By Per Linden, CEO of Scandic Sourcing

After 22 years of working with sourcing and production in China, I've had countless experiences—some frustrating at the time, but now great stories to share over a drink. While these stories are entertaining in hindsight, they also reveal that ensuring you find reliable suppliers is a shared challenge in global sourcing, especially when facing the complexities of different markets.

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Here are three real examples of the pitfalls businesses can face when sourcing overseas:

1. A Polished Website Can Hide Real Problems

During a supplier search project, we came across a strip steel company that seemed promising—at least based on their website. This was years ago, before China's high-speed rail network and bridge infrastructure were developed, and getting to their factory in northern Jiangsu province required a lot of effort. We crossed the Yangtze River by ferry, then drove several hours.

When we arrived, we found the factory looked nothing like the sleek, modern photos on their website. Instead, it resembled a run-down barn.

When we asked the owner about the discrepancy, he smiled and said, “Yes, we’ll build that factory in two years.”

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon situation. English-language websites are often not updated, and many photos are borrowed from other companies. What you see online can be far from the reality on the ground.

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2. The Better It Sounds, the More Careful You Must Be

While the language barrier can often be a challenge, it’s a huge relief when you finally meet someone fluent in English who seems to understand exactly what you need.

One of our clients met a Chinese flange manufacturer at an exhibition in Germany. The salesperson spoke excellent English, the booth looked professional, and everything indicated a solid, experienced supplier. The client was excited and asked Scandic Sourcing to verify the factory before placing their first order.

When we arrived at the factory in Wuxi, the well-polished salesperson picked us up at the train station. After a long lunch at a fancy restaurant, we had to remind him that we were actually there to visit the factory.

As we arrived at the factory, I realized I had already visited this place twice before and had even conducted a detailed factory audit. It was indeed one of the leading flange factories in the region. However, when we checked their certificates, we found inconsistencies with the Chinese names and addresses.

The salesperson and the quality manager insisted that everything was fine, but something didn’t feel right. Back at the office, I had our technical team verify the addresses on the documents. Our engineering manager drove out to those addresses, and here’s what we found:

  • A PED certificate from a major German certification body was a forgery. The address listed led to a vegetable field.
  • The business license was registered to a 20 m² hole-in-the-wall hardware store, where steel profiles were piled on the floor, and the man running the place casually mentioned that "some people come by to pick up their mail."

This was clearly an attempt to piggyback on the reputation of a well-known factory. It also serves as a reminder that appearances—whether in person or online—can be deceiving, especially in certain global online markets where many suppliers may simply be independent agents, not actual factories.

3. It’s Easy to Get Misled as an Outsider—But They’re the Locals

A few years ago, I sent two of my younger, foreign staff to Zhejiang province to check out a factory for a future metal fabrication project. They came back with glowing impressions and great photos. The quotation was solid, and while the project wouldn’t start immediately, everything looked promising.

However, six months later, when the client gave us the green light to start, we needed to revisit the factory for a more detailed evaluation. That’s when things started to unravel.

The contact person became hard to reach. When we finally got in touch, he told us they weren’t ready to deliver. That didn’t make sense, so we kept pressing. Eventually, he admitted:

The factory he showed us wasn’t his. He was building his own facility to produce the same items, but it wouldn’t be ready for another six months. He refused to give us the contact details of the original factory.

My staff, now quite embarrassed, admitted they had been picked up at the train station, treated to a fancy lunch, and then taken to a factory without really paying attention to where they were going.

In the end, we had to start from scratch. Fortunately, we soon found a legitimate factory that could handle the project. But this incident was a clear example of how easy it is to get misled when you’re not familiar with the local environment. Locals know how to take advantage of visitors who are unfamiliar with the area.

What These Stories Teach Us

These examples highlight an important truth: what you see is not always what you’ll get. In global sourcing, appearances may not represent the reality. Whether it’s forged certificates, borrowed websites, or smooth-talking agents showing off someone else’s factory—the risk of being misled is global.

That’s why on-site verification is absolutely essential.

At Scandic Sourcing, we help clients avoid these pitfalls. With our Supplier Audit Services, we dig beneath the surface to ensure that your suppliers are legitimate, qualified, and capable of delivering what they promise.

📌 Learn more about our Supplier Audit Services here:
👉 Supplier Audit

Disclaimer
The cases and experiences shared in this article represent individual situations and are not meant to imply that all suppliers encounter similar issues. Scandic Sourcing helps clients ensure that their suppliers are compliant and reliable through a rigorous supplier audit process.