01
An Amazon seller stops paying a middleman without knowing it
- The task
- A US seller was about to place a $24,000 order for kitchen goods with a "factory" in Foshan found on a marketplace. Photos, catalogue and a confident sales manager. Three suppliers were shortlisted and none had been checked.
- What we did
- Three desk checks at $300 each. One licence showed trading scope only and a registered address in an office tower: a middleman presenting as a manufacturer. For the two real factories we ran a one-day on-site audit and signed a bilingual NNN before sending drawings.
- Timeline
- Desk checks in 4 days, audit on day 7, NNN signed in the second week.
- Result
- The order went to the actual producer at a unit price 14% lower for the same specification. Checks, audit and contract cost $1,900 and paid for themselves several times on the first order.