Someone you trust walks the factory. Then signs a report you can act on.
The $95 Supplier Reality Check tells you who's on paper. The Factory Reality Check™ tells you what's actually inside the building.
A real China Agent inspector drives to the factory, walks the production floor, photographs the machines, counts the workers, geo-tags the location, identifies the decision-makers, and writes a signed field report you can show your lawyer, your CFO, or your insurance company.
No drone footage. No supplier-supplied photos. No "video walkthroughs" recorded by the factory's marketing team. A human, on the ground, with a clipboard and a phone. Real proof.
"#1 — If you didn't visit the factory, you don't have a supplier. You have a risk."
A WeChat conversation isn't a supplier. A signed PI from a "factory" you've never verified isn't a supplier. Until someone you trust has stood inside the building, you have a risk dressed up as a relationship.
The $95 Supplier Reality Check confirms the entity exists. The $795 Factory Reality Check confirms what's actually in the building. This page is what happens when you stop trusting and start verifying.
What's included
Twelve verified data points. One signed field report. Delivered as a PDF with photos, geo-tag, and inspector signature.
1. Everything in the $95 Supplier Reality Check
Check Business license, legal person, ownership, registered address, business scope, lawsuits, bank cross-check, written commercial interpretation. Built before the inspector visits.
2. On-site factory walkthrough
The inspector physically enters the factory, walks the production floor, and observes operations in real time.
3. Geo-tagged location proof
GPS coordinates, satellite map view, and address confirmation matched against the registered legal entity address.
4. Production line photos
Photos of active production lines, machines, materials inputs, finished goods, and storage areas — timestamped and geo-tagged.
5. Worker count + capacity assessment
Estimated worker count, shift patterns, and capacity assessment matched against the supplier's claimed production volume.
6. Machinery & equipment inventory
Photographs and notes on production equipment — types, condition, brand, age. Confirms whether the factory is actually equipped to produce what they're quoting.
7. Decision-maker identification
Who runs the factory in person — owner, GM, plant manager, technical lead. Names, titles, contact verification. Not just sales staff.
8. Trading-company vs. real-factory determination
On-site confirmation of whether the entity is a real manufacturer or a trading company subcontracting to other factories. (One of the most common fraud patterns we catch.)
9. Active production verification
Whether the factory was actively producing on the day of the visit, or if the line was idle. Tells you something the supplier won't volunteer.
10. Cleanliness, safety, and compliance impressions
Inspector's notes on conditions visible from the floor — cleanliness, organization, worker safety, basic compliance signals (escape exits, fire safety, etc.).
11. Comparison with declared capacity
Cross-check between claimed monthly capacity and what the inspector physically observes — line count, worker count, shift patterns.
12. Written field report — signed
A 3–5 page PDF report with all photos, geo-tag, written observations, and a signed conclusion from the inspector and the China Hub Manager.
One factory. One inspector. One signed report. Five business days.
What happens after you book
Five business days. Six steps. One report.
Day 0 — You book Pay $795. Submit supplier company name, address, and any specific concerns or focus areas.
Day 0–1 — Pre-visit due diligence Our China Hub Manager runs the $95 Reality Check first — the paper layer — to confirm the entity is real, registered, and matches the bank account on file. If the paper check uncovers a deal-breaking red flag, we tell you before the on-site visit happens.
Day 1–2 — Visit scheduling We coordinate the visit. The factory is not notified by us — we typically arrive identified as buyers or buyer representatives. (If you want disclosed verification instead, that's a different scope — let us know in your booking notes.)
Day 2–4 — On-site visit The inspector drives to the factory, walks the floor, photographs production, identifies decision-makers, and documents observations in real time. Average visit length: 2–4 hours, depending on factory size.
Day 3–5 — Report drafting The inspector compiles the field report with photos, observations, and conclusion. The China Hub Manager reviews and signs. The report gets translated into English where source documents are in Chinese.
Day 5 — Delivery Final 3–5 page PDF delivered to your email. Includes photos, geo-tag, signed conclusion, and recommended next steps.
If a problem is found mid-visit (factory doesn't exist, address is wrong, entity doesn't match), you get the report immediately and a partial refund offer if no further work is warranted.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Three types of buyers consistently see the most value from this service.
The first-deposit buyer. You've found a supplier through Alibaba, Made-in-China, a referral, or a trade show. The samples look good. The PI is signed. You're about to wire a 30% deposit. The Factory Reality Check happens before that wire. If something is wrong, you find out before $30,000 leaves your account — not after.
The scaling buyer. You've placed 1–2 orders. They went fine. You're about to commit to a much larger order, a longer-term relationship, or a Sales Contract. The on-site visit confirms the factory you've been emailing is the factory actually producing your product. Most buyers learn at this stage that something has shifted — different production line, different sub-supplier, different reality.
