How to Vet a Shoe Supplier Before You Send Money

Start with the legal basics

Ask for the business licence and check that the registered name matches the name on the proforma invoice and the bank account. If the invoice, the licence and the bank beneficiary are three different companies, stop and ask why before you send anything.

Never pay a deposit to a personal bank account when the order is placed by a company. That is the single most common way buyers lose money.

Ask for evidence of the specific construction, not generic photos

Anyone can send beautiful catalogue images. Ask instead for a short video of the specific construction being made, or for a physical sample of the exact style you are discussing. Ask which factory runs that construction and how long they have run it.

If you are told that a factory 'can do everything', that usually means they subcontract. Subcontracting is not automatically bad, but you should know about it, because it changes who controls quality and timing.

Test the communication before you test the product

Send a detailed question with three parts and see whether you get three answers. Ask something technical, something commercial and something about timing. Suppliers who answer precisely, and who tell you when they do not know, are the ones who will tell you when a shipment is going to be late.

Response time in the enquiry stage is a preview of response time in the production stage.

Understand who inspects the goods

Ask directly: who checks the materials on arrival, who checks the shoes during assembly, and who signs off before packing? Ask what AQL standard they work to. If the answer is only 'we check everything', ask for the inspection record from a recent order.

A supplier who welcomes a third-party inspection is almost always safer than one who discourages it.

Check the reference customers

Ask for two or three reference customers in markets similar to yours, and actually contact them. Ask how the supplier handled a problem, not whether there were problems — every supplier has problems, and the useful signal is how they were resolved.

If the supplier sells exclusively to one large buyer, ask whether they have capacity for you and whether your order will be prioritised behind theirs.

Read the payment and penalty terms carefully

Make sure the deposit percentage, the balance trigger, the inspection rights, the delivery date and the remedy for late delivery are all written on the proforma invoice or contract. A verbal promise about a delivery date is worth nothing.

For a first order, keep the deposit as low as you reasonably can and tie the balance to a document you control, such as a copy of the bill of lading.

Watch for these warning signs

Prices far below every other quote for the same specification. Pressure to pay quickly because 'the material price is going up tomorrow'. A refusal to provide a written specification. A bank account in a different name from the company. No video, no sample, no reference customer.

Any one of these might have an innocent explanation. Two or three together mean you should walk away.