Supplier Red-Flag Checker

Free tool · by Sol Research Desk · the interactive version of the VERIFY system

Also in the toolkit: 🗣 Reply Decoder (what their email actually says) · 🧮 Landed Cost · 🧧 CNY 2027 Deadline

Twelve questions. Three minutes. The same red flags that separate real factories from the trade-company shells and prepaid-fee scams that eat importers' deposits — scored live as you answer.

How to read the score

• 80–100 · Looks clean on paper. Still get the documents before the wire: license, PI, and account name must match exactly. Clean checklists have been faked; cross-checked documents rarely are.
• 50–79 · Proceed with caution. The failed items are your pre-wire checklist. Each one is fixable — a real supplier clears them in days; a shell stalls for weeks.
• Below 50 · High-risk pattern. Most deposit-loss scams we've documented look exactly like this: pressure tactics + personal account + 100% upfront. Walking away is cheaper than wiring.

Scored below 80? The China Sourcing Playbook contains the full 25-template verification and negotiation system — including the exact messages that clear each failed item above. And if you're still pricing the order, run the landed cost calculator next.

🎁 Want more free? Click to email with subject "Sample" — 2 AI sourcing prompts + the quality-claim template, back by return mail (not on any page).