Purchasing in China
Quality inspection and control in China
We inspect your goods in China before they leave for Ukraine and send you a photo and video report — so that you learn about defects within a few days, not after 70, when the cargo has already cleared customs and there is no one left to return it to. At this stage the supplier is still within reach, and the money for freight, duty and VAT has not been spent yet, so any mistake costs many times less.
Why the check has to happen in China
Work through the typical scenario. You paid for the goods, they went by sea, 70 days later they arrived in Odesa, you paid the freight, duty and VAT, brought them to your warehouse, opened them — and a third of the batch is wrong. From there the options run out: shipping it back to China costs more than the goods themselves, after two and a half months the supplier no longer remembers the order, and a claim against the carrier does not work, because the cargo arrived undamaged.
The same defect found at our warehouse in Guangzhou means a conversation with the factory the next day, a replacement batch or a refund before you have paid for the shipping.
The cost of a mistake depends on where it is found
| Where the defect is found | What can be done |
|---|---|
| At the warehouse in China, before shipment | Replace the batch, make up the shortfall, demand a discount, refuse the shipment |
| In Ukraine, after customs clearance | Practically nothing. Logistics, duty and VAT have already been paid |
What exactly we check
The scope of the inspection is agreed in advance — from a simple recount to an item-by-item check with measurements.
- Quantity and completeness. How many packages, how many units per package, whether everything stated in the order is there, whether the model has been substituted.
- Appearance and condition. Scratches, dents, chips, contamination, deformation, the state of the factory packaging.
- Conformity to the order. Colour, size, material, article number, configuration, markings on the product itself.
- Functionality. For electronics and equipment — powering up, basic functions, the set of cables and power supplies. The scope of testing is agreed separately.
- Packaging for transit. Whether the factory carton will survive 70 days at sea and several transhipments. This is often where the decision on reinforced packaging is made.
- Product documentation. The markings and data that will be needed for customs clearance and certification.
What the report looks like
A general photo and video review of the cargo is done free of charge for every batch: shots of the cargo on receipt, images of the markings and packaging. This is standard warehouse practice, not a separate service.
A detailed report is a paid service with an agreed scope: photos of individual units, video of the functionality check where one was carried out, and a short written conclusion — what was checked, to what extent, what was found, which items raise questions.
The report reaches you before we put the cargo into a shipment. In other words, the decision to ship or not is yours, taken with the actual picture in hand rather than the seller's description.
What we do if we find defects
First we document it: photos of the problem units, the quantity, the nature of the defect. Then you choose the scenario, and we negotiate with the supplier in Chinese on your behalf:
- replacement of the defective units before shipment;
- reordering the shortfall and shipping it together with the batch;
- a discount on the batch;
- returning the goods to the supplier and recovering the money;
- shipping the part of the batch that passed the check while the rest is being resolved.
If we financed the purchase, the situation does not touch your working capital at all — you settle up for what actually shipped. Terms are on the purchase financing page.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Quote · free of charge
We will check the batch before it ships
Describe the goods and what matters most to you in terms of quality. We will draw up the checklist, calculate the cost of the inspection and the shipping, and tell you the date by which the goods have to be at the warehouse to make the next departure.