Some trading companies are excellent. They aggregate small factories, carry the quality risk, and give a foreign buyer reach that would take years to build alone. Others simply add a margin and forward your emails.
The document that settles it
The business licence states the permitted scope of activity, and it is public. A manufacturer's scope names production; a trader's names wholesale and import-export. Reading it takes minutes and removes the guesswork entirely.
Three signals before you even ask
- The catalogue is unusually broad. Real factories are narrow; they own specific machines.
- Technical questions come back slowly and slightly reworded — they were forwarded.
- The address is an office tower. Not disqualifying, but it means the making happens elsewhere.
| Signal | Trading company | Factory |
|---|---|---|
| Business licence scope | Wholesale and import-export | Production |
| Catalogue | Unusually broad | Narrow — they own specific machines |
| Technical questions | Come back slowly and slightly reworded | Answered without being forwarded |
| Address | An office tower — the making happens elsewhere | Where the machines are |
What to do with the answer
If it is a trader, decide what you are paying the margin for. Quality inspection you would otherwise arrange? Consolidation across three factories? Those are worth paying for. Pure message-passing is not — and once you know, you can negotiate on the real basis rather than on a fiction.