I met with 3 companies in China that could make my products for me. We went there to see what there quality and service was like. When I arrived back home one of the females that worked for the company contacted me. ( I was going to choose that company to make my products for me) as example I went to a jewelry company who work with sterling silver to make sterling silver ( not jewelry) products for me. She said to go with her because she knew other places that could manufacture my products for me, (she would be an agent for me) She was going to leave where she was working and was going to work for herself and a partner. We have been comunicating for about 5 months. I have sent her money through western union in another persons name and they say this is a no no to do. I send her samples also in another persons name and she sends me my samples back. I pay to send samples to her and she pays to send them back. I needed to send her money because I needed to have a designer design my products. Now that my products are nearly ready we are getting to the nitty gritty. I have worked out that my first order will be about $3.000, that my choise in purchasing this amount not the company..I think she is genuine but I don't trust every one, I have alot of information on her through her work and the address where I send my samples is an electronic manufacturing place in China and I have checked this and all is correct but I do not know who is manufacturing my products although I have never asked. Am I taking a risk with her or is she genuine? My gut tells me she's genuine.
Any comments would be appreciated.

Replying to [treasure]: It's called partnering. She may not have the ability to export and is using the export license of the electronics company. Maybe you can pose this to her as a method of payment. 50% T/T in advance 50% upon receipt of shipping documents, or maybe even UPS COD if that method is available to you there. Once you have the proof in hand via one of these payments. You will have a much better trust for one another for future business dealings.

Ranger

Seems to me that you may have met a genuine helper but I think that your skepticism is a good thing.

The greatest risk of course is that you send money and not get anything in return. So why not ensure that you have a third party inpection company do a pre-shipment inspection before the final payment is released. Paying 30% deposit by TT with the remaining 70% paid after a pre-shipment inspection is pretty standard practice.

Your product is pretty specialized so you best seek out a company that is familiar with that product to help you with the inspection. It will cost you money of course but could be a good investment.

Replying to [treasure]:
Sir,it is very normal in nowdays to be find a purchaser or and agent in the source country.she or he orthe agent can save you a lot of time and money.it is secure way to do that.we can find this situation all of the world.but before you do this,you should understand this country's customs and that person.i mean you should find that person must be strong in this products who have much experience to inspect the quality and know well of this item.if your agent is a person,i suggest you do like that,you can give him or her salary each month or you give him or her commission.and send do business through the factories directly.and he or she just inspect the goods and place the order to the factories,of course the products she or he must know well or he or she allow to learn the knowladge of the item.if the agent is the trading company,i think it is much better,the fee will be very higher.you can check this company through China govenment.and or through internet.such as alibaba.com or made-in-china,or some famous exhibition.if they are good.the company will attend their.but in my mind,if you can find a real or correct man who can take care of the goods.i think it will be much better,and also can save much time and exceed fee.trust each other and then the bridge will be much clear and strong between you and your agent.

Replying to [treasure]: 50% T/T in advance 50% upon receipt of shipping documents. I think you trust your supplier in your mind, but still be careful, so that you will do long and good business with your supplier.

Replying to [treasure]:why not search on the website with the product you are going to make? then you can have the exact manufacturer with your products.

If you are making a new products, I suggest you to contact with
the manufacturer directly by yourself.

Replying to [treasure]:Hello.. I would suggest hiring an outside investigative company in China to do some background check on the company, and the factory. Ask the girl for the factory information, and you can then have the agent evaluate their business. I have learned alot by using these third party companies, and people that i thought i trusted...I shouldnt have, and people I thought for sure were fake, just because...turned out to be what they said. You cant judge a book by it scover anymore, especially over the internet. You must open it up, and read it...to really know. So, get the factory info, and have them researched. Good Luck
MaddyDaddy

Replying to [treasure]: You may have find genuine supplier,may be she is not in a position to export you directly, I will not advise to send 00% payment, may be 50% advance and 50% on reciept of material would be fine

Replying to [treasure]:

I totally agree with Maddy on this case.

She is a good helper but may not be a qualified exporter. Is she able to solve all the issues regarding Production, QC, Delivery and after-sale services etc ? If your order is very small, you may have a try on her and if your order is large enough, I suggest you'd better contact a qualified factory for further discussion. Take care !

Replying to [treasure]: It's really very hard to clarify or identify the supplier only from some B2B website. I work as a market sales for a chinese manufactur too, we are supplier, but sometimes, we also find some suppliers from alibaba.com who can offer us some components and accessories. So, my opinion is to visit their factories and make sure that the factories they showed to youbelongs to themselves. After your visit, you can ask them to send their related certifications and licence to you. If you are looking for suppliers overseas, cannot visit your suppliers every time, then contact your country's embassy there, they are often willing to supply this service for you.

Replying to [treasure]:
It's really very hard to clarify or identify the supplier only from some B2B website.

I work as a market sales for a chinese manufactur too, we are supplier, but sometimes, we also find some suppliers from alibaba.com who can offer us some components and accessories. So, my opinion is to visit their factories and make sure that the factory they showed to you belongs to themselves. After your visit, you can ask them to send their related certifications and licence to you.

If you are looking for suppliers overseas, cannot visit your suppliers every time, then contact your country's embassy there, they are often willing to supply this service for you.