1. Is it a factory or a trading company?
This is the single biggest factor in whether your order arrives on time. Ask for the business licence and compare the registered address with the address of the workshop they claim to run. A trading company is not automatically a problem - many are excellent - but the price should reflect it, and you need to know who actually controls the production schedule.
Better still, ask for a live video call walking through the slat cutting line and the felt lamination line. A photo album proves nothing; a forklift moving in the background does.
2. Can they produce a real NRC or SAA test report?
Ask for the report from a CNAS-accredited laboratory, with a report number you can trace. A PDF with a logo and no report number is decoration. For the difference between the metrics, see what NRC actually measures.
3. Which certifications matter for your market
- Class A per ASTM E84 - the normal requirement for US commercial interiors. Read what Class A means for importers.
- GB 8624 B1 - the Chinese equivalent for domestic projects, and often requested on export jobs too. See B1 vs B2 explained.
- ISO 9001 and FSC - quality system and legal timber chain, increasingly asked for by European distributors.
4. Order a sample before you discuss price
A sample tells you more than a quotation: thickness tolerance, felt density, whether the slats sit flat, and how the veneer is matched across the batch. Physical samples also avoid the classic 10 percent colour shift that only appears after production.
5. Understand the MOQ, not just the price
The minimum order quantity is a cost structure, not a sales trick. Once you know which cost the MOQ is protecting, you can often negotiate around it - see how factory MOQs are set.
6. Payment terms: who carries the risk
The normal structure is 30 percent deposit with the balance against the bill of lading copy. Be cautious with any supplier who asks for 100 percent in advance from a new buyer, and be equally cautious with a buyer who offers 0 percent deposit. Escrow, letters of credit, and platform guarantees all exist for a reason.
7. Response speed and English documentation
Ask three technical questions before you buy: the panel weight per square meter, the fire test standard, and the packing dimensions. Suppliers who answer within a working day, with numbers rather than adjectives, tend to run the same way when your container is late.
Red flags worth walking away from
- Prices 40 percent below every other quotation, with no explanation.
- No test report, or a report that cannot be traced to a laboratory.
- Sample differs in thickness or felt density from the quotation you signed.
- Requests to pay a personal account rather than the company account.
We quote factory prices and estimated landed cost separately so you can see where the money goes. Request a wholesale quote or send your specification through the contact form.