How do you tell a trading company from a factory on Alibaba?
Read the business scope on the SAMR record, not the storefront banner. A Chinese company registered for manufacturing carries a production scope (生产 or 制造) on its license; a reseller carries a trade scope (商贸 or 贸易). The record is public on gsxt.gov.cn, and the 3-Consistency Rule applied to the trading-company question walks the check step by step — with behavioral signals beyond SAMR for the cases the paperwork leaves open. Cross-check the export record next: the HS codes a company ships under tell you what it makes versus what it resells.
A trading company is not automatically a problem. It is a margin layer and a control question. Some trading companies add real value — consolidation, QC staffing, export paperwork. The risk is paying factory-direct expectations to a reseller who cannot control production dates, spec changes, or defect rates. A trade-only scope does not prove deception; it sets the burden of proof. Storefront signals help too — a low MOQ alone does not settle the question, and the vetting layer for either entity type lives in the manufacturer-vetting hub.
How do you negotiate MOQ with a Chinese supplier?
Negotiate structure, not just the number. The MOQ exists because the factory buys material in lots, sets up a line, and amortizes that setup across units. Pushing the number down without changing the structure pushes the factory toward the three quiet compensations: cheaper material, stock substitution, or your order sliding to the back of the queue.
The structure that works is a pilot run: 10–20% of the intended master order, priced honestly, checked against a signed golden sample. The factory gets a real order; you get a repeatability test before the full commitment. And watch the counter-signal: honest factories know their MOQ. A quote that drops from 10,000 units to 1,000 after one pushback email was a negotiation tactic, not a production constraint. The archive below covers MOQ negotiation by scenario — test orders vs production promises, prototype terms vs production terms, and how many units a first FBA order should actually be.
Is a "no MOQ" supplier a good sign?
"No MOQ" is a stock signal, not a flexibility signal. A factory that tools up, buys material, and schedules a line has a real minimum — that is what a factory is. A supplier offering single units is shipping from existing stock or brokering someone else's. That model is legitimate for testing demand. It breaks the moment you need customization, batch consistency, or scale pricing, and the pattern in seller reports is the same story on repeat: the flexible first quote falls apart at reorder.
The screen is one question: what changes at 10× volume? A stock-seller cannot answer with tooling, material lead times, and line scheduling. A factory can. Neither answer is disqualifying — but you should know which business model you are buying from before the second order, not after.
Why is DDP from China a trap for many sellers?
DDP only functions when a real importer of record exists in the destination market. "Delivered Duty Paid" sounds like the supplier absorbed your compliance problem; what the quote resolves to in practice is the question of who legally imports the goods. For a non-EU seller, Agence Octo runs the EU-Importer-of-Record Test — three yes/no questions about EU establishment, destination-country EORI and VAT registration, and written acceptance of import liability. The UK version is the UK-DDP IOR Screen: when a supplier asks for your VAT and EORI on a UK DDP order, they are naming the requirement, not being difficult.
Both are practical pre-shipment screens, not legal determinations — verify with a customs broker before booking DDP freight. Anything less than three yes answers means the DDP quote is a price for a shipment that may not clear.
What payment terms protect a first order?
Terms that hold money against verified milestones. A 30/70 split with the balance released after third-party pre-shipment inspection keeps the largest payment behind the only check that tests the actual goods. Alibaba Trade Assurance adds a payment-protection layer when the contract spec is quantitative — and none at all when the spec says "good quality." For capital equipment, buyer-protective structures stretch further: staged releases tied to a Factory Acceptance Test before shipment.
Two constants across the archive: the account name must match the business license — a corporate order paid to a personal account is a walk-away flag, not a negotiation point — and the deposit is the first fraud window, which is why forwarder scams and landed-cost math under volatile freight and tariffs both belong in the calculation before the wire moves.
How should you sequence a first order from Alibaba?
Screen the entity before you discuss the product. The order that survives contact with production runs in this sequence: SAMR record and business scope first; export record second; quote structure third — what the number includes, who the importer of record is, which currency the invoice is in; then a pilot run against a signed golden sample; then third-party inspection before the balance payment releases. Every step gates the next. A buyer who starts at "can you do $2.80 per unit" has skipped four gates and is negotiating blind.
The sequence also exposes the quote games early. A supplier who resists entity questions before pricing questions is telling you where the margin hides. A forwarder recommended by the supplier, with no independent quote to compare against, is a cost you have not seen yet. And a DDP price that undercuts every DDP quote from licensed brokers is not a bargain — it is a customs risk with your goods attached. The archive below has the worked cases for each gate, including what to lock when freight volatility breaks the landed-cost model.
Agence Octo SAM turns this archive into a shortlist. Factory-direct suppliers from a 40,000-supplier index, screened for entity type, export record, and production capability before a quote reaches you. See how SAM works →
The full archive is below — supplier screens, MOQ scenarios, freight and payment mechanics, newest first. If one dispatch resolves your current question, read the one next to it too: the failure modes in this category travel in pairs, and the quote that survived the MOQ screen still has to survive the freight screen.