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China sourcing

What Trade Assurance actually covers, and the gap people discover at the worst moment

It is a real protection with a narrow perimeter. It covers what the order contract says — which is why almost every dispute turns on what was never written into it.

France → China

Marketplace payment protection reassures first-time importers, and it should: it is genuinely better than wiring money to a stranger. The problem is what buyers believe it covers, which is usually “quality”, and what it actually covers, which is compliance with the terms recorded in the order.

The perimeter, stated plainly

Protection applies to the order placed and paid through the platform, on the terms written into that order. Two consequences follow, and both are where money is lost.

  • Move off-platform and you move outside the protection. The supplier who suggests paying directly for the second order — “it saves the fee” — is also, knowingly or not, removing your recourse.
  • A specification agreed by email or chat but not written into the order is not part of what is protected. “As per our discussion” is not a specification.

How to make it actually work

  1. Put the full specification inside the order: materials, dimensions and tolerances, finish, packaging, markings, and the accepted defect levels.
  2. Attach photographs of the approved sample to the order itself, not to a message thread.
  3. Name the inspection: who inspects, against what, at what stage, and that a failed inspection is a breach.
  4. Keep the delivery term consistent with what you actually agreed, because a dispute about late delivery is decided against the term in the order.

What it never covers

It is not product liability, it is not compliance with European regulations, and it is not intellectual property. A refund of what you paid does not help with goods that cannot be sold in Europe, a recall, or a customer claim. Those risks are managed by specification, testing and contract — not by a payment mechanism.

Use it for the first orders with a new supplier, while trust is being built and the sums are small enough that the process is worth it. Move to a proper contract once the relationship matters — a platform dispute process is designed for transactions, not for relationships.

Keep reading on this.

China sourcingAlibaba, 1688, trade shows or an agent: where to actually lookEach channel selects for a different kind of supplier. Knowing what each one filters for matters more than knowing which is best.China sourcingWriting a specification a Chinese factory can actually quote againstThe factory is rarely the problem. The specification given to the factory usually is — and it is the cheapest thing in the whole project to fix.China sourcingPaying a Chinese supplier: deposits, transfers and letters of creditThe payment structure is a risk allocation, not an administrative detail. It also tells the supplier a great deal about how you will behave.China sourcingSourcing in China when you have no volume and no leverageSmall orders are not a smaller version of large ones. The strategy that works is to be the easiest customer a factory has, not the biggest.

If this raised a question about your own project, tell us where you are — the first conversation usually clarifies more than a proposal.

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