Supplier Verification Checklist: Identity First, Claims Second

In May 2026 a small spice start-up in Mumbai described its business model on a forum for Indian exporters, quite openly. It had a modest budget, sourced from the big wholesale market at Vashi, and would "only procure bulk inventory after securing a 30% to 50% advance from the buyer" (r/exportersindia, 2026 (opens in a new tab)). That's a legitimate way to start an export business. It's also a business whose export code, tax number and website would all check out perfectly, while the goods you're paying for don't exist yet and will be bought with your deposit.

That's why this checklist runs in two stages. The first proves the business is who it says it is. The second proves it can do what it says it does. Most buyers do a bit of the first and none of the second, and the gap between them is where first orders go wrong. Copy the list, tick it as you go, and date every tick, because a supplier's status is a reading on a day, not a fact forever.

How To Use It

Run Stage A before you send a request for quotation. It's quick, and a supplier who fails it doesn't need to spend a day quoting you. Run Stage B after you've picked a shortlist and before any deposit leaves your account. Write the date and the source next to each line, and screenshot the registry results into one folder per supplier.

A line can end three ways. Pass means the record says what the supplier said. Ask means something doesn't match, and you need an explanation before you go on. Stop is kept for the few findings that end a conversation by themselves. Most findings are Ask, and most Asks have an ordinary answer.

Stage A: Identity (Before The RFQ)

Stage B: Claims (Before The Deposit)

Why Each Line Is There

Every line on the list is there because a buyer, a regulator's record or a supplier's own account showed what happens without it.

A1. Get every number in one message. You can't check what you haven't got, and the way a supplier handles this request tells you something. A serious exporter sends the lot in a day. One that drags its feet is often a small maker who has never been asked, or a trader who would rather not name the factory yet. Both are normal. You just want to know which before you go on.

A2 to A4. The official records, not the website. Websites and directory pages are built by whoever paid for them. Buyers who've been through this say to treat a directory as "a directory of sellers" and do the checks yourself (r/Entrepreneur, 2023 (opens in a new tab)). A cancelled tax registration is one of the few Stop findings, because invoices after the cancellation date don't come from a valid registration.

A5. One legal name everywhere. This is the strongest cheap check there is, in any country. Trading under a brand is normal. A different legal name on the bank account is not, and it's a Stop until you get an answer that holds up. Money follows the legal name, and so should you.

A6 and A9. Maker or trader? Here's the line most likely to be misread, so be fair with it. A trader or merchant exporter isn't a red flag. Plenty of good goods reach big retailers through traders. Indian trade voices even advise traders to blur the maker's details on certificates and ask buyers to sign non-circumvention agreements (r/IndiaBusiness, 2025 (opens in a new tab)), so a blurred certificate usually means a trader protecting its maker, not a forger. The question isn't "is this a factory?" It's "who makes it, and who answers for quality?" Our manufacturer vs trading company comparison walks through when each one suits you.

A7. An address that fits the work. A dye house needs water and effluent treatment, and a forge needs power. Check the imagery date on the street view, whether the building could plausibly run the process, and whether the tax address, the certificate address and the address on the invoice are the same place. If they differ, ask. Job work at a partner unit is ordinary business, and the answer is usually that simple.

A8. Official lists. Some regulators publish firms whose goods can be stopped at the border without inspection. The US FDA's import alert lists are the obvious one for food, spices and botanicals. Search the name before you order.

B1. Look the certificate up at the source. A PDF proves someone has a PDF. Four things have to match in the scheme's own database: the holder, the site, the scope and the date. A certified factory also doesn't make your shipment certified. Some schemes, like GOTS, need a transaction certificate per shipment, and our textile certifications guide explains how that works.

B2. Export history from documents. A client list costs nothing to type. Proof of export is paper a bank or customs office issued. And don't treat absence from shipment databases as a warning. In our analysis of US bill-of-lading records, between 13 and 85% of India-origin sea shipments carried no shipper name, depending on the product. Not being there proves nothing.

B3 and B4. Capability is shown, never said. Records prove a business exists. They can't tell you what it makes on a Tuesday. The start-up in our opening had no line at all, by its own account, and the exporter who offered "Lifts and Lollipops" (r/IndiaBusiness, 2026 (opens in a new tab)) was telling you the same thing more cheerfully. A live video walk-through at a time you pick, and a paid sample made on the line you saw, are the cheapest proof that exists. The sample evaluation checklist covers how to judge what arrives.

B5. Origin is a document the supplier has to produce. Your preferential duty rate under a trade agreement depends on a proof of origin, and an imported input can break the rule. Ask whether they've issued that proof for your market before, and for which product. Our certificate of origin guide shows which proof each agreement needs.

B6. Named partners. Most products pass through more than one unit. Dyeing, printing, plating and finishing are often done by partners. That's fine. What isn't fine is finding out after a failed test that a unit you never heard of did the step that failed.

B7. The call-back rule. No record proves the person emailing you works for the company. If bank details change by email, phone the supplier on a number you already had before you pay a cent. This is the cheapest line on the list and the one that saves the most money.

B8. Payment tied to events. Watch for a pattern buyers describe on forums: after the first payment, a new "minimum order" top-up appears, then an "exportation fee" that is "apparently refundable" (r/IndiaBusiness, 2025 (opens in a new tab)). Stop at the first fee you didn't agree in writing. Payment methods for importers covers which terms protect you.

B9. Write down what you couldn't check. A sparse, honest record beats a complete-looking one. If capacity rests on the supplier's word then label it "supplier-stated" in your notes, so nobody on your team mistakes it for a checked fact six months from now.

In India: Which Record Answers Which Line

India is unusually good for this, because its records share one key. Characters 3 to 12 of a GST number are the business's PAN, and the export code (IEC) is the PAN, so one GST number unlocks the rest. Here's where each Stage A and B line lands in India. How to run each check, and how to read the result, is on how to verify Indian suppliers, so we don't repeat it here.

Three India-specific findings deserve a note. A composition-scheme GST number can't export, so if it quotes you FOB then someone else is the exporter, which is normal for small makers but worth knowing. A missing RCMC isn't decisive, since small consignments have been exempt since 15 September 2026. And the deepest GST view (directors, turnover band, e-way bill history) needs an Indian login, which you won't have from abroad.

When To Hand It Over

You can run every line here yourself, and we'd encourage you to do it at least once so you know what the records look like. Where it gets hard is Stage B from abroad: the video call at an odd hour, the unannounced visit, the Indian GST login. If you'd rather have someone on the ground run the checks and the factory visit for you, that's what SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) does.

Lines you can't tick yourself make good questions for the supplier. The supplier questionnaire turns them into a message you can send.