What's 'quality fade' and how do I stop my product getting worse after the first good batch?
Quality fade is the slow, deliberate cheapening a factory makes after you've approved a great first batch and stopped watching closely, thinner materials, cheaper components, quietly substituted inputs. Fight it with a locked golden sample, surprise inspections on later batches (not just the first), and a relationship where the factory knows you're checking, not just trusting.
Go deeper
4 resources, 1 India-specific, 4 link-checked.
📖 Book
✓ Link checkedPaidIntermediate
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.
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.
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.
