Chapter 5: Quality Control

For large order, it’s necessary to check the quality of products before shipping if you don’t want to receive defective products.

It is difficult to confirm the product only by looking at some pictures provided by the supplier.

When you don’t have a representative office in China, you can usually hire a third-party company to inspect the goods.

Ususally there are 3 types of China third-party inspection companies.

Alibaba inspection service

If you choose a supplier that accepts Alibaba Trade Assurances, or you have added inspection services before the first payment.

Then, you can directly order inspection services at Alibaba Inspection Service.

Here, you can choose one of two quality inspection companies, one is BV and the other is China Certification and Inspection Group.

The service charge of the Alibaba inspection service is cheaper than the market price, but the inspection amount is small and the inspection time is short.

Professional third-party inspection company.

There are companies specializing in quality inspection,

Such as Asian Inspection Company, V-trust, etc.

The inspection charge for these companies is usually $300 per person per day.

SGS, Intertek, TUV and other companies also provide inspection services, but the cost is relatively high.

They will usually take sample inspections in accordance with AQL inspection standards and report the inspection results to you.

Professional quality inspection companies are usually expensive and not suitable for start-ups.

Sourcing company.

You can also find a purchasing agent to complete this work, it can be a trusted purchasing agent you work with. 

The quality inspection service of the purchasing company has its own advantages.

Once the quality defects of the goods are found, they will provide a thorough inspection and help you negotiate directly with the supplier, while the inspection company doesn’t provide such services. 

Moreover, the inspection charge of the purchasing company is cheaper than that of the inspection company.