How to Verify a Sportswear Factory in China Is Not a Trading Company (5 Checks)

Published September 27, 2026 · Last updated September 28, 2026 · Reviewed by the RUIJUN production team

Short answer: you can tell a real sportswear factory from a trading company in about 15 minutes with five checks – the business licence, a live video of the production floor, whether they own the printing and sewing equipment, how they answer technical questions, and whether their samples come from the same place as the bulk. None of these needs a visit to China. Here is how to run each check, what a good answer looks like, and the exact questions to copy into your next message.

Why it matters

A trading company adds a margin and a communication layer between you and the people who actually sew your kit. That is fine for some buyers – a trader can source many product types from one contact. But for custom team uniforms, where sizing, colour matching and re-order consistency depend on the factory keeping your records, dealing with the maker directly is usually 10–25 % cheaper, faster on revisions, and far more reliable when a season-two re-order has to match season one.

Note that “factory” and “trading company” are not always black and white: some factories have a trading arm for export paperwork, and some traders own a share in a workshop. The checks below tell you whether the people you are talking to control production, which is what matters.

Check 1 – Business licence

Ask for the Chinese business licence (营业执照). The “business scope” (经营范围) line on a manufacturer’s licence lists production (生产) of garments; a trading company’s lists sales or import-export (销售 / 进出口) only. The registered address should be an industrial park or factory building, not an office tower or a residential block. You can verify the company name on the National Enterprise Credit Information system (gsxt.gov.cn) for free. We publish ours on our About page.

Check 2 – Live video, not a showreel

Request a short WhatsApp video call or an unedited clip filmed on the spot showing the sublimation printers, heat presses, cutting tables and sewing lines – ideally with your name written on a piece of paper in frame. Stock footage and polished promo videos prove nothing; a factory can do a live walk-through within a working day. Our case videos are filmed on our own floor, and a live call is always available.

Check 3 – Do they own the equipment?

Ask three specific questions: How many sublimation printers and what brand? How many sewing lines and workers? What is your monthly capacity? A factory answers immediately with numbers (ours: 4 sewing lines, 203 staff, 200,000 pcs/month, 6,800 m²). A trader will need to “check with the factory”, or the numbers will change between messages.

Check 4 – Technical questions

Ask about fabric weight (gsm), colour fastness grade, or how they handle shrinkage compensation for sublimated panels. Someone who runs production will answer in detail and may push back on a bad idea – for example, telling you that 6 mm sponsor text will not read on mesh. Someone reselling will give a generic yes to everything.

Check 5 – Sample and bulk from the same place

Ask where the sample is made and who will make the bulk. If the answer is different suppliers, colour and fit can change between the two. A factory makes both on the same line, keeps your approved sample on file, and can show you the sample against the bulk in a photo before shipment.

Questions to copy into your message

1. Can you send your business licence and tell me which line covers garment production?
2. Can we do a 5-minute live video call on the production floor this week?
3. How many sublimation printers, sewing lines and workers do you have, and what is your monthly capacity?
4. What fabric weight do you recommend for our jersey and what is its colour-fastness grade?
5. Will the sample and the bulk be made on the same line, and do you keep the approved sample on file?
6. Who is my single contact from mockup to delivery, and what is your written after-sales policy?

Red flags that usually mean a middleman

• The catalogue covers everything from jerseys to shoes to water bottles.
• Prices come back in minutes for any product but technical questions take days.
• Photos show different factory interiors in different messages.
• They cannot tell you the fabric supplier or the gsm of their own standard fabric.
• The minimum order is 1 piece for a fully custom sublimated kit – a real line does not set up for one piece at bulk prices.
• Payment must go to a personal account or a company with a different name from the licence.

Other signals

• Third-party test reports (SGS) for the fabrics they actually use, not generic certificates
• An on-site supplier assessment report (Alibaba Verified Supplier or similar) with the factory address
• A written after-sales policy with a named contact – see ours: After-Sales Guarantee
• A minimum order that makes sense for a factory (10–50 pieces) rather than one piece
• Consistent details across the website, Alibaba store and licence: same company name, same address, same capacity figures

What if the supplier is a trading company – is that always bad?

No. If you need many product categories in one shipment, or a very small order, a good trader earns its margin. The problem is only when a trader presents itself as a factory: you pay a factory-direct expectation for a trader’s control. Ask directly; an honest trader will say so and tell you which factory makes what.

What we are happy to show

Business licence, SGS reports, supplier assessment, live video of the floor, and the sample-to-bulk records for your own order. Message Amy on WhatsApp and ask for any of them – it is a normal request and we would rather you check than guess.

FAQ

Can I visit the factory? Yes. We are in Yanshan, Shangrao, Jiangxi, about 3 hours by high-speed rail from Shanghai. Give us a week’s notice.

Does a factory always have a lower price than a trader? Usually for custom sublimated kits, because there is no second margin. For very small mixed orders the difference can be small.

What if I already ordered from a trader and want to switch? Send us the jersey you have; we match the fabric and fit, and keep the new sample on file for future runs.

See also: China factory direct vs local supplier vs retail blanks.

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