We plan to bring eChai across 100 cities in India. It starts with eChai Startup Demo Day on 26 September, all in person. 11 cities confirmed, 166 founders registered. Any city that reaches 20 interested founders is on too. See your city
Make your product

What are the classic ways first-time importers get scammed or burned?

Watch for prices that undercut the whole market, demands for 100% advance payment off-platform, and 'golden sample' switches where a great sample is followed by a mediocre bulk run. Keep deposits at 30% with balance on inspection, insist on Trade Assurance or an escrow-style payment on your first few orders, and never let a supplier move you off Alibaba/IndiaMART chat into WhatsApp before you've built trust.

Go deeper

3 resources, 1 India-specific, 3 link-checked.

📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

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.

Common Supplier Scams and How to Avoid Sourcing Fraud

From cosmosourcing.com by Cosmo Sourcing

  • The golden-sample trick: great sample, poor bulk run
  • Certifications can be forged, verify at source
  • Watch for price bait-and-switch after commitment
  • Independent inspection before final payment
Open cosmosourcing.com →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

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.

Don't Get Scammed: Red Flags for Online Buyers on B2B Platforms

From corporate.indiamart.com by IndiaMART

  • Prices 40-50% below market are a scam signal
  • Never pay off-platform or 100% in advance
  • Demand GST, MSME and a verifiable physical address
  • Start small and keep transactions on-platform
Open corporate.indiamart.com →
📖 Book
✓ Link checked Paid Intermediate

The classic account of how factory relationships quietly degrade after the first good batch, essential mental preparation before you trust a new supplier with real volume.

Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game

From goodreads.com by Paul Midler

  • Introduces 'quality fade', the slow, deliberate cheapening after approval
  • Explains why great samples don't guarantee great bulk runs
  • Argues for an active, present quality-control relationship
Open goodreads.com →

People also ask

How do I actually import a product from China as a small D2C brand with no existing supply chain? 2 → What's actually different between working direct with a factory, buying off Alibaba, and hiring a sourcing agent? 2 → What do I legally need in India to import goods, IEC, GST, anything else? 3 → How do I estimate my true landed cost before I commit to an order? 4 → Should I ship by air or sea, and how do I actually choose a freight forwarder? 3 → How do I avoid getting scammed by a supplier? 3 →

Also in Starting Up

The same ground, over in Build the product, our Starting Up track.

What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with? 20 → Which no-code tool should I use to build my first product? 20 →
eChai Partner Brands