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

[jlzandrad]

yes I paid using WU, there is anything I can do?

[imron]

Nothing, except think of this as an expensive lesson.

[kalosadmin]

Hi i was trying to check out the company info but it says the conditions are not met,

Anyways the business registration number 440301103759681 and the website is http://www.ledlite.com.cn/ I can send a donation to the person in paypal for who ever does it the fastest with good accuracy the website i checked it at http://www.szgsinfo.com.cn/

Thanks alot!

[imron]

The business registration number is a legally licensed business for a company named 深圳市亮佳美照明有限公司 (shen zhen liangjia beauty lighting co.,ltd). See their website here (only in Chinese). They have different contact phone numbers from the one listed on the site you linked to.

Although it's always possible they might be the same company - or at least sister companies, one geared for exports and the English speaking market, and another for local work, I would proceed with caution. Your best bet would be to contact the company with this actual registration number and confirm (see phone numbers on this page. The first number listed on the page is a phone number, the second is the fax - don't forget to drop the 0 if you're calling internationally).

See here for donations.

[kalosadmin]

thanks alot yeah he led me to that sister site when i asked why the company name is different,

Now even though the so called sister company is real and licensed is it possible the legit business can still scam me and not send any produce? if that happends what can i even do? its not like the police will care or will they? and what police local or chinese,

thanks alot i think i am going to call the number and even see if the owner of the registered company know who i am,

what do you reccomend?

and where can i make the donation to you

[imron]

The thing to keep in mind is that the sister company might not know who you are (maybe different departments deal with overseas vs local orders etc). However they should be able to verify whether or not the original company is actually their sister company.

You need to make sure however that you confirm this with the legitimate registered company. It's very easy for a dodgy company to say "Yes, this legitimate company is our sister company", but you should not believe that until you have confirmed with the legitimate company that this is the case.

Even if they are a legitimate company, there is still the very real chance that they can cheat you/send you faulty/unacceptable goods etc.

It's difficult to assess things like quality level without being on the ground and inspecting the factories etc, however there are a couple of precautions you can take. The first is to order a sample. You may have to pay to receive the sample, but you're better off paying $50 and finding the sample is a dud/not what you want rather than $10,000 and then finding out your entire order is useless. You can also do things like agree to deduct the sample price from your initial order, if you find the sample acceptable and decide to order from them (i.e. they effectively give you a free sample, but only if you make an order), or you could agree that they need to send a sample at no initial cost to you, but then the price of the sample will be added to your first order if you decide to make one (i.e. you only pay for the sample if it's of sufficient quality to warrant a larger order).

There is no guarantee however that the goods they send you will be the same as the sample, so make sure that you don't pay by Western Union or bank transfer. If they are a legitimate export business, they should have no problem accepting a Letter of Credit. You can make it a condition of the Letter of Credit that it is not paid until the goods have been received and are verified of being an acceptable quality. They might object to this, and prefer instead for proof of shipment to be condition of the LoC. That is something you may need to negotiate on. You could possibly negotiate to pay in installments - e.g. X% upon proof of shipment, and Y% upon verification that the goods are acceptable. By making your initial order(s) small you can help mitigate the risk to a certain degree, and then increase order size once you have established trust with a supplier.

You can also ask if they have any foreign customers that are willing to act as a reference.

All of these things help mitigate risk, however they don't remove it entirely. There's probably very little recourse once you've paid a supplier, and little incentive for them to do anything about quality problems if you pay them in full upon proof of shipment. Hence the importance of the Letter of Credit, and having conditions for payment.

Regarding donations, you can just make a donation to the forums directly (see link above), or email me (click my username and you should have the option to send me an email) and I'll send you my Paypal details.

Edited September 14, 2009 at 06:48 AM by imron

[NathanGJedi]

I need to verify cnlilong.com. Can someone who knows Chinese do that for me? Thank you!

[imron]

If you'd read the first post, you'd realise you don't even need to read Chinese.

[NathanGJedi]

I did read the first post, and I just went back and reread it, I don't really see what you're talking about. How do I verify if the company is legit?

[imron]

And I quote:

If you are being offered branded electronics at a significant discount, from a company you've never heard of, which takes payment by Western Union or by transfer to a Chinese bank account - it's a scam. Yes, it's that simple. Sorry.

A quick look at cnlilong.com shows that it is selling branded electronics at a significant discount and takes payment by Western Union or Bank Transfer.

From here, the answer should be pretty obvious.

If you still don't want to believe it, then the article about Chinese scams linked to in the first post (which you also should have read) provides plenty of information on how to verify this is a scam. See particularly the information about 'whois' lookups and website creation date etc.

[fanglu]

The fact that these websites are usually only in English should probably be a hint too. How many legitimate Chinese companies would only have an English website, and no Chinese version?

[Kimmelivim]

Is this company legit?

ShenZhen LianHua Electronic Co.,Ltd

MSN1:lh0086-755@hotmail.com

MSN2:lh0086_755@hotmail.com

YAHOO:lh0086_755@yahoo.com

Skype:cnlianhua

Tel:0086-755-81587368

Address:11H Hangdu Building,Huafu Road,Futian District,Shenzhen City,China

License:

Thanks

[imron]

Did you read the first post?

[Neeesat]

I was wondering if someone did any bussiness with the following company. Is this company legit?

Company Name: Jinan Mao Shu Trading Co., Ltd.

Street Address: ROOM 608 NO 51 XIAOWEI SECOND ROAD JINAN CITY

City: JINAN

Province/State: Shandong

Country/Region: China

Zip: 250000

Telephone: 86-531-85605653

Mobile Phone: 13793130134

Fax: 86-531-85605653

Website: http://jnmsmy.en.alibaba.com

Here is their Bussiness Licence:

Can someone confirm please?

[IFEY101]

hi, i just wanted to know if you could verify this business for me.

i have checked myself, it seems ok, but i wanted to be 100% certain before i do anything.

Marketing department

Company: Shenhui trading company

Phone: 0852-27178900

Mobile phone: 86-13015990508

Fax: 86-852-68764304

Email/MSN: zguoxinyuan@hotmail.com

Website: http://wholesaletrading.net/

Add: No.296,Huaqiang Road,Futian district,Shenzhen City,Guandong Province,China.

Business licence: 4403011245717

Zip code: 51800

thanks

[imron]

Did you read the first post?

Did you read the article linked to in the first post?

That should tell you your answer.

[IFEY101]

yes i did, but i'm still uncertain. i'd like a 2nd opinion please.

[imron]

Obviously you didn't read the linked to article carefully enough. It tells you everything you need to know to check this sort of thing for yourself. Go and read it again, and pay particular attention to the part about WHOIS lookups.

[IFEY101]

Thanks, but you don't have to talk to me like that. Its not very polite.

[adrianlondon]

Imron, have you thought about setting up a company in China to charge for giving this advice? I think it's a money earner, especially considering the sort of people who would use it ;)