Business License Verification: What It Can and Cannot Tell You

Google Maps Street View is a powerful but underused verification tool. Search the factory address and check: does the location match the description? Is the building size consistent with claimed production capacity? Does Street View show the factory sign in the photos? I've caught suppliers claiming factory status when Street View showed a residential apartment building. This one check takes 2 minutes and costs nothing.

Sample quality is not always indicative of production quality. Some factories produce 'golden samples' — handcrafted by senior technicians — while mass production runs on standard lines. To verify, ask for samples taken from regular production, not specially prepared ones. Better yet, visit during production and randomly select samples from the line. The gap between sample and bulk quality is one of the most common complaints in China sourcing.