Jump to content
Chinese-Forums
  • Sign Up

Chinese Business license - is it real, how to verify and avoid scams

bredondale

By bredondale
in Life, Work and Study in China in General

 Share

Recommended Posts

roddy

roddy

Posted
Posted

I'm still willing to lay money it's a scam. If you can pay directly by credit card you might have protection, but watch out with Paypal - if they act as an intermediary between you and your credit card company you'll lose that protection.

Seriously, there's no way you're coming out of this with a cheap Wii. I'll apologize if I'm wrong, but I doubt I am.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
imron

imron

Posted
Posted

Agree with Roddy.

Think about it. If they really were a legitimate wholesaler of consumer electronics, do you think Paypal is going to be their preferred payment solution? This has scam written all over it.

How many Wiis were you thinking of purchasing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
imron

imron

Posted
Posted (edited)

Ok, go and have a read of this page. It provides a great overview of these types of electronics scams, and gives you a number of things to look out for/check. It's all solid advice. Here is a relevant quote from the final two paragraphs:

Consider what it is you are purchasing

There's simply no such thing as buying branded goods directly from the manufacturer in China. The companies who produce the product are bound by agreements with the brand owner and are not allowed to sell the products to just anybody. The brand owners, such as Sony, Nike etc...in turn have their own authorised distribution networks. If you are looking for branded product you should research and make an attempt to contact the brand itself and find out who are authorised partners. Some brands even detail this information on their websites.

Using Common Sense

I cannot stress this enough, if it's too good to be true, then it probably is.

and finally
You should always look at the smaller clues to paint the bigger picture, and not let your own greed cloud your judgement.
Edited by imron
Link to comment
Share on other sites
r0b3rt03

r0b3rt03

Posted
Posted

The thing that is so difficult and I guess the reason why myself and others look at these Chinese "wholesalers" as opportunities is that it is very difficult to set up contacts with these companies that are the real suppliers of the major corporations.

For example, I tried to go to the suppliers of Nintendo products to retail stores in the US; however, since I have few business references for my online business I was very quickly declined. I also do not have the means to purchase large quantities that they require.

I was looking to buy small quantities of the Wii Systems; however, I am beginning to realize that this is most likely impossible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
imron

imron

Posted
Posted

In addition, whois information on their domain states that the site has been around since 2004, and currently has an expiration date of 2015 - which indicates that the company has been around for a while, and that intends to be in business for a while to come. Website registration details from whois are also quite complete and match info provided on their webpage.

Which is not to say that they are a trustworthy or reputable company, but just that at initial glance they do not appear to be scammers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
imron

imron

Posted
Posted

The name on the business license is for the following company:

http://www.chemkeenke.com/ (English page here: http://www.whkeenke.com/ )

And the address listed on the license is the same one listed for the above company, and not whsinon, which lists a different address on their website.

You can verify wuhan businesses online here: http://www.whhd.gov.cn/ however I guess the site only works in IE, as it didn't work on any of the 3 browsers I tried it on and I can't be bothered booting into XP just to check.

I'm not sure what, if any relationship whsinon has with that company, you should try calling the Keenke (contact page here) and asking them if they are related.

It's also worth nothing that both websites have been online for less than 1 year. Which is not necessarily an indication they are scammers, but at the very least, it's an indication that they are both young companies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
imron

imron

Posted
Posted

It appears to be a photocopy of the business license of this company.

The Shenzhen Administration for Industry and Commerce website shows that there is a company registered with that business license number and name, and the address on the license also matches the contact address on the website I linked to above.

However you I cannot tell you how serious or reliable the company is, nor did you tell us the name of the company you think you are dealing with, so there's no way to be sure if the company on the business license and the company you are dealing with are the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nevermind09

nevermind09

Posted
Posted

Thank you very much IMRON for your answer.

The company name is the same with the one we are searching for.

There are some small differences between the address from site:

2 Floor, Building 2, Xinke High-Tech Zone, Bulong Road #168, Bantian, Long Gang, Shenzhen, P.R. China

and the address from the email received from them:

2nd Floor, Building 2, Xingke Hi-Tech Industrial Base, Bantian, Longgang District, Shenzhen, China

Do you think this could be problem?

Thank you

Link to comment
Share on other sites
adrianlondon

adrianlondon

Posted
Posted

I can't compete with the excellent sleuthing people such as Imron carry out, but even a quick glance at them tells me that those two addresses are as good as identical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
imron

imron

Posted
Posted

I agree with adrianlondon about the addresses. For all intents and purposes they are the same. However you should still take steps to confirm that the person you are talking to is a representative of that company, and not just someone pretending to be from that company (does the person use a company email address? Have you called the company on the phone number listed on the site to confirm that the person you are in contact with works for them etc). You should also be aware to steer clear of anyone that asks you to pay via Western Union or by bank transfer into their personal bank account.

Even if that all of that works out, then that does not mean they are a reputable business or that they sell reliable products. They might, or they might not. All you can know for sure is that they are who they say they are.

Thank you very much IMRON for your answer.
Donations to the forums are always welcome 8)
Link to comment
Share on other sites
imron

imron

Posted
Posted

I didn't check the second or third licenses, however the name and business number on the first one match the information on record with the Shenzhen Administration for Industry and Commerce. So, it appears to be a real company, but the same caveats apply above about whether or not it is a reliable/reputable company.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lu

Lu

Posted
Posted

The second one is a company registered in 2008 in Taibei; the third is a registration in Samoa. (I didn't check anything else, just saw the big Ma Yingjiu-signature and got curious.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nevermind09

nevermind09

Posted
Posted

Thank you for your answers,

I have two new business licenses to check, which i hope to be the last ones.

If you can find some information about them and let me know for example the name of each one, the address, the Established Date, the website...

Thank you a lot in advance

2508_thumb.attach

2509_thumb.attach

Link to comment
Share on other sites
arkcom

arkcom

Posted
Posted

Hi everybody,

I contacted a company on Alibaba (Ningbo EDTZ Holdings http://etdz.en.alibaba.com/trustpass_profile.html) and got a response from a sales rep from another company, lilygoods.com. When I asked him about it he said that his wife works for Ningbo EDTZ and they let him put his products up. Both companies have been around for quite a while, but I'm still curious/cautious. Is this a common practice and legit? Is there any way to tell if the bank info he gave me leads to a private or corporate account?

Thanks in advance,

Jon

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...