Search for a sourcing agent in China and you will find thousands of people using the same words. Some are genuine agents who work for buyers. Some are trading companies presenting themselves as agents. Some are commission resellers for a fixed circle of factories. I am an independent agent in Guangzhou, and this guide covers what I would check before hiring anyone in my line of work — including me.
Start with who the agent actually works for
The most important question is the simplest: who pays them, and who do they answer to? An independent agent works from your brief and is paid by you. A trading company buys from factories and resells to you with a margin you cannot see. A factory's own sales agent will always route you to that factory, whatever you need.
None of those models is automatically dishonest, but you should know which one you are in. Ask directly: do you take any payment from suppliers? Do you add a margin to factory prices, or quote a fee I can see? An agent who works for the buyer should be comfortable explaining exactly how their fee works before any work starts.
Ask what you will hold in your hands
Anyone can promise good prices. A working agent should be able to show you the paperwork a real project produces. When I run a project, each stage ends with something the client keeps:
- A supplier shortlist, with what each factory actually makes
- A quote comparison sheet in English — unit price, MOQ, lead time, what is included
- Visit notes recording who quoted what, with photographs of samples
- Inspection photographs before goods are approved to ship
- Packing checks per supplier and a consolidated cargo list
- Loading photographs and a final count
The exact documents matter less than the habit. Ask a candidate agent to describe — or better, show with identifying details removed — what a past client received at each stage. My own version of this is laid out on the sourcing services page, stage by stage.
Check they are physically where the goods are
A sourcing agent's value is mostly legwork: walking factories, checking goods before they ship, standing at the container while it is loaded. That only works if they are actually in the region your products come from. Furniture and building materials cluster around Foshan; electronics around Shenzhen; almost every category has a wholesale hub somewhere in Guangdong. An agent based a flight away from your suppliers will be doing your checks by phone.
Ask where they live, which cities they cover in person, and how often they visit the kind of factories you need. I am based in Guangzhou and work across Guangzhou, Foshan and Shenzhen — and when a product is made elsewhere, I say so rather than pretending distance does not matter.
Test the communication before you commit
Most sourcing problems are communication problems: a specification that lost detail in translation, a change that was agreed verbally and never written down. Two practical tests help. First, send a real product list and see what comes back — vague enthusiasm, or specific questions about sizes, materials, quantities and budget? Second, notice the language skills. Factory conversations in Guangdong happen in Mandarin and Cantonese; your agent needs to work comfortably in both, and in English back to you.
Ask for evidence, not adjectives
Words like professional and experienced cost nothing. Evidence looks different: named projects described in detail, photographs of the agent actually working, and reviews that read like real people rather than marketing copy. You can see how I approach this on my projects and reviews page — real trips, what was done, and what the clients said afterwards, quoted as they wrote it.
Be cautious of anyone who claims special relationships with factories as their main selling point. Good factories quote serious buyers regardless of who introduces them. The agent's job is to find the factories that genuinely fit your brief, compare them honestly and stay with the order — not to funnel you toward whoever pays them a commission.
Agree the basis in writing before work starts
However you choose, get the commercial basis in writing before anything begins: what the fee is calculated on, what it includes, what happens if you only need part of the service. I agree this with every client before a project starts, and quote against the actual purchase list rather than publishing one number that would be wrong for most projects.
A short checklist
- Independent, trading company or factory agent — which model is this?
- Do they take supplier-side payments? Will they say so in writing?
- What paperwork does each stage produce for you?
- Are they based where your products are made?
- Did they ask real questions about your list, or just promise good prices?
- English, Mandarin and Cantonese — can they work in all three?
- Is there project evidence, not just adjectives?
- Is the fee basis agreed in writing before work starts?
One honest caveat about guides like this one
I am not neutral — I am one of the people you would be vetting, and every test in this guide is one I expect clients to run on me. Send the same product list to two or three candidates and compare what comes back: the questions asked, the paperwork promised, the clarity about money. The comparison itself tells you most of what you need — and I am happy to be one of the candidates: send me your product list and judge what comes back. My own answers are on the about page and in the projects clients let me publish; the guide on how sourcing actually runs shows the work you would be buying.
If you are weighing up whether an agent is worth it at all, my guide on what a local agent can do that an online marketplace cannot covers the honest comparison — and how product sourcing actually works from idea to finished order shows what you would be hiring someone to run.