A Supplier Due Diligence Checklist You Can Actually Finish
The direct answer: run the checklist in this order — identity, evidence, terms, payment — because each stage is cheaper to fail at than the next. Most buyers who get into trouble skipped the second stage, which takes ten minutes, and relied on the third, which takes a deposit.
Part of the buyer journey: Find & Verify a Supplier Before Money Moves — stage 2 of 8, with the other guides for this stage.
Stage one: identity (ten minutes)
Company name, registration number, registered address, years trading, bank account name. Confirm the account name matches the registered name, and confirm it through a phone call to a previously known number.
Any failure here ends the process. There is no version of this trade where the paperwork does not reconcile and the rest works out.
Stage two: evidence of stock (thirty minutes)
A live video walk through the inventory. A count by category and size, taken on camera. A sample from a random carton. Packing and carton markings. An independent reference who will answer your own questions.
This is the stage buyers skip, and it is the one that actually tells you whether you are trading with a supplier or with a photograph.
Stage three: terms (before any money)
Category, composition, quantity per size, condition grade, packing format, incoterm, payment milestones, inspection rights, and what happens if the goods do not match the description. Get all of it in writing, in a document that names the registered company.
Stage four: payment structure
A deposit you can afford to lose, a balance tied to inspection or to a shipping document, and a payment account verified in stage one. Decide the milestones before the amount is agreed, not after, because that is when they become negotiable.
What stocklots are available right now?
Reading is step one. Send your requirement and we will check the factory network for current options.
Buyer questions, answered
How long does supplier due diligence take?
The first three stages can be done in an afternoon for a new supplier, provided they are willing to send evidence. Suppliers who take longer than that to answer simple questions are telling you something useful about how they will handle a delayed shipment.
What is the single most important item on the checklist?
The independent reference, because it is the only check that cannot be produced by the party you are trying to check. Everything else can be manufactured. Someone who has done business with them and will answer your questions cannot.
Should I run this checklist for every supplier?
For every new supplier, yes. It takes under an hour in total and the cost of running it is trivial against the value of one shipment. Suppliers you have traded with successfully for several cycles do not need it again — although a change in their payment details does.