Treat three things as hard red flags: prices dramatically below market, a demand for 100% advance with no escrow or milestones, and pressure to move payment off-platform or onto a personal account. Legitimate factories have a verifiable address, a GST number, a landline, and are comfortable with 30% deposit / 70% on inspection. Keep every conversation on the platform's messaging so you have a record, and start small.
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Fraud advice straight from the platform most Indian founders source on, naming the exact red flags: too-good pricing, off-platform payment pressure, no GST/verifiable address, and 100% advance demands.
A catalogue of the specific cons that trip up product founders, the golden-sample switch, fake certifications, price bait-and-switch, and traders posing as factories, with concrete defences for each.
A practical, India-grounded checklist for turning an IndiaMART search into a vetted supplier, verify GST, sample first, avoid full prepay, start with a pilot order, from someone who buys this way.
