Wiring a deposit to a supplier you have not verified is the most expensive mistake in toy importing. Every season, buyers pay a “factory” that turns out to be a trading desk with a rented showroom, or accept a generic EN71 report that covers a product they are not actually buying — and only find out at customs.
Verification is not paranoia. It is roughly 90 minutes of work that protects a five-figure order. This checklist is written from the buyer’s side of the table in Chenghai, Guangdong, where the majority of China’s toys are made. Work through all seven steps before the deposit leaves your account.
| # | Step | What to ask for | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legal identity | Business licence with the 18-digit Unified Social Credit Code | Company name matches the bank beneficiary exactly; status is active; business scope covers toys |
| 2 | Export rights | Customs registration / export licence, or the name of their export agent | They can produce the export declaration, or tell you plainly who will |
| 3 | Production reality | Factory address plus an unscheduled live video walk of the line | They film the line and warehouse the same week; address matches the licence |
| 4 | Safety compliance | EN71-1/-2/-3, ASTM F963 or EN62115 report for your model | Report names your exact item number, issued within 12 months, lab carries a CNAS or ILAC accreditation number |
| 5 | Track record | Two or three contactable buyers in your market, plus shipment photos | References are given without hesitation; photos show cartons with real shipping marks |
| 6 | Payment safety | Bank details on company letterhead | Beneficiary is the registered company — never a personal Alipay, WeChat or individual account |
| 7 | Paper trail | Proforma invoice with specs, packing, MOQ, lead time and late-delivery terms | Everything agreed on WhatsApp is restated in the PI before you pay |
Test reports are the most frequently reused document in the trade, because buyers rarely check them. Four checks take five minutes each:
If this is unfamiliar territory, our explainer on how toy certification really works when you buy through an agent covers who owns the report and who pays for it, and the import compliance document checklist lists what customs in each market actually asks to see.
| Red flag | Why it matters | Green flag |
|---|---|---|
| Payment requested to a personal account | No legal recourse if the order goes wrong | Invoice and bank beneficiary carry the same registered company name |
| Refuses a live video walk of the line | Frequently a trading desk presenting itself as the factory | Books a call and films production and packing on request |
| One generic EN71 report used for every product | Reports are per-model; a blanket report is worthless at the border | Sends model-specific reports and offers re-testing at your cost |
| Price 30-40% below every other quote | Usually thinner material, no testing, or a deposit that disappears | Explains the price with material weight, carton spec and MOQ |
| Insists on 100% payment before production | You carry the entire risk | 30% deposit, 70% against QC pass or a copy of the bill of lading |
| Cannot state MOQ, pcs per carton or CBM | They have not actually priced or planned the job | Gives MOQ, carton quantity, CBM and lead time in writing |
The last row matters more than it looks. A supplier who cannot give you CBM cannot give you a landed cost either — see our breakdown of what it actually costs to import toys from China.
The market standard for a first order is 30% deposit and 70% before shipment. The detail that protects you is what triggers the balance: pay against a passed inspection or a copy of the bill of lading, not against a promise. On small first orders where a third-party inspection is hard to justify, ask for a filmed carton-packing video with random pieces opened on camera, and keep the balance until you have watched it.
A supplier can pass all seven steps and still ship two weeks late in the pre-Christmas rush, or quietly substitute a colour when a pigment runs out. Paperwork proves the company is real; it does not prove this particular production run is correct. That is what inspection is for. Our wholesale toy buyer guides cover the inspection and shipping side, and the country pages such as the USA import guide set out the documents your own customs authority will want.
Running seven checks on every new supplier does not scale when you are sourcing across ten categories. This is the reason buying agents exist. LeTin Toys is a Chenghai-based sourcing agent and exporter — not a factory — and the licences, export records and test reports for the suppliers in our network are already on file. Per-order testing is booked in the buyer’s name where the market requires it, and mixed containers let you spread a first order across several suppliers instead of betting it on one.
If you would rather delegate the checking, read how our China toy sourcing agent service works, or send us your product list for a quote with the compliance documents named up front.
Read the business scope on the business licence — manufacturing and trading are worded differently — then ask for an unscheduled live video walk of the production line. A trading company will usually offer showroom footage instead. Being a trading company is not automatically bad; being one while claiming to be a factory is.
Yes. Every mainland company has an 18-digit Unified Social Credit Code printed on its licence, and the record is searchable on China’s National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. Confirm the company name, that the status is active, the registered capital and the business scope.
No. Reports are issued against a specific model and material construction. A report for one item number does not cover a different item, a new colourway with a different pigment, or the same toy after a component change.
30% deposit with the order and 70% before shipment is standard. Tie the balance to a passed inspection or a copy of the bill of lading. Treat any request for 100% up front, or payment to a personal account, as a reason to walk away.
A full third-party inspection costs roughly USD 250-350, which is hard to justify on a USD 3,000 order. On small orders, ask instead for a filmed packing video with random cartons opened on camera, and hold the balance until you have reviewed it. On orders above about USD 15,000, book the inspection.