FWFactoryWitness
China sourcing and supplier verification

Your Chinese supplier says it is a factory. We go and check.

We source, verify and audit Chinese suppliers for buyers in the US and Europe. Based in Hong Kong, one to two hours from the manufacturing clusters of Guangdong.

1–2 hrs
from the Guangdong clusters
15–25
manufacturers per shortlist
1 business day
typical response time
Zero
calls required

Who this is for

Importers, brands, e-commerce sellers and procurement teams outside China who need to find, verify and compare Chinese suppliers — without hiring a local sourcing agent, and without flying to China.

Why work with us

We are physically here

Hong Kong is one to two hours from Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen. When a supplier makes a claim about capacity, certification or staffing, we can go and look at it.

Your overnight is our workday

You send a brief at the end of your day. We work while you sleep, and you open your inbox to a finished deliverable.

Fully async, no meetings

Everything runs through written briefs and email. Every requirement, deliverable and price is in writing, so nothing is ambiguous later.

A Hong Kong entity you can contract with

We contract in English, invoice from Hong Kong, and accept card, bank transfer and Wise. Standard paperwork for your finance team.

Services

Fixed prices, quoted in writing before any work begins. All figures in USD.

ServiceWhat you receivePrice from
Supplier shortlist 15–25 manufacturers matching your specification: company profile, certifications held, capacity notes, export records and a named contact who can quote $400
Desk verification Remote check per vendor: registration, ownership, domain and public records, sanctions and restricted-party screening $149
Verification report Everything in the desk check, plus phone or on-site verification, certificate registers checked, overseas customer references, and compliance red flags with the evidence behind each one $450
Undisclosed visit Independent site visit without naming you. Confirms the premises are real, production is running, and whether the vendor is a factory or a trading company. Photo and video evidence. $350
Disclosed audit Visit as your named representative, under your written authorisation. Adds certificate inspection, management interview, capacity and order data. $600
Sample handling We request samples from your shortlisted vendors, receive and check each against your specification, photograph and measure it, then consolidate everything into a single shipment to you $60
Quote comparison 3–5 vendors quoted on a normalised spec sheet, with an estimated landed-cost model $300
Sourcing retainer Ongoing supplier development, price negotiation support and audit coordination, monthly $1,500
Multiple factories in one trip. Visits are priced per trip, not per order. The first factory on a trip is $350, and each additional factory in the same city or industrial cluster is $200. Travel is charged once per trip. Send us your factory list and we will group it by region before quoting, so you can see what the route actually costs.

How it works

  1. Send a brief.

    About ten minutes. Product, specification, quantities, certifications required, target price and timeline.

  2. We confirm scope and price in writing.

    If something in your brief is unclear or out of scope, we tell you before you pay anything.

  3. You pay a 30 per cent deposit. Work begins.

    Thirty per cent to start, fifty on first draft, twenty on acceptance. Card, bank transfer or Wise. Factory audits are paid in full before booking, plus a travel advance.

  4. Delivery, then one round of revisions.

    You review the deliverable. One round of revisions is included; additional rounds are quoted separately.

What we do not do

We would rather you know this before you engage us.

Questions

How do you verify a supplier is real?

Registration matched against the business licence, ownership traced to natural persons, domain age compared with the company's claimed history, and sanctions screening. Where certification matters, we check the issuing body's register rather than accepting a PDF.

Can you visit a factory before I place an order?

Yes. That is the main reason clients work with us. Visits in the Greater Bay Area can usually be scheduled within a few business days.

Will the factory know who I am?

Only if you want them to. In an undisclosed visit your identity is not disclosed and we attend as an independent buyer. In a disclosed audit we attend as your named representative under written authorisation, which unlocks certificate originals, management interviews and order data a vendor will not release to a stranger.

Do you offer video calls?

No. We work fully asynchronously by design. It keeps turnaround fast and everything documented. If a call is essential to your process, we are probably not the right fit.

What if the shortlist does not contain a suitable supplier?

Tell us within seven days and we will run a second research pass at no additional cost, or refund the deposit if we cannot find candidates that meet your specification.

How do you handle our data?

We work with publicly available information and information you provide. We do not resell purchased trade databases, and we do not contact your existing suppliers without written instruction.

Tell us what you are sourcing

Send your product, target market and what worries you about the supplier. We will tell you what we can find and what it costs, in writing.

hello@factorywitness.com

Contact

Email
Response time
Within one business day
Company
FactoryWitness, operated by FLORAL STREAM COMPANY LIMITED
Registered address
Room 701, Unit 108, 7/F, Tower B,
New Mandarin Plaza, 14 Science Museum Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong