1. The two questions that matter2. Licence and scope3. Factory or trading company4. Samples before deposit5. Payment and bank details6. Documents as a verification signal
The two questions that actually matter
The first is whether the company is legally real and in good standing. The second is whether it can produce your specific product, at your specification, with the documents your destination requires. A supplier can pass the first and fail the second. Most checklists only cover the first.
For the destination-side sequence, see the Nigeria import guide; for what we check on the ground, see our factory verification page.
Licence, registered name and scope
Ask for the business licence and check the registered Chinese name against the name on the proforma invoice, the bank account and the export documents. Check that the registered scope actually covers manufacturing the product, and that the entity has been operating long enough to have a track record. A name that changes between quotation, invoice and bank account is a reason to stop, not a reason to ask for a quicker explanation.
Factory or trading company — and why both can work
A trading company is not automatically a bad supplier. Some are well organised, hold useful supplier networks and can consolidate categories a single factory cannot. The problem is opacity: if you do not know who makes the goods, you cannot verify capability, you cannot audit the line, and your conformity documentation may not name the real manufacturer. Ask directly, and ask for the factory name in writing. If the answer is vague, the risk sits with you.
Our sourcing agent guide explains the difference between an agent that works for the buyer and an intermediary that works for the seller, including how each one gets paid.
Samples before deposit, and a sealed reference
Never approve a bulk order from photographs. Request a physical sample, test it against the specification you will actually put in the purchase order, then keep a signed reference sample. That reference is what an independent inspector compares the production batch against. Our inspection service describes the checks.
- Refusal to share a factory photograph, video walkthrough or business licence
- Pressure to pay the full amount before production starts
- A bank account in a personal name, or a change of bank details sent only by email
- Improbably low prices with no explanation of material or specification changes
- A test report for a different model, factory or rating
Payment terms and bank-detail checks
Agree the payment milestones in the purchase order and tie them to evidence: an approved sample, a production milestone, a passed inspection and a complete document set. Pay into the company account named on the invoice. If bank details change, verify by a phone call to a number you already have — not by replying to the email that announced the change. This is the single cheapest control against payment diversion, and it applies to every market, not just Nigeria.
Documents as a verification signal
How a supplier handles paperwork tells you how the order will go. Ask early for a draft commercial invoice and packing list, the model numbers that will appear on the conformity documents and the origin evidence. If the product description is vague, if the HS shorthand does not match your agent’s classification, or if quantities and values drift between drafts, you have found the problem while it is still free to fix. Our Africa sourcing guide and the Nigeria import guide explain where those documents sit in the chain, and the RFQ checklist shows how to put the requirements into the purchase order.