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How to tell a real factory from a trading company in 48 hours — using documents they will actually send you, questions they will actually answer, and a sample protocol that holds up when something goes wrong.
14-day refund, no questions asked. If it doesn't change how you buy, I don't want your money.
How to read a Chinese business licence (营业执照) — registered scope, registered capital, establishment date, and the three lines that tell you whether they can legally manufacture what they are selling you. Includes a worked example of a company registered for trading that presents itself as a factory.
Four documents to request in one message, and what each one proves. A real factory can produce all four within a day. A trading company can usually produce two, and will stall on the rest — and the stalling pattern is itself the answer.
43 questions, sequenced so that early answers constrain later ones — the same technique used in technical due diligence. Includes the questions that a factory finds easy and a trading company finds impossible.
What to measure, what to photograph, what to record in writing, and how to turn a approved sample into a specification the supplier cannot quietly reinterpret. Includes a one-page sample approval form.
Which levers move a Chinese supplier (volume commitment, payment timing, packaging simplification, repeat-order framing) and which ones either do nothing or cost you goodwill. Includes actual phrasing for both sides.
The five clauses that matter in a Chinese supply contract: specification lock, inspection right, late-delivery remedy, defect remedy, and IP (intellectual property) — plus why a clause nobody will enforce is worse than no clause.
Why this exists
Most first-time buyers either skip vetting entirely or buy a glossy "factory audit" that costs $400 and mostly photographs the same three machines. Neither tells you what you actually need to know, which is narrow: can this specific company make this specific thing, to this specific tolerance, on this specific date — and did they make the thing in the photo?
The Playbook is built around that question. It is not a compliance certificate and it is not a supplier directory. It is a sequence of checks you can run in two days, with a phone and an email account, without flying anywhere.
Roughly the cost of one inspector-hour in China. Refundable for 14 days, no questions.
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