A quick email exchange can tell you whether a supplier is a real factory or a trading company — if you ask the right questions. This list is the exact one we’d want a buyer to ask us. It’s in order: the first questions cost nothing, and each one makes the next more meaningful.
1. “Are you the manufacturer, or a trading company?”
Not a trick question — trading companies can be excellent partners. But you must know which one you’re dealing with, because it changes everything downstream: lead times, QC control, defect responsibility, and price. A straight answer here is a good sign. A vague answer is a red flag.
2. “Can I see your factory — live video call, not photos?”
Photos can be borrowed from anywhere (and often are). A live video walkthrough of the production line, the printing area and the QC bench is hard to fake. Any genuine factory will happily do it — it’s one of their best sales tools.
3. “What is your MOQ, and how does it break down by product type?”
Beware of one magic MOQ number for everything. Real factories quote differently for stock designs, custom prints and full custom shapes, because the cost structures genuinely differ. A supplier quoting “100 pcs for anything” is probably not manufacturing anything.
4. “What does the custom design process look like — proof before production?”
You want to hear: artwork received → free digital proof within ~24h → your approval → pre-production sample → your sign-off → bulk production. If any checkpoint is missing (“we’ll just print it, don’t worry”), walk away. This is the single most common source of expensive mistakes.
5. “Can you itemize the quote?”
Material, decoration, tooling, packaging, QC, margin. If they can’t or won’t break it down, you can’t compare them to anyone else — and they may not know their own costs. Line items also reveal whether tooling is hidden in your unit price forever.
6. “What testing do you do — and can I see a report?”
Salt-spray (corrosion), UV-fade (color longevity), adhesion (print durability). A factory that tests will have reports to show, because customers ask for them. “We test everything, trust us” with no report means no testing.
7. “What are your real lead times — sample and bulk, separately?”
Sample time and bulk production time are different numbers. So are production time and shipping time. Get all three, in writing, and add buffer. A supplier who quotes “15 days door-to-door” for sea freight is not being honest with you.
8. “Will you sign an NDA for my design?”
You’re about to hand over your artwork, your packaging files and maybe your whole brand identity. A legitimate factory signs NDAs daily and will say yes immediately. Watch how fast they agree — hesitation is information.
9. “What happens if a batch is defective?”
Every factory has defects; the difference is what happens after. Look for a clear answer: rework at their cost, replacement production, inspection reports with photos, or a credit process. “It won’t happen” is not a quality policy — it’s a hope.
10. “Who will be my contact for the life of this order?”
You want one named person who knows your project — not a rotating cast of strangers. Ask for their direct contact and test it. The quality of the relationship is the quality of the order; great products come from great communication, not the other way around.
We’re happy to answer all ten — live.
Book a video factory tour or send the questions by email. No scripts, no pressure.
How to Read the Answers
Don’t score suppliers on how many answers you like — score them on specificity. “About 500 pieces, depends” and “500 pcs for custom print, 100 pcs stock, tooling from 2,000 pcs with itemized mold cost” are both answers to the same question. One of them has run the numbers. The other is reading a script.
And if you ask these ten questions and a supplier answers them all clearly within a day or two, you’ve found someone who treats buyers the way you’d want your own customers treated. That’s the one worth the sample order.