

One red flag is a question; two is a pattern; three means walk away. For how we structure orders against these risks, see the Trust & Safety framework.

Common questions