The post-problem buyer. A previous order had quality issues, communication breakdowns, or unexpected substitutions. Before you go back for another round, you want to know if the factory is still operating, still capable, still the same entity. The Factory Reality Check tells you whether to continue, escalate, or walk away.
What this looks like in practice
A real on-site visit that changed a $90,000 decision.
"The PI said 'Manufacturer.' The address said 'Industrial Park.' The visit said 'Apartment Complex.'"
A buyer in apparel sourcing came to us with an established relationship — eight months of WeChat conversations, three rounds of perfect samples, and a 30% deposit ready to wire on a $90,000 first production order.
The $95 Supplier Reality Check came back clean. The entity was registered. The legal person had no lawsuits. The bank account matched. On paper, it was a real company.
We sent an inspector for the on-site visit.
The address turned out to be a residential apartment complex in Guangzhou, not an industrial park. The "factory" was a 4-room office on the 12th floor — three desks, two laptops, one sample rack. No production line. No workers. No machines.
The supplier was a trading company. The production was being subcontracted to a real factory two hours away in Foshan — one we had no contract with, no quality protocol with, and no relationship with.
The buyer halted the wire. Used the inspector's report to negotiate a direct relationship with the actual production factory. Ended up getting a 22% lower unit price because the trading company's margin came out of the equation.
The $795 visit recovered $19,800 on order #1 alone. The relationship the visit unlocked has been running for three years.
Factory Reality Check case · Guangdong, 2023
What this isn't
Three things buyers sometimes expect that the Factory Reality Check doesn't do.
Not a quality inspection (QC) of finished goods.
The Factory Reality Check verifies the factory — its existence, capability, capacity, decision-makers, and operational reality. It is not an inspection of a specific batch of products against your quality standards. That's a different service: Production QC Inspection, scoped per-shipment, contact us for a quote.
Not a long-term audit
This is a single visit on a single day. It tells you what was true on the day of the visit. For continuous oversight (production-stage QC, monthly check-ins, ongoing supplier management), see Monthly Support.
Not a sourcing recommendation.
We verify the supplier you bring us. We don't recommend an alternative if the verification fails. We will tell you exactly why it failed and what to do next, but we don't take commission from any factory and we won't introduce you to one. That's a different (and conflicted) business.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions before buyers commit. If yours isn't here, ask.
The $95 is paper-only — license, ownership, lawsuits, bank cross-check, delivered remotely in 2 days. The $795 includes everything in the $95, plus a real China Agent inspector physically walks the factory and writes a signed field report with photos. Same DNA, two levels of proof. The $95 confirms the entity exists. The $795 confirms what's actually in the building.
By default, no — we arrive as buyers or buyer representatives. The factory doesn't know they're being verified. (If you want a disclosed verification — e.g., we identify ourselves as your representative — let us know in the booking notes. The deliverables are the same; the in-room dynamic differs.)
It happens occasionally — usually a sign of something the factory doesn't want seen. The inspector documents the refusal, photographs the building exterior, confirms the address, and notes the response. That refusal itself is data. You'll get a partial-refund offer if no further verification work was performed.
Then the report confirms it. You get photos, geo-tag, decision-maker contact, capacity notes, and a signed verification — strong leverage in your next negotiation. Many buyers use a clean Factory Reality Check report as a trust accelerator with their own customers, lenders, or insurance.
Most visits happen within 2–4 business days of booking, depending on the factory's location and our hub team's schedule. Total turnaround (booking to report delivery): 5 business days.
Direct coverage from our hubs in Guangzhou, Foshan, Yiwu, and Shenzhen — which means most of Guangdong and Zhejiang are covered next-day. Other Chinese provinces (Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, etc.) are reachable within 1–3 days, sometimes with a small travel surcharge. We tell you upfront before booking confirms.
Yes — that's the $995 Deep Dive Legal Verification tier. It includes everything in the $795 Factory Reality Check, plus court records, cross-referenced legal person history, and a commercial interpretation a lawyer can defend. Best for high-stakes deals or buyers preparing for a contract.
Yes. If you upgraded from the $95 Supplier Reality Check to the $795 Factory Reality Check within 30 days of the original $95 purchase, the $95 comes off — net price $700. Stack the system.
Real building. Real workers. Real proof.
$795 to find out what's actually inside the factory. Five business days. One signed report.
Factory Reality Check™ is a productized service of China Agent Ltd. Visits are conducted by salaried China Agent inspectors based in our regional hubs (Guangzhou, Foshan, Yiwu, Shenzhen). Reports are signed by the inspector and the China Hub Manager. The trademark belongs to China Agent Ltd, registered 2016. Talk to Eldad directly: LinkedIn