A Buyer's Checklist for Auditing a China Jewelry Supplier - FSC CRAFT

Most sourcing problems are decided in the first two weeks, long before the deposit. Not whether the price is right — whether the supplier can do the thing you asked for and will tell you the truth when it goes wrong.

This is the checklist we would want if we were buying, written from the buyer's side rather than the supplier's pitch.

First, decide what you are actually buying

The question that makes everything else easier: are you buying stock, or are you buying a product that does not exist yet?

• Stock — a catalogue item, shipped from inventory, measured in days. Fast, limited, and cheap.
• Custom production — your design, your tooling, your finish. Measured in weeks, and a genuine different proposition.
• Mixed — a base design plus your branding, which is the common middle case and needs both numbers.

A supplier who answers this question clearly is worth listening to. One who claims to be fastest in all three categories is blurring it deliberately.

Capability: can they do this specific thing?

Not "similar products". Your product:

• Which processes do they run in-house, and which do they subcontract?
• For a box: cutting, sewing, assembly, hardware, lining.
• For metal: casting, stamping, CNC, wax, 3D printing, plating.
• Ask which workshop will produce your order — the answer is specific or it is a trading company.

We operate as a supply-chain integrator in Shenzhen, near the Dongguan Chang'an cluster, coordinating specialist workshops and keeping assembly, QC and export in our own hands. That is a legitimate structure and often the right one — but only if the buyer knows which parts they are buying and from whom.

Capacity: what is actually available when you need it

• What is their realistic monthly volume?
• What is the lead time for a run like yours — not the catalogue figure?
• What happens if you double the order tomorrow?
• Are they going to be busy with someone else's priority next month?

The honest answer to the lead-time question is a schedule with milestone dates, not a single number. See why bulk production takes 45 days.

Compliance: ask for specifics, not adjectives

• Which standards apply to your market, and what is tested?
• Who issues the report, and can you see it for a batch like yours?
• Is nickel release tested on the finished article?
• Can they arrange CE, RoHS, or FCC documentation for packaging?

Generic claims are worth zero. The compliance and testing page states in detail which methods we use and — importantly — that we issue per-order documentation rather than publishing pass/fail numbers, because that is the honest version.

Verification: the five questions that catch a mismatch

1. Can you send a current photo or video of the facility? Not a studio shot from a listing. A current one.
2. What is the address on your business registration? Cross-check it with the address on the invoice.
3. Who produces my order, and which workshop? A vague answer is an answer.
4. Can I visit, or appoint a third party? Anyone who resists this is telling you something.
5. What was the last order you had to rework, and how did you handle it? People who have never had a problem have not been in business long, or have not been honest about it.

Communication: the cheapest quality control there is

Ask what happens when something goes wrong in week three of production. Then check whether their answer is a process or a reassurance.

• Do they confirm in writing?
• Do they answer the question you asked, or the one they wanted to be asked?
• Do they tell you when you are wrong?

A supplier who corrects your mistaken assumption early has saved you a rework. A supplier who agrees to everything and delivers a different product is the expensive kind. Our position on fast, plain answers is on the contact page.

Financial and contractual basics

• Payment terms agreed in writing, per order.
• Tooling ownership — yours, or re-made next time?
• NDA available if your design is not public.
• What happens if the shipment arrives wrong.

We cover the pre-payment part in what to check before paying a deposit, and how to read the result in how to read a QC report.

FAQ

Factory or trading company — which should I buy from?

Whichever one owns the process you need. A trading company can be fine; the risk is not knowing which workshop makes your product. Ask directly and check the answer.

What if the supplier's answers to the audit questions are good but the sample is wrong?

Then the process is fine and the brief was not. Go back to the briefing checklist.

How do I verify a factory without flying to China?

Request a current facility video, a business registration scan, and a named workshop. Then appoint a third-party inspector for shipment. Those three usually resolve it.

Can I audit you with the same checklist?

Yes. Ask us these questions and see which ones we answer specifically. We would rather you checked than took our word.

What is the biggest warning sign overall?

A supplier who cannot tell you which workshop will produce your order.

Next step

Send the product and the five questions above. Contact FSC CRAFT — we will tell you which workshops produce your line and what the schedule looks like.

Related: What to check before paying a deposit · How to read a QC report · OEM vs ODM vs private label

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