How to vet a supplier in India before you place an order

The riskiest moment in any purchase is the first order with a new supplier. Anyone can list on a directory or stand up a website in an afternoon — none of that proves there is a factory, a GST registration, or an intention to ship. Vetting is the cheap insurance that stops a bad first order before it starts. Here is the checklist we run before any supplier reaches a buyer.

Start with the paperwork that is hard to fake

• GST number. Verify the GSTIN on the official GST portal (Search Taxpayer). Confirm the legal name, registration date, that the status is Active, and that the state matches where they claim to operate. No GSTIN — or a cancelled or suspended one — is an immediate stop for anything but the smallest cash purchase.
• Company registration. For a Pvt Ltd or LLP, look them up on the MCA portal or a filings aggregator. Check the incorporation date, the directors, and whether annual filings are current. A supplier who calls themselves a "20-year-old company" but was incorporated last year is telling a story that does not hold.
• Udyam / MSME registration. Not proof of quality, but a genuine registration whose name matches everything else adds signal.

Confirm they actually make what you need

Directories reward broad listings, so a "manufacturer" is often a reseller or a trader. Separate the two:

• Ask for photos or a short video of their own facility and the specific machine or line that would run your item.
• Check that their specification matches yours exactly — grade, tolerance, standard — rather than rounding your requirement up to "yes, we can do that."
• Ask for the real MOQ and lead time for your quantity, not the catalogue number.
• Ask for two references who bought the same thing, and actually call them.

Read the quote like a document, not a number

A cheap unit price attached to a high MOQ, a long lead time, ex-works freight, and 100% advance can easily cost more than a "dearer" quote with better terms. Confirm GST is stated up front, not "added later." We go deeper on this in how to compare supplier quotes.

Pay in a way that keeps your leverage

• Insist on a proforma invoice on letterhead, with a GSTIN and bank details that match the registered business name.
• Keep the advance as small as the supplier will accept, and tie the balance to dispatch or a pre-dispatch inspection.
• The bank account name should match the business name. A sudden "please pay this other account" message, a personal account, or UPI-only for a large order are all reasons to slow down — see how to avoid supplier scams.

Red flags worth walking away from

• No GSTIN, or a name and state that do not match the registration.
• Pressure to pay a full advance quickly because "this price is only valid today."
• A contact who will not do a quick video call from the facility.
• Reviews that are all five stars, posted the same week, in the same phrasing.

Bottom line

Ten minutes of checks — GST, filings, a facility video, two references — removes most of the risk in a first order. If you would rather not run them yourself, that is exactly the job we do: post your requirement and we vet the suppliers before any quote reaches you. For the full workflow, start with the supplier sourcing guide